Algae scrubber refugium

[nicodemus]

I have a 45 gallon reef tank and have been fighting a serious hair algae problem for some time. In my sump, I use a polyfilter,phosban, and carbon, even took out my bio balls, and do 10 gallon water changes every week...still no improvement. I was wondering if a refugium with macroalgae would help "out-compete" the hair algae and help absorb the excess nutrients (which dont show up on water tests).

 

[boozzbro]

you could just get some animals that eat it such as a lawnmower blenny or something like that. Hermit crabs also will eat that too.

 

[nicodemus]

I have both of those.....still growing

 

[boozzbro]

well then there a few other options first off i would say check out your levels high pohophates and nitrates lead to the growth of hair algae.
Your first real removal option is to run a skimmer that will get rid of a lot of the nutrients in your water.
the fuge will work. The algae you keep in there will get a good deal of the nutrients. At first it will grow real fast. you may even have to trim it to keep it in chek. As the nutrients are used up the growth of both your maco and the hair algae will slow down.
lastly you could remove as much of it as you can by hand. Basically just pull it off the rock dont let any slip out of your hand on the way out or youll just spread it all around the tank.
if none of those work then check the lighting. I have heard that certain types of light can enduce algae growth. Make sure you arent using "grow" bulbs. Your bulb might just be old at which time the specturm of light will change slightly and that could be the problem.

 

[mbowker]

A refugium will help your problem.
Also an immediate solution will be the mexican turbo snails will do the trick, they eat every drop.