Hair algae ARGH! (long post)

[Cougra]

As some of you know, I have been having problems with hair algae recently and I’m at a point where I don’t know what to do with it anymore. I’ve had my tank for 4 years now and the past three years my tank ahs been relatively problem free.

When I started up my tank, I knew NOTHING about saltwater tanks and relied on a couple books and the LFS clerks for proper setup of my tank. So my tank didn’t have the greatest start in the world and one of the many things I did wrong was that I set up the tank with a crushed coral substrate. After a few years of serious learning and research I knew that eventually I would have problems in my tank mainly from the CC not being able to sink nutrients anymore. I was prepared for the eventuality of having to change out my substrate.

About 2.5 months ago I started having bad cyano and hair algae blooms in my tank. I hadn’t done any changes in the tank for a while. My bulbs were fairly new, water movement in the tank was adequate and I was doing regular water changes in the tank (if nothing else I kept up with those). I hadn’t had a nitrate reading in my tank for nearly 3 years and suddenly they were starting to climb a little along with an accelerated growth of caulerpa and hair algae. I decided it was time to switch out my CC substrate and either remove or replace it. 1.5 months ago, I decided to replace the substrate with 50Lb’s of southdown sand.
So I tore down my tank, removed all the CC, and cleaned out all the rock. I scrubbed the rocks (where I could) to remove as much hair algae as possible and blasted out as much debris as humanly possible. It’s amazing how much can get trapped in the pores even with regular blasting of the rocks. When I changed over the substrate, my cyano problems were no more but the hair algae persisted.

Tank
29 High display tank
20Gal sump with small ref built in
Lighting (all bulbs are a maximun of 6 months old)
2 55W PC’s one actinic, one 10,000K
2 20W NO 7,500K
13 hours full lighting/day
1 Unreliable US Aquariums Venturi style HOB skimmer
Water movement is with return from sump and three internal powerheads
50Lb southdown sand
35-40 LB live rock

Water parameters
Ammonia 0ppm
Nitrite 0ppm
Nitrate 10ppm
Alk 4.5 meq/l
Calcium 390ppm
Phosphate 0ppm
pH varies between 8.0 and 8.3 throughout the day
Temp 80-81F

Inhabitants
1 Royal Gramma
2 Ocelleras Clownfish
1 Lawnmower Blenny
Zoo’s
A couple small shrooms
A couple stocks of Xenia
15 hermit crab
5 adult Turbo snails + unknown quantity of babies.
1 emerald crab (I hope! I haven’t seen it in the past month that I’ve had it but my small patches of velona have been disappearing so I’m assuming it’s still alive)
a bunch of Caulerpa
some recently added Halimedia
small patch of velona
Hair algae to feed an army!

Feeding
I feed a homemade blend of shrimp, scallops, crab, lobster, cod, squid and clams. I also add some Kent Zoe vitamins to the blend. I then freeze the blend in small manageable size cubes to feed my fish once a day. (I was previously feeding twice a day until the hair algae got out of control.) When I feed the fish, I thaw the food in RO water then drain the liquid and feed the remainder to the tank.

Water changes / Maintenance
For my water changes I am currently using RO/DI water from a store that specialized in providing filtered water. I haven’t tested the water I get from the for a while since I haven’t had any problems (that I knew of) for a while and assumed the water is good. I don’t have any way of testing the TDS of the water I’m adding to the tank.

I currently have a 6 stage 100GPD RO/DI unit and TDS meter on order which will be here by Friday at the latest so I can have more control of the water I’m putting in the tank.

I do a 10 – 15% water change every 7 –10 days using IO salt mix. All my top-ups are done with the RO water I get from the water store. When I do water changes, I currently pull as much hair algae from the tank as possible, blow off the debris from the rocks and lightly siphon out as much crude as I can from both the tank and the sump.

I only have two additives that I add to the tank to keep the Alk/calcium levels balanced if needed. Those are Kent’s Turbo Calcium and Seachems Reef Builder. Those are added in small quantities very seldom since the water changes tend to keep things in check for me.

Additional information
During the past year I haven’t been keeping the best care of my tank due to personal reasons. I haven’t made any changes to the tank or it’s inhabitants until about a month ago when I added most of the hermit crabs, the Lawnmower Blenny and the emerald crab. I also added a few small colonies of Zoanthids to help renew my interest in the tank that had been seriously lacking for a while. I had been doing the bare minimum maintenance to keep my tank going.

Also my Skimmer is no the most reliable piece of equipment. I have to constantly fight with it to get it to produce any amount of decent skim. During this past year there have been some long (month or two) periods of time where I gave up on the skimmer and went skimmerless instead of fighting with the damn thing. Every time I got it set up where I felt it was pulling enough out of the tank, something would happen like the pump giving out or power-outages that would require me to reset the skimmer. It’s not a user friendly skimmer and even this past month it has gave out on me a couple times. This is the something that is driving me nearly as nuts as the hair algae in the tank. I have plans to replace this skimmer as soon as I can afford to with an AquaC Remora HOB unit.

Overall I’m extremely frustrated fighting with my tank. I have spend more time with my tank during these past two months then I have in the 10 months prior to changing over the substrate. I know that I haven’t been the most vigilant lately and have been seriously considering taking the tank down since it was causing more stress then I needed. It was becoming an object I could point to and lay blame on for the final bit of stress that threatened to do me in. Now that things have settled down in my life again, I’m trying to deal with this final headache.

I hope I haven't left much out and if so, please ask! I’m open to suggestions on how to cope with this problem and appreciate any help/comfort you are willing to spare!


Here is a view of the disaster zone I call a tank just before I start ripping out the algae once again today! (This is about 5 day's Hairalgae Growth) Hope this gives you an idea of what I'm dealing with.

[Curtswearing]

Cougra,

I'm a' thinkin'. I'll be with you shortly.

[Spooda420]

tagging along here, you sound much more expirenced than I, I have the same problemon my tank.

Though I likely know where my problem lies thanks to Curt. Food. soak the food in RODI water then risne the food in RODI water. maybe you test kit for PO4 is old, not reacting properly? plant need food to grow which means there is food for the plant in your tank are you sure you have viable test kits maybe a second opinon is in order?

on a different note I am tryin to get rid of my HA and right know I have a urchin that is working wonders on it.

good luck

[Mebigloser]

Are you using Instant Ocean Salt?

[ste]

your problem is not as bad as it seems when i had a problem with hair algae i had that growth in 5 days but it covered every square inch that was uncovered, and seemed to grow faster than i was pulling it out.
i tryed everything to ged rid of it not much worked in the long term untill i went to a new LFS and had some advise from a guy which buy a sea hare. i was like yeah o.k thought it was like all other advise helps but does not solve the problem. well i bought one and in 5 to 6 weeks my tank was free from hair algae, still is to this day. mY sea hare eats the nori i put out for my fish when it can't find enough algae growth. hope this helps

[ste]

i forgot to add i helped it by pulling the worst out by hand but that is it. oh here is a pic of my tank today i have none of it then no digi cam but i had it 3 4 inch long like a lawn so you could picture it

[Cougra]

Spooda420 wrote
maybe you test kit for PO4 is old, not reacting properly? plant need food to grow which means there is food for the plant in your tank are you sure you have viable test kits maybe a second opinon is in order?

I have thought about my tet kits being no good so I went out and baught a brand new tet kit praying that I could get a phosphate reading! I know that sounds silly but at least I would know that was definately the problem. I am still not ruling out high phosphate level from the list of possible causes, I strongly believe that the nutrients are just being bound up as fast as they are added to the tank.

Mebigloser wrote
Are you using Instant Ocean Salt?

Yes I am.

Ste wrote
your problem is not as bad as it seems when i had a problem with hair algae i had that growth in 5 days but it covered every square inch that was uncovered, and seemed to grow faster than i was pulling it out.

The bare spots are where my lawnmower blenny is keeping up with things after I pull all the algae out. He is definately the fattest fish in the tank!

I have considered getting a lettuse nudibrach but haven't been able to find anything locally. I am also reluctant to get an urchin because they eat coraline and I kinda like the coraline growth I get in the tank, even though a lot of it bleached when I changed over the substrate and is just starting to come back again.

As for the sea hare, I'm not certian it would be a good idea to put such a large creature in my relatively small tank. I think I am already close to the max bioload I want in there and I'm not sure how it'll affect my Zoanthids. I'll keep an eye out for one though and I'll reevaluate my opinion should I find any for sale locally.

I know a lot of this problem started from the lack of care I was able/willing to give the tank this past year. Now it's a matter of getting it back in order again.

[dgasmd]

Michelle:

You certainly ahve started in the right track to tackle this evil sent gift. I battled the same problems for months at 300% larger volume, so I know exactly what you are going through.

The hair algae is still growing because it still has a source of extra nutrients. It is a shame you added the southdown when you tore up your tank. I would have added less than 1/2" later of CC instead. More than likely your old sand bed was nothing more than a poop/nutrient sponge. You now have a brand new sponge. As far as your PO4 test kits, I wished I had known before because I would have told you not to even bother buying one. It is useless because the form of PO4 that is abundant in your tank is not the type the kit is testing for.

Now, for solutions.

1. I would start by cutting down on the feedings some more. Most of us that make out own food from many sources end up blending tons of tiny parts that jsut get spread in the tank and has no particular fish that will go after it. It just rots in the rock work and feeds algae like the one you are having.

2. If there is any way to make your food more compacted into smal size chunks the fish can still tackle I would do that.

3. I would even increase the volume of your water changes if possible to maybe 20-30% every 10 days for a couple of months. Prior to doing a water change, take a powerhead or turkey baster and blow on the rocks forcefully to get some of the debris to come out and get sucked out with the water change.

4. If you could invest in a more reliable skimmer it would pay in itself in the long run. Not necessarily more eexpensive either. Just something that works consistantly. You could even build one from PVC pieces that would hide behind your tank. Efficiency is the key.

5. If you don't have a refugium, get one and add a variety of macroalgae. They will halp, but they are not the solution by any means.

6. Get rid of the sand.

[SaltyQueen]

Originally posted by Mebigloser
Are you using Instant Ocean Salt?

Just wondering- why do you ask? Could this brand of salt possibly be contributing the the algae outbreak? If so, is there a brand that is better to use to avoid algae outbreaks? Just curious, because I use IO, and I've never had a problem with hair algae, but if it's a possibility, I may want to switch to something else.

[NaH2O]

SaltyQueen-

The only thing I've read is IO had a bad batch that caused some issues with people's tanks. If you go to a couple other forums, you can find a rather lengthy threads on this issue. There are many IO users that do not have any problems at all from IO. This is a debate that may be best on another thread. If you aren't having any problems, then I wouldn't worry about it.

[SaltyQueen]

thanks nikki- maybe i will start a new poll...

[mojoreef]

Hey Michelle dont worry your on the path of recovery already. Right now you're only paying for previous sins. Your early lack of maintainence and cleaning has saturated your LR and your old sand with nutrients. Now your old CC is gone and your LR is just sheding detritus which is feeding the algae.

You have some good advice above for sure, here is a little more to maybe help you on your way. On the water changes, just do them as you would a normal routine. Remember ASW has nutrients in it too. As mentioned above Slow down on the feeding. go once every 2 days just keep and eye on them for health. On your additives I would suggest changing over to Kalk (at least for a time) it will help you battle the phosphates that maybe happening.
Heres the main one, the majority of what is happening in your tank is coming from the LR. , Right now it is in the process of sheding itself of all the detritus it has been filling with for awhile. Everywhere you see a hair patch you can be garranteed to find some detritus under it. Take a turkey baster and give the hair a good blast you should see some of the stuff come out. Stop plucking it, all that is doing is allowing the hair algae to spew what it has bound back into the water. Heres a simple set of things to do for a little while.
>Try converting to kalk if you can
>Spend your time blowing the rocks. the more the better
>Blow into the hair algae as much as you can to. The hair will be a good indicator of how you are doing
>slow down on the feeding a bit to control input. On the food loose the crab, lobster, and clams. Never feed squid. Cod as a fish to feed is good but you may want to try salmon instead (it has color enhancing aminos). Ohhh you can send me the lobster, hehehe.

Michelle here is the way you muct look at your tank right now. it is in recovery mode and it will take a bit to get thier. Your LR is doing what it is supposed to do, shedding detritus, let it do it and help it along by not alowing the detritus to sit on the surface. If it does the hair algae will be coming to dinner.
Give it some time sweetie its on its way.


Mike

[JennM]

Some great advice all around. Manual removal, while doing all of the above, you will get ahead of it sooner or later.

Patience...

I've been to he** and back with a few tanks I maintain this way...

Jenn

[Mebigloser]

There had been some issues with Instant Ocean and algae outbreaks, make up some and do a check on it before using it.

[Cougra]

Thanks Curt, Spooda, Mebigloser, Ste, Mary, dgasmd, Nikki, Saltyqueen, Mike and JennM for your advice, support and encouragement. I greatly appreciate the advice I have been given so far.

It is a shame you added the southdown when you tore up your tank. I would have added less than 1/2" later of CC instead. More than likely your old sand bed was nothing more than a poop/nutrient sponge. You now have a brand new sponge.

Yes I'm aware that I've jsut added a new nutrient sponge and I know it's going to have to come out someday, but I still decided that's what I wanted to use. I .HATE the look of Crushed Coral and so far I like the look of the southdown. I suppose I could have used a 1/2 inch layer of it though.

I wished I had known before because I would have told you not to even bother buying one. It is useless because the form of PO4 that is abundant in your tank is not the type the kit is testing for.

I'm aware that the test kits aren't the best at measuring phosphate as well, but I was being sadistic and praying for something to show up on any of my test kits. lol I beleive it was the first time I was actually HOPING for bad readings in my tank so I could point fingers at something other then myself

now to cover your points dgasmd:

1. Can do
2. Can do
3. I'm going to wait until I get my TDS meter and RO/DI unit or until next weekend (whichever comes first) before I do any more water changes just in case...
4. I would LOVE to get a new RELIABLE skimmer just need to figure out the fundings for it.
5. I have a small ref in my sump and there are a lot of macro's in the system (more growing in the main tank at the moment then I care for but I have them none-the-less.
6. This one is harder. I actually like the look in the tank at the moment with the sand. I'll be willing to pull a lot of the sand out, but I will NOT go back to CC and I don't like/want a BB tank.

Mike:

I guess I could switch to Kalk for a while. I'll pick some up. If it helps so much the better. I'll have to dust off that old dripsystem I stopped using way back when... Now, does anyone know where I could get some Pickling Lime in the GTA??

I was suspicious of my live rock being part of the problem as well. It's amazing how much debris I was able to get out of the rock when I tore down my tank to remove the CC. Will the rock eventually clean itself out enough to start working as a filter again or am I hoping in vain here?

When you say, stop plucking the hair algae, what am I suppose to do? Let it grow as long as it wants? It's already a couple inches long and my Lawnmower blenny doesn't seem to touch it when it gets that long and bushy. And there is one patch there that is attempting to strangle out some of my Zoanthids which I really don't want to happen.

In reguards to blowing the debris out of my rocks, when I get my own RO/DI water going, I'm going to make up a batch of SW and remove most of my rocks again and give them another good cleaning outside the tank. I'll even be willing to scrub down the rocks that don't have any corals and are overrun with hair algae if that would help.

I'll also make the suggested changes to my food mix. However I doubt the lobster will make it to you in very good condition there Mike, but if I ever make it out your way to see your tank, count it as and IOU for all the help you've given!

Hey Michelle dont worry your on the path of recovery already. Right now your only paying for previous sins....

Your right there. I guess I'm just extremely lucky that things really aren't worse then just having a hair algae problem. I could have lost everything and reallly been kicking myself for it.

...Michelle here is the way you must look at your tank right now. it is in recovery mode and it will take a bit to get thier.

Thanks Mike! I like this way of looking at what I'm going through. It's not nearly as depressing as putting the blame for a years worth of neglect on my shoulders.