about ready to give up!!!

[psycho]

well I have been dealing with an on going problem with green or brown hair alge! I have done everything I can think of.......well almost everything! LOL I have been feeding every other day very small amounts...did not help.....so I then not only do that now, but also use only ro water doing top offs and water changes.....that did not help so then I started keeping my lights on only 8 hrs a day..

......that did not help....all readings are fine. my tank is about 4 ft away from a window, but I keep the blinds shut all the time with my curtins closed, WHAT TO DO? the only other thing I know to do is replace the bulbs, it is about time to do that anyway, but I have had this problem since I first got my tank up and running right at a year ago. the lights might have something to do with it, but I don't think it would cause it to go all over my rocks....I mean ALOT you can't even see my coraline it looks ugly and I am about ready to give up!

 

[fish-man-t]

i no in fresh water hair comes from poor lighting not to much imo

 

[reefrobert]

I think Emerald crabs eat that !

 

[allenk]

I had the same problem and just within the last two weeks seem to be getting over it. It was very frustrating because I use RO/DI water, I don't overfeed, (I barely feed at all and everything seems fine: 1 clown, 2 damsels, 1 pseudochromis, and a coral banded shrimp and various snails, crabs)
I had green hair algae, some slimy stuff on the sand, and some sort of brown leafy algae growing over the rocks. I was picking clumps off the rocks all the time. Now, all of the sudden, the growth of this seems to be receding. The only things that I have changed is that I switched from a Red Sea Prism skimmer to a aqua C Remora and also, I aimed my power heads a little bit differently so that the surface of the water is broken more and is more turbulent.
Assuming for the moment that either one of these factors has anything to do with the change, my thought was that perhaps I was having a problem with carbon dioxide trapped in the water because of lack of oxygenation and not having enough turbulence to provide enough "clean" surface area on the top of the water.
Another thought I had was that since the aqua C pump is supposed to push about 400 gallons per hour, maybe the increased flow of water is the reason. The first thing I noticed is that the rocks below the skimmer seemed to clear up and the purple coralline was much brighter.
In any event, the stuff on the sand is gone and while there are a few places where the hair and leafy brown algae are still present, they no longer seem to be expanding and appear to be diminishing.
Bottom line: I think the jury is still out on my situation, but the preliminary lesson seems to be more flow and better oxygenation result in less algae.

 

[rslinger]

Water flow is a real good thought also emrald crab to.

 

[cajamajo]

Dont give up. I was going to, and I am glad that I did not. Keep reading, and learning. It will all work out just hang in there.

 

[steve24]

psycho, do you have a clean-up crew at all ???
if not, get some snails and crabs ...

 

[drewdog82]

I have had my tank up and running for almost 2 months and have also tried everything.....well almost everything.... I was also looking to the fact that maybe my tank needed more flow. I currently have 2 maxi-jet 1200's in my 55 and seem to think that it might not be enough flow. I am adding 2 600's and will point the 1200's at the 600's because I have read to have powerheads pushing water against each other creates good turbulence. I am also adding an overflow and sump to get more water movement and more motion towards the top of the tank. I too am very frustrated and have all levels near perfect,,, slight phosphates.

 

[chilwil84]

phosphates are a major cause and if u are testing any u may have more of a problem because the algae may be using it up as it is produced. i was having a problem with green algae on my glass and i started running a phosphate remover in a canister filter and since using the remover the amount of green on my glass has dropped dramatically along with washing all sponges/ deterous collectors regularly

 

[supalupa]

Keep your calcium as high as possible(450 or higher) and keep the temp in your tank lower (76-78). Corraline will choke out green and brown hair algae if you keep your calcium up. The hotter the water the lower the concentration of oxygen. You need high flow and lots of surface movement to battle this. If you have a sump then get some tubing and start a siphon and put the lower end in the sump with a micron bag over the end of it. Use the end in the tank like a vacuum and siphon all the algae out. Do this every day until its gone. If your lights are 1 yr old then they are also a problem.

 

[ibew]

in my 55gal I have a rio 2100 going up from the sump an overflow box that is rated at 800gals and 3 maxi 1200 and I might even add another one if you postion them right you can create a perfect swirl effect that your corals will love

 

[psycho]

Steve I have a clean up crew, around 100 small crabs, some snails, but that is all, should I have more then what I got now? I was thinking of getting a lawnmower blenny :thinking:

 

[lionfish1]

I agree with chilwil. I had the same prob with algae and finally got some rowaphos and the problem cleared up immediatly. I haven't had a problem since.

 

[psycho]

what brand of phosphate remover do you recommend? could I put it under my filter pad in my sump, where my water enters into the sump?

 

[lionfish1]

I recommend rowaphos because when it's used up it will not leach back into the water. It comes with a filter bag you can put anywhere in a high flow area (like your sump).

 

[watertite]

I put a UV sterizer in my tank and all the algae is gone period. Petsmart dot com has an affordable one for 29 and a higher wattage for a little more. I am telling you I enjoy the view much better and my fish seem happier, I still have to lick the tiny bubble problem but I will probably get an aqua C for my system. :happyfish