Cant figure out cause of green hair algae on sand...test done.

[marka1031]

Last few month I'm battling hair algae on my sand bed (50 gallon reef). I'll pick it off and will be back in a week. Seems to be located to just left side of tank. I do 5 gallon water changes every month (sometimes 10) and just did a water test out of frustration

PH- About 8.0
Phosphate 0.0
Ammonia- 0.0
Nitrite- 0.0
Nitrate- 0.0

I run a Kessil 360N LED about 12 hours a day which ramps up to full and then ramps down. Two clowns and two damsels with soft corals.

Anyone else have any ideas?

I use RO water and that is perfect and my tank is about 8 years old.

Thanks

 

[jay0705]

What is the tds of your water?

 

[marka1031]

My RO comes out at 0 ppm and tested with a TDS meter.

 

[Bryce E]

0 phosphates and 0 nitrates while only doing monthly water changes? Are you carbon dosing? Skimming heavily? That's just crazy to see none. If it were me I'd just add something that eats it if you want it gone and cleaning/water changes aren't doing the trick. Without nutrients present it's strange but life always finds a way right? Could be the spectrum of your lighting keeping it going.

 

[pegasus]

Strange that it's only in one spot... and growing in the sand. It sounds like something in that area is feeding it, though hair algae apparently doesn't need much to survive and/or thrive. You may have a patch of phosphate and/or nitrate trapped in the sand in that corner, which could account for zero detection. I'd have to try siphoning the sand from that area and giving it a good washing. You'll lose the beneficial critters and bacteria from that patch, but it shouldn't take it long to reseed from the surrounding sand.

 

[marka1031]

I don't run a skimmer and run chemo pure once in awhile. Thats abut it. Currently running phosband as I thought that might of been an cause. Made no difference tho. Not sure, perhaps the lighting.......

Wondering if I should tone down the blue light and stick with the whiter light or vice versa. The kessil LED can swing/program either way.

 

[jay0705]

Perhaps a small aand sifter. Goby or star

 

[flower]

Hi,

You are getting a false reading on your phosphates, and nitrates, the nuisance algae is feeding on it. Hair algae is a macroalgae, it is the nature of macros to absorbs and feed on the nasty stuff in your water, ammonia, phosphates, nitrites and nitrates, even iron...hair algae may look bad, but it will keep the parameters pristine. The more nasty stuff in the water, the faster it will grow. Small daily water changes, limit the time of the lights being on, and being careful to not overfeed fish or coral, is the best way to control and eliminate hair algae.

Keeping decorative macros in the display, or in a refugium would keep the parameters pristine, and prevent problems such as hair algae... The problem is that once you have hair algae, it will starve out any competition because it grows the fastest. Red macros grow the slowest.

 

[bang guy]

Is that an area that accumulates detritus?

 

[marka1031]

Seems to be the area it is mostly located in. I'll do a 5-10 gallons water change today, hand pick it off (again) and kick the lights down either to mostly Actinic and or shorter time frame.

 

[bang guy]

I'd suggest either getting a little more flow to the sand bed area there or manually siphoning out the detritus once a week or so.

For now I would simply siphon it off the sand surface.

 

[marka1031]

Well, adjusted flow, 5 gallons water change and vacuumed sand with eheim quick vac pro (including algae on the sand). See how it is in a few days.

Thanks for all the suggestions

 

[silverado61]

Problem with that is, if you keep just vacuuming it out, sooner or later your going to have to replace the sand you pick up with the algae.

Just a thought.

 

[geridoc]

I'm with Flower about the phosphate and nitrate - zero readings don't mean anything. The hair algae are using these ions, so the observable levels are low, but still available. Do not change your lighting to more white light - white light contains red, which is the wavelength that algae use. Blue light is for the zoanthellae in corals, but free-living algae don't use it well. The best success I have ever had in combating hair algae was to compete with it by using an algae scrubber - and it took months, but was eventually successful.

 

[silverado61]

I agree. I used to have hair and bubble algae problems till I put my algae scrubber online and within two weeks both were cleared up.

 

[CWS-1014]

does it matter how big the algae scrubber is, compared to size of the tank?

 

[bang guy]

does it matter how big the algae scrubber is, compared to size of the tank?

Kinda. It's actually the amount of nutrition you add to the tank that matters. A large tank with two small fish isn't going to need a scrubber as large as what a smaller tank with 10 fish is going to need.

But even if it' not as large as you would like a smaller one will still help.

 

[CWS-1014]

thanks bang! its funny, I have been reading and learning from you guys on this site (bang,peg,flower,snake,etc..) for over a year and decided to join and maybe even help someone with the problems I have been having! I wish I would have started reading this before I started my tank back up! I pretty much have done everything backwards!

I have a 120 tall and GHA is outta control I keep throwing money at it and nothing seem to help!?
(lights on 8 hrs.,sump w/big protein skimmer, feeding very little every other day, water changes, ro/di unit, phosphate pads, ect..) and I am waiting on some things I ordered for the turf scrubber.

all test seem to be good!? false readings im sure!? took water to LFS and they tested saidwater was pristine!?

I am almost ready to give up! any more suggestions?

 

[CWS-1014]

oh forgot to add my stock list!
hippo
yellow tang
sixline
perc and maroon clowns
now a algae blenny
50 assorted snails which some seem to be disappearing?
2 skunk cleaners
2 emeralds
1serpent star
all of them pretty small
and a few small corals

 

[reefkeeperZ]

generally hair algae on the sand indicates a build up of algae food there (po4 etc), i would increase flow to that area and stir the sand in that area regularly for a while. adding nassarius vibex snails to your sand bed will allow them to turn your sand bed for you. I regularly stir the top inch or so of my sand bed before water changes to kick up some of the mulm that accumulates in there so it gets exported with the waterchange or gets a second shot at getting filtered out.