Mike Johnson
Well-Known Member
I must have a weird stubborn issue too. Except sometimes I'll pay someone to fix my trucks. Can't be extremely good at everything, can you? Oh, and I hire welders, too.
I must have a weird stubborn issue too. Except sometimes I'll pay someone to fix my trucks. Can't be extremely good at everything, can you? Oh, and I hire welders, too.
I actually just removed and scrubbed every rock in the tank, so the HA is currently about 98% removed. This is the 2nd time I've done this in the past 4-5 months.
if you removed all the rock and scrubbed them, does that not also remove the good bacteria living on the rock? if so, then does that not indicate that you have less good bacteria breaking down nutrients?
I'm no expert but I'll toss this idea out there for discussion. You say you've had your rock for 8 or so years. I've "read" that live rock can lose its luster after a while (8 years was quoted in the article)..... Old rock syndrome or what ever.
The reason I bring this up is because you've tried everything and I've seen successful, algae free tanks with your husbandry so it's possible. With your equipment, husbandry and knowledge, I tend to think it not something obvious (or really obvious).
Ever think about switching out maybe 1/4 of your rock every few months until you cycle through all of it?
Every time I post a thread like this, I get lots of generic answers about doing water changes, skimming, using RO water, feeding less, etc.
I won't give any of those answers as I don't think any or all of them will do anything. 1,000 lettuce slugs will also not work nor will snails or urchins. Your tank also does not have Old Tank Syndrome as mine is over 40 years old. I would not clean or cook the rock or remove every bit of detritus. I would not dim the lights, feed less or change the water.
First I would like to say that hair algae is a normal part of any reef. I will post a picture I took a couple of weeks ago of a reef in Hawaii.
Yes, I know we don't want hair algae growing in our tank and I am not suggesting you grow it there. But hair algae is the best eliminator of hair algae. You just have to grow it someplace else that has better growing conditions. As I said my reef is over 40 years old and in that time it has had cycles of hair algae many times in the past. It always went away on it's own but for the last 8 or 9 years I installed an algae trough which has better growing conditions than in my tank. It is a shallow trough or tray above my water that has a light over it and good water flow. Algae grows in there and none of it ever grows in my tank.
Any lighted refugium will work as algae is self limiting and can only grow if it has enough nutrients to grow. As soon as it depletes those nutrients, it instantly stops growing and starts to die. If it dies in your tank, those nutients will go right back into the water fueling more algae. If adding snails or changing water would work, why are there so many threads about hair algae? That never works and changing water may make it worse. Algae needs more than nitrates and phosphates. It also needs iron and when you change water, you add more iron. But whatever algae needs, it doesn't matter because you can learn to live with it rather than trying to eliminate it as it is natural and not harmful. It is actually healthy as long as it grows someplace other than your corals.
i havent viewed your thread in a while so i dont know what your filtration is like but i thought id throw this out there.... i dont typically run any sort of sponge filters or socks, but to help control detritus ill throw some in and blow off my rocks with a powerhead. ill lightly blow the sand to because i dont like to vacuum it. after its filtered itself for a couple hours ill pull them all and clean them.
but in all honesty i havent had any noticable hga in so long im not even sure i remember whats effective and whats not.
This is where I need to be. I used to absolutely love my tanks, now I almost hate them. They used to represent joy and now they represent death and misery. I built that complex LED light setup so I could get into corals, but I don't want to put anything alive in there anymore...
i would like to clarify that i will get hga in my sump(fuge section). people say to remove it to export the nutrients but i have never once cleaned my sump with the intentions of exporting nutrients(not advocating any specific method). all i really have in there is a very small amount of chaeto and a dsb with like 10 lbs of rock. right now theres like a 6x8 inch patch of hga and a little cyano but my dt is clean as can be.