algae help have about had it!!!!

brewski4u1

brewski4u1

Member
ok so i have a pretty bad problem w/ hair algae i have tried everything i'm on my second set of new light and i'm doing 5 gallon water changes 3 times a week sucking up everything i can and even using a toothbrush on the rocks that are easy enough to get to ! my question is what am i doing wrong??? or what can i do to help get rid of this stuff
o and tank info
30gallon
250 mh
2- 69w pc
the tank is 4 years old
if you need more info just ask and i will try and give you all any any info needed.
thank you all very much !
 
24saltydog

24saltydog

New Member
First off, I hope you are using R/O water for your mix and top off. If not please invest in a R/O DI filter system. I would also strongly suggest running some type of phosphate remover depending on your filter system. I have just gone through this same problem and I purchased a denitrate system (Aquaripure- works great) and I am also using a product called (algone). The algone also works. It will remove your nitrates and phosphates and over time your alge will be gone. Do not scrub the rocks inside the tank with your toothbrush (you are spreading the alge spores). Do a water change and save some water, remove the rocks one at a time and clean the rocks in the water that you just removed from the tank. Then rinse the rocks in another bucket of clean saltwater. This will start the process, but you have to look deeper into what is causing your problem. Check the flow in your tank, add a power head or two and make sure your turning the tank over 8-10 times a hour. If your lights are old, change them. Make sure you use quaility lights. Cheep lights move the color spectrum very quickly so a little investment goes a long way. Keep doing your water changes and do not over feed the tank. Regulate how much you feed and make sure what you are feeding doen't contain high levels of phosphate. You need to starve the alage of food (Phosphate/nitrate), it will die but it takes some time. Good luck and don't give up.
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member
Originally Posted by 24saltydog
http:///forum/post/3171231
First off, I hope you are using R/O water for your mix and top off. If not please invest in a R/O DI filter system. I would also strongly suggest running some type of phosphate remover depending on your filter system. I have just gone through this same problem and I purchased a denitrate system (Aquaripure- works great) and I am also using a product called (algone). The algone also works. It will remove your nitrates and phosphates and over time your alge will be gone. Do not scrub the rocks inside the tank with your toothbrush (you are spreading the alge spores). Do a water change and save some water, remove the rocks one at a time and clean the rocks in the water that you just removed from the tank. Then rinse the rocks in another bucket of clean saltwater. This will start the process, but you have to look deeper into what is causing your problem. Check the flow in your tank, add a power head or two and make sure your turning the tank over 8-10 times a hour. If your lights are old, change them. Make sure you use quaility lights. Cheep lights move the color spectrum very quickly so a little investment goes a long way. Keep doing your water changes and do not over feed the tank. Regulate how much you feed and make sure what you are feeding doen't contain high levels of phosphate. You need to starve the alage of food (Phosphate/nitrate), it will die but it takes some time. Good luck and don't give up.

Great advice...

Everyting you wrote is dead on.
 
brewski4u1

brewski4u1

Member
ok i am scrubbing the rocks in a seprate bucket! the food i'm feeding is ORA GLOW! and i'm only feeding 3 times a week! i use anly RO water that i get from a friend and we test the ro and its perfect as far as i know! for flow i have 2 Hydor Koralia Nano plus a 200gph HOB filter!
for lights PCs are corallife or what ever and the MH is a German Ushio
and as stated above the lights might be a month or 2 old!
i'll do a full water test tomm and posst up the results ! sunday is another water change and more scrubbing! lol
 
kendon91

kendon91

New Member
Originally Posted by Brewski4u1
http:///forum/post/3171661
ok i am scrubbing the rocks in a seprate bucket! the food i'm feeding is ORA GLOW! and i'm only feeding 3 times a week! i use anly RO water that i get from a friend and we test the ro and its perfect as far as i know! for flow i have 2 Hydor Koralia Nano plus a 200gph HOB filter!
for lights PCs are corallife or what ever and the MH is a German Ushio
and as stated above the lights might be a month or 2 old!
i'll do a full water test tomm and posst up the results ! sunday is another water change and more scrubbing! lol
How many hours are you running your lights, and yes definately need water parameters.
 
brewski4u1

brewski4u1

Member
lights are as follows
pcs- 1130am-7pm
MH- 1230pm-630pm
water parameters
ph 8.0- 8.2
amm 0- maybe .25
nitrate 0
nitrite 0
phosphate 0
salinity 1.028
all test were taken at 230pm i think i'm gonna bring some water to the LFS next time i go to see if they get the same results or close to it just to make sure my test kit is good!
i know salinity is high i'll be working on that with the next water change!
also could adding "DT's" be adding to the algae in the tank?
and once again ask if you have anymore questions or need any more info thanks !
 
reelemin

reelemin

Member
build an algae scrubber.. give the algae a place to grow thats not seen it will help you alot..algae is going to grow just give it a nice place to grow where it will help you insted of being seen..
 
tank a holic

tank a holic

Active Member
I assume your HOB filter has bio balls in it
I recommend taking them out and replacing them with phos pad's
have you been cleaning your filter regularly?
also the charcoal section probubly needs replaced
 
brewski4u1

brewski4u1

Member
no bio balls its just a hob w/ a slide in filter and charcoal witch is replaced every 2 weeks at least! and the hole thing is cleaned as well at lease every 2 weeks!
also this weekend i'll be getting my water tested by the lfs to see if they get the same results i will also be beefing up my CUC i took a long look today and i only have 4 turbos and 3 or 4 hermits
this is what i'm going to go with tell me what u think!
20 dwarf ceriths
9 nassarious
12 florida ceriths
7 blue leg hermits
4 lagre nerite
and maybe a small brittle star!
 
tim514

tim514

Member
How many fish do you have? I currently have the same problem and I am pretty sure it is because my tank is overstocked. I am about to transfer to a 75gallon tank in the next few weeks.
I have 6 fish in my 30g, 1 starfish, and 2 turbo snails.
I also have a HOB filter with refugium. My live rock is ~40% covered in green hair algae that i continuously scrub off every week.
 
tank a holic

tank a holic

Active Member
Originally Posted by Tim514
http:///forum/post/3187286
How many fish do you have? I currently have the same problem and I am pretty sure it is because my tank is overstocked. I am about to transfer to a 75gallon tank in the next few weeks.
I have 6 fish in my 30g, 1 starfish, and 2 turbo snails.
I also have a HOB filter with refugium. My live rock is ~40% covered in green hair algae that i continuously scrub off every week.
welcome to the boards
have you tested your water? - what are results
how old is the tank
you need a bigger CUC
how often do you feed?
 
u mike

u mike

Member
welcome to the world of what is going on here.
I am going through the same as yourself, first thing I was told was to make sure you are using ro / di water
check your phosphates
get as much of the alage off your rocks ( clean out of the tank with old water from your water changes)
I was recomended to use a product called phosphate -e ( it is a liquid )
the other product to go along with it is called rowa phos ( this goes in your filter to suck up the phosphates that are breaking down from the liquid)
I have seen a big change in my tank
just reminder it will not change overnight. I am going on my 3rd week. the first thing you will notice is things will start to slowly break off , that is when you have to keep up with water changes.
I hope this info will help will check back .
good luck!!
 
fretfreak13

fretfreak13

Active Member
Take out your carbon in the filter and replace it with a bag of Chemipure WITH the phosphate remover in it. There are two kinds of Chemipure, the kind with and without the phospate remover. Every LFS around me (there's like 50 with an hour radius) all carry both kinds, I'm sure you'll have no problem finding it.
 
J

jstdv8

Guest
im no expert, but he posted that his phosphates were at 0 and there are alot of people saying he should use stuff to remove phosphates.
how is that going to work?
 
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