Hair algea?

[turn8299]

I am having a problem with what i am calling hair algea. It grows long like hair and is green in color. What are some good ways to rid this? All my readings are good. I have even cut down on my lights some but has not seemed to help very much. I only have an engineer goby and 4 blue hermits. Should I get a lawnmower blenny? I would rather find the problem and not control it. Thanks in advance!

[sambrinar]

I had horrid HA, ended up taking out the rock and scrubbing. I also added phosban in a mesh bag, it absorbs po4. My tank is only 12.5 gallon. I also ran actinic only for 7 days rather than daylights, but it depends on what else is in your tank. I only have zoas and xenia in there, they can survive with actinic only for a short period.

You need to find the cause, mine is overfeeding. How big is the tank, po4 levels?

Besure to rinse all food in RO/DI water before feeding the tank, even flakes, it is all high in phos.

What kind of top off water are you using?

[Shermy]

We had some pretty decent hair algae going when our tank first started going. Upping our CUC and getting a sally lightfoot (love hate relationship) really helped cut down on everything.

[framerguy]

Several things can cause it including phosphates, old bulbs, bulbs of wrong spectrum, overfeeding, low alkalinity, and others. Try examining your source water, feeding habits, alkalinity, and lights and make sure they are in check. Get a good cleanup crew of algae grazers. You may have to actually crop the algae so the grazers will eat it, sometimes if it's too long they won't touch it. Look into installing an algae turf scrubber so the algae grows where you intend for it to and is starved in the tank.

[turn8299]

Sorry I was so long to reply. My tank was bought new in March of this year so I think that it would not be the lights. Now that I think of it, someone told me one time to use chemi-pure elite and it would probably help with my algea. Anyone use this? Did it work?

[framerguy]

chemicals like that are a questionable quick fix. It is best to figure out the cause. A quality clean up crew would also be a better alternative IMO. The chemical balance in a reef aquarium is delicate, I don't like adding magic potions that do this or do that. A sea hare would put a huge dent in that hair algae. After the algae is gone you could trade the sea hare in to the LFS or supplement his feeding with nori strips.

[turn8299]

Maybe I will try the hare.....thanks for the replies.

ROLL TIDE!

[plecosword]

hey I just posted on about this lol, Check this out, https://www.cherrycorals.com/equipme...7&bestseller=Y

[DaveK]

Originally Posted by turn8299

I am having a problem with what i am calling hair algea. It grows long like hair and is green in color. What are some good ways to rid this? All my readings are good. I have even cut down on my lights some but has not seemed to help very much. I only have an engineer goby and 4 blue hermits. Should I get a lawnmower blenny? I would rather find the problem and not control it. Thanks in advance!

The first thing you need to understand about nuisance algae problems is that you must control nitrates and phosphates to get results, period.

All the other items like, old bulbs, clean up crews, chemical additives can be factors, but unless you first control nitrates and phosphates, all you will do is replace one nuisance algae with another.

The second thing that must be understood is that even if your test kits read low or even zero, you still have a nitrate and/or phosphate problem. The existing algae is consuming these nutrients and using them to grow.

To control nitrates and phosphates, you need to export (remove) them at a greated rate that you import (add) them to the system.

Here are the common items that add nitrates and phosphates to your system -

Over feeding your system. This is by far the most common problem. Foods for livestock is a major source.

Over stocking the system. Closely related to over feeding. Too much livestock, and you have too much waste products to process.

Not using RO/DI water to mix your salt. Tap water is a major source.

Using filtration systems that have become "nitrate factories". Not changing mechanical filter media often enough is another major source. It should be cleaned at least weekly. Trickle filters that trap dirt can also become "nitrate factories".

Using a low grade carbon. Many low grades of carbon leach phosphate.

Using many water additives, except the calcium ones, can also be major nitrate sources.

Live stock that dies and isn't removed. Can be a problem, especially on a reef.

Here are the common items that remove nitrates and phosphates to your system -

Water changes - 10% weekly or 25% monthly is a minimum. If your having a problem do more water changes.

Removing unwanted algae - This exports the nitrates and phosphates directly.

Using a correct amount of live rock, about 1 to 1 1/3 lbs per gallon of water. BTW, it's usually best to cure live rock outside the reef system. Cueing live rock generates a lot of nitrates and phosphates.

Using a deep sandbed to reduce nitrates. This could be in a refugium.

Use a large skimmer, and run it a lot, you'll remove a lot of waste products before the biological filtration needs to deal with it.

Use a denitrification filter. Personially I always found these to be more trouble than they are worth.

There are other factors you can check -

Make sure your light bulbs are reasonably new.

Make sure your photo period is not too long.

Run the skimmer to remove waist products.

Algae control can be done. Can be done, but it requires a lot time and effort.

[framerguy]

Good stuff Dave.

[turn8299]

Thanks for all the info Dave. The only thing I can think of is getting a skimmer. I did not have a problem until about 2 months ago but I have not really changed anything either. I am not overstocked..only have 4 hermits and a toadstool, not overfeeding..nothing much to feed, and I do use RO water. It is odd because I have had many a saltwater tank and never had hair algea problems to this degree. This may sound weird but like I said I did not have this problem until recently, but 2 months ago is when I removed my ceremic media because someone told me that it was a nitrate factory. After that I had this problem. I am not saying that removing that caused all of this but that is the only thing that I have done different since the outbreak.

[framerguy]

You need some way of removing excess nutrients from the water. Either a turf scrubber which would probably be most effective, or a skimmer. Look at this ( Mega-Powerful Nitrate and Phosphate Remover Replaces Skimmer, Refugium, Everything ) and see if it is possible to incorporate one in your system. You algae problem will go away if you can.

[DaveK]

Originally Posted by framerguy

You need some way of removing excess nutrients from the water. Either a turf scrubber which would probably be most effective, or a skimmer. Look at this ( Mega-Powerful Nitrate and Phosphate Remover Replaces Skimmer, Refugium, Everything ) and see if it is possible to incorporate one in your system. You algae problem will go away if you can.

On algae turf scrubbing -

This is a method that does work, but a word of warning. The person that posted most of the posts, SantaMonica, is a strong advocate of algae scrubbing, and sometimes doesn't recognize that, like any other filtration system, there are drawbacks to algae turf scrubbing.

I used algae scrubbing for many years, and if I were to use it again, I would make some changes. The main one would be that I'd still use a large skimmer, and I'd feed the algae scrubber with water that had already been processed by the normal filtration system. This is similar to how a refugium is usually connected today.

Still algae turf scrubbing can be an excellent addition in the war against nitrates and phosphates.

[DaveK]

Originally Posted by turn8299

... This may sound weird but like I said I did not have this problem until recently, but 2 months ago is when I removed my ceremic media because someone told me that it was a nitrate factory. ...

Ceramic media can become a nitrate factory. It depends on the type of media. If you are using a solid ceramic ring, like Eheim's EHFIMECH, there is little surface area for bacteria, so it only becomes a problem if it traps a lot of dirt and you don't clean it. Usually you should clean any mechanical media about once a week.

If you are using a porous ceramic media or glass media like Eheim Substrat Pro, this has a much greater chance of becoming a nitrate factory, since there are so many small cells in the media. On the other hand, the media can hold a lot more bacteria.

[turn8299]

So Dave, I think I have the first one that you mentioned. Like I said, I did not have this problem until I took the bag out. I dont guess it would hurt to put it back in just to see if it helps. Would you suggest doing that? That is the only thing that I have done different since this algea took over.....taking the ceremic media out. Thanks in advance and ROLL TIDE-11-0!