What's the best way to manually remove hair algae from LR?
- Thread starter Lee
- Start date
Lee
Member
Wow.
Ok, well I've got a buddy who works at the LFS, so I'm going to get like 10, and once the tank is clean, I'll return 6 of them
Lee
Member
Alright, so at some point in the past month or so, my pH had dropped into the mid-low 7's. My pH has never been off, and considering how often I change the water, I don't check it that often. I read that there is a strong correlation between hair algae and low pH. I don't know which caused which; if algae growth dropped the pH or vice versa, (most likely a combination of both) but I added a tablespoon or two of pH Up and got it back to around 8.2. I scrubbed away as much of the hair algae as I could, and the Turbo Snails are (slowly) working away at the rest. I also changed the GFO in my reactor, and verified that my algae scrubber is still somehow not growing algae. 
My fish seem happier; my pink-spotted-watchman Goby has finally come out of hiding and Neal the Eel is out and about.
So I'm hoping that was the key... I mean ****, I have Cheato & Cualerpa in the Fuge, a Santa Monica algae scrubber, a Reef Octopus Diablo XS160 skimmer, a GFO reactor, about a hundred snails, 10 turbo snails, RODI water, I run my lights 7 hours a day, and I feed HALF a cube per day, and somehow, some way, I still have rampant algae. Hopefully this was the one thing I was still missing, because I don't even know what else there is left to try...
My fish seem happier; my pink-spotted-watchman Goby has finally come out of hiding and Neal the Eel is out and about. So I'm hoping that was the key... I mean ****, I have Cheato & Cualerpa in the Fuge, a Santa Monica algae scrubber, a Reef Octopus Diablo XS160 skimmer, a GFO reactor, about a hundred snails, 10 turbo snails, RODI water, I run my lights 7 hours a day, and I feed HALF a cube per day, and somehow, some way, I still have rampant algae. Hopefully this was the one thing I was still missing, because I don't even know what else there is left to try...
reefer gladness
Well-Known Member
With respect, pH UP is a freshwater product not intended for saltwater tanks. Using a product like pH UP is treating the symptom but not the illness.
Your alkalinity is low - practically guaranteed. Your magnesium may also be low, it's difficult to maintain stable alk with low magnesium. I'd get back to basics and make sure your water chemistry is all square. Test for calcium, alk and mag and dose accordingly until you bring levels back slowly to normal levels.
PS - that pH UP stuff also causes calcium and magnesium to precipitate out of the water.
Your alkalinity is low - practically guaranteed. Your magnesium may also be low, it's difficult to maintain stable alk with low magnesium. I'd get back to basics and make sure your water chemistry is all square. Test for calcium, alk and mag and dose accordingly until you bring levels back slowly to normal levels.
PS - that pH UP stuff also causes calcium and magnesium to precipitate out of the water.
dmac43
New Member
I just returned home from vacation to a tank full of green hair...
Turbos, crabs, and a couple of doses of API Marine Algae Fix have me fairly clean again...
I believe my issue was a combination of too much / Too strong light, and a protein skimmer that was not set up properly.
I have a chevron Tang coming tomorrow and apparently he likes to eat the green algae as well, so I left a bit for him.
Turbos, crabs, and a couple of doses of API Marine Algae Fix have me fairly clean again...
I believe my issue was a combination of too much / Too strong light, and a protein skimmer that was not set up properly.
I have a chevron Tang coming tomorrow and apparently he likes to eat the green algae as well, so I left a bit for him.
FishOuttaWater
Member
We had it in our school aquarium so we bought a lawnmower blenny. He mowed it all down.
Matt
Matt
Lee
Member
No its not. Its just sodium carbonate, Na2CO3. Commonly used to increase pH and total alkalinity in pools, hot tubs, and fresh & saltwater aquariums.
Perhaps low pH was the illness. I've done everything I can think of to reduce the presence of algae, yet I had a tank coated in hair algae. No other algae; no slime, nothing on the glass. Just hair algae, and it grows extremely well in low pH.
I have taken the following measures for algae control:
-7 hour lights (Luxeon LED lights, not old bulbs or anything)
-meager feeding schedule
-minimal tank stocking
-CUC with over 100 snails, 10 Mexican Turbo Snails
-oversized high end skimmer
-refugium with nitrate eaters
-GFO reactor
-Santa Monica algae scrubber
-RODI water w/new filters/membranes
-chemical algae treatments
-regular 30% water changes...
I have all there is to have, I've done all there is to do. My discovery of the low pH was something I should have caught earlier, but didn't, and now it is something new to deal with.
#1, It WAS low, and #2, the sodium carbonate WILL raise alkalinity along with pH.
Its virtually impossible to have a 7.2 pH with alkalinity over 180ppm, and yes, mine was below that. It was around 100-120ppm, which is why the pH was allowed to be so low. Alkalinity is a measure of your water's ability to neutralize acid, as quantified by a sum of all the bases in the water. Having an alkalinity in that range tends to result in a pH in the low-mid 7 range, because any acids that are introduced lowers the pH instead of being completely neutralized by the dissolved bases that make up your alkalinity. Alkalinity and pH are not DIRECTLY tied, but with an alkalinity of 100, your water will neutralize acids at a point that typically tops out in the low 7's.
I deal with this stuff on a daily basis as my job. My family owns a hot tub store and I've worked there for over 10 years.
No it doesn't. Calcium is unstable in water with higher than normal pH, (normal being 8.2) and in warm water. This is why hot tubs require a pH around 7.3 and mineral sequestering agents to prevent calcium precipitation, because its unstable in hot water. It is much more soluble in cold water (aquariums, swimming pools, etc) and generally, calcium precipitation is not a huge concern in cold water unless your pH levels are extremely high. The solubility of calcium/magnesium has nothing to do with the pH UP product; that is merely a tool to raise pH. Calcium solubility is a function of pH and water temperature.
reefer gladness
Well-Known Member
Dose whatever you want in your tank but I'll point out it says right on the label: "Can I use pH Up in a saltwater aquarium?
No. pH Up will precipitate calcium and magnesium, resulting in a white haze in the aquarium. Marine salts are formulated with a large amount of carbonate buffer to stabilize the pH."
Your tank, your money and your choice what to use.
Lee
Member
Sorry, now that I re-read that post, it sounded a lot more b*tchy than I intended.
Anyway I see what you're referring to, the API pH Up product lists your quote exactly, which is strange, because I pulled the MSDS sheet on that, and its sodium carbonate... I've seen sodium carbonate pH increaser that was clearly labeled for saltwater aquariums.
I do appreciate the warning, but in this specific case, I'm not worried about it, because I know chemically how pH relates to the precipitation of dissolved solids. And we're only talking about roughly 2 tablespoons of this stuff; not enough to make anything go wild.