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Hair Algae Issue

S

Singlemalt

I need some help beating a hair algae problem. My tank has been up since February so I know it's not unusual to have issues like this crop up but I want to do what I can to lick this (figuratively of course). I have a 120 with a 55 sump and 65 fuge. The fish and the few easy to keep corals i have now are doing OK. Zoos are thriving, Hammer and Frogspawn are open etc. The Acro Herb was nice enough to give me at the meeting last week is OK too - at least so far.

The problem started about a month ago. I've been measuring Phosphate and Nitrate regularly. Phosphate is at 0 and Nitrate is 5ppm. The fuge has Chaeto and Grape Caluerpa that are growing like the weeds that they are. I suspect the algae is using up the nutrients in the water.

I've been doing a 45 gallon water change every two weeks, just hooked and just hooked up a phosban reactor. I think my Flow is fine. The return pump, closed loop and powerhead turn the water over about 25 times per hour.

I have about 40 turbo snails and 20 ceriths plus 6 big Mexican Turbos that I bought yesterday in the tank. I had a sea hare that unfortunately met his end when he tried to eat some algae near the closed loop input.

One more thing - the water has a slight smell to it so I think there must me some detritus settling on the rock work. I've begun to blow it off with a small powerhead every day.

Soooooo.....is there something else I should be doing?


Thanks Lou
 
AngelPete

AngelPete

Just give your snails and crabs a shot to do their thing. My back glass use to be full of algae and after the snails its crystal clear. not even the rock have algae left and i onyl have about half the critter crew that you have . dont over feed and let nature do its thing, dont force it. it also helps to use the phosphate reactor or the new chemipure . good luck
 
C

camz28

for how long is your lights on for ? , how big of a tank , are your bulbs good what kind ?, do you have a lawnmover blenny they help a lot and tangs to .You may want to cut your lighting time a little bit for a couple of weeks .
 
H

harryk

I had mexican turbo's that took care of my hair algae problem in my old tank. Hopefully if i have the same issue in my new tank they will take care of it again

good luck
Harry
 
S

Singlemalt

Thanks to all for the help. I top of with RO Water routed through a Kalk reactor and my halides are on for 8 hrs a day. Went out and got another sea hare today - after I put a filter sponge on intake strainer of course.

Hope the turbos and the sea hare get the job done.
 
H

harlequinreef

in addition to everything else,,, blast the rocks regularly with a baster or powerhead, change mechanical and chemical filters frequently, and skim on the wet side. Watch your feedings and rinse frozens foods with RO prior to feeding. Reduce pellet or flake feedings as well.
 
S

Singlemalt

My bulbs are brand new - got them in the PA group buy last week. I guess I have been a little lazy about changing filter socks and have been skimming dry. We'll fix that up ASAP.
 
T

tangdude

if this is only on a couple of rocks remove them and scrub them off. you can do this at water change. shake the rock in the water you take out realy good. get all the crud off of it. it sounds like you have alot of flow but it may be directed poorly. make sure your rockwork is open and not stacked right on top of each other. you want water flow through and around to remove as much detritus as possible. dont just blow the hair algae off of your rocks you will spread it all over. tape an old toothbrush to the end of a siphon tube and gently scrub it while removing as much as possible. you could try running phosguard. it will not leach back into your water when used up. what type of skimmer do you have?
 
S

Singlemalt

Thanks Tangdude - I'm running an MSX 200. Seems to be pulling a lot of crud out of the tank I have to empty it every couple of days. I set up a phosban reactor and am running Rowaphos (god that stuff is expensive) and have a bag of Carbon stuff into the filter sock the drain line to my sump too. I will scrub the rock bit by bit when I do water changes and even invest in a new toothbrush!!!
 
B

boontonbob

It's always good to get reminder on hair algae removal. I thought I was making headway until a week ago. Someone once said spiking up the magnesium level can help greatly, but I have yet to try. Anyone try this?

Anyone know a local source for mexican turbo's? I haven't tried these yet. I also haven't been rinsing my frozen food. Thanks there 'hreef'

Lou - where did you get your mexican turbos? I'd hate to pay shipping on just these, but my need to soon. Anyone know a source up north near rt 80?
Thanks
 
G

gettankedaquariums

Singlemalt,

Here are some helpful tips to think about:

Doing a 45 gallon water change is too shocking to your system.
Rule of thumb for water change, 20% of total estimated water volume, divided by 4 (average of 4 weeks per month), end number will be your starting point.
IMO, start out doing a 10 gallon water change per week and progress as your bio-load increases.
Think of the weekly water change as being a vitamin shot and this will help to stabilize your aquariums water chemistry top 6 values, i.e. pH, alkalinity, calcium, magnesium, potassium and borate / A.K.A. boron and will help to minimize the supplementation of the above.

You say your water smells.
Carbon in a bag and placed in a water current in a sump is called the passive mode.
Remember water will always take the path of least resistance.
Run your carbon in a media reactor to maximize water and carbon contact time.
Carbon will remove the tank smells and make your water crystal clear.
Replace carbon every 3 to 4 weeks.

I read you only use metal halides.
IMO, I would suggest to supplement your metal halides with 2 to 4 fluorescent bulbs (T-5 and or T-12) and use them as your primary duration of illumination (7 to 10 hours) and use your metal halides as your secondary illumination (3 to 6 hours).
Less use of your metal halides will reduce your tanks temperature and electricity usage.
By using the 2 types of bulbs you can mimic dawn (minimum light), noon (brightest part of the day) and dusk (minimum light).

What micron are your filter socks?
IMO, anything above 25 micron is less effective at removing the small particles i.e. when stirring your sand and or blowing your rock off is what passing thru microns filter socks with microns larger then 25, these particles are what breaks down the quickest to create nitrates and phosphates.
Minimize nitrates and phosphates sources and you will reduce the undesirable algae’s.

Good Luck!
 
S

Singlemalt

Hi Gettanked thanks for the advice. Looks like I'm making progress the algae isn't as bad as it was a week ago and the water has lost most of it's funky smell. I do in fact run flourecent lights along with the halides. The water change schedule you recommend sure does make more sense than mine so that's what I'll start doing and a media reactor for carbon will be my next purchase.

Thanks again
Lou
 
S

Singlemalt

Well it looks like things are going in the right direction - the water doesnt' smell anymore and the algae growth seems to have slowed down. Saw this in the current Reefkeeping Magazine http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2008-07/nftt/index.php. Pretty interesting theory that might apply to me especially since....

My rock is 50/50 mix of live rock and Marco Rock. It's the Marco Rock that seems to have most of the algae growth.

My fuge has some rubble rock that broke off from the live rock and there is virtually no algae there. You would think that if it was in the main tank it would be in the fuge too wouldn't you?

Has anyone tried the rock cooking method mentioned in the article? Does it make sense that phosphates can be buried so far in the base rock that you would have to "cook" them? Seems odd especially since ALL the rock cured for 6 weeks or so.
 
C

CoralsMania

Getting rid of "Hair Algae" can be a slow process! However, if you followed the member here who have given you great solution, will get rid of this hair algae in a matter of time. In a recent meeting at Tangdude house, we also had a discussion about hair algae, many had ideas, that were mention here. A fellow reefer, had a burst of hair algae problem. I had told him to keep the lights off for 3 days. If you have fish and softies you could go a little longer without light. Your fish or LR does not need lighting. Just a thought is your tank near a window, where you might be getting direct light, this can cause hair algae!
 
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