FOWLR Hair algae

roggy

roggy

Member
What is the most effective and quickest way to fight Green Hair Algae....
I have no corals so are there any chemicals that i can use that would immediatley
solve my problem.
60 gal setup
skimmer, and 2 powerheads
total 5 fish only
Geen Hair algae always been a prob, run lights for 2-3 hours only
i dont feed much
15% water change once a month
 
cain420

cain420

Active Member
ur not using tap water are u?? if so switch to ro water and that should help.. if ur already using it, i cant help ya with chemicals.. get something that eats it!
 
pallan

pallan

Member
only runniing lights 2-3 hours really suprises me that much would grow in there at all. is the tank near a window/ what kind of lights are you running, and for the experts sure to come post your water parameters amm, trite, trate, ph, salinity, phosphates
IMO do not add any chemicals to your tank. i have done that for other reasons and unless recommended by beth in the desease forum you really should not add chemicals to your tank.
 
lion_crazz

lion_crazz

Active Member
What is the nitrate level in the tank?
How old are the light bulbs?
What is the nitrates and phosphates of your RO water?
My best guess is that you need to increase your water change frequency to once a week or every other week. We will know once you answer some more questions though.
We do not need to know ammonia, nitrite, pH, and salinity. They have no relevence to this issue.
 
roggy

roggy

Member
the tank is somewhat near a window and my lights are old for sure... 4 55 w compact flurescent lights is what im running.
all levels read 0 when i ran the tests
i dont know if i can afford 4 lights right now :( dam
 
danprospec

danprospec

Member
I would bet it's your lights, if you cannot afford new bulbs -can you afford a tang or flame angel on eor the other should help temporarily, but the bulbs needs to be replaced as soon as you can do it.
When was the last time you cheked your R/O filters? That may be a prob as well
 
danprospec

danprospec

Member
just a thought- what type of clean up crew are you running? Some blue legs would help and be a lot cheaper. One post from ealier tonight said emerald crabs, but once they get big sometimes they become a problem
 
roggy

roggy

Member
U GUYS ARE GREAT WITH THE QUICK RESPONSES.....
the tank isnt getting much sunlight so its ok where it is...
The RO water I get from the fish store...
The lights are definately old...
The tank is too small for a yellow tang 60 gal...
I had a flame angel before didnt touch the algae...
clean up crew isnt all that much
i even bought a sally lightfoot one time and he was useless towards the hair algae...
if i turn off the lights for a long time wil that help?
 
symon

symon

Member
I would say turning off your lights will help , But you said there is a window nearby, I would think that's the culprit, also CC or Sand?
 
brat

brat

Member
Roggy
I had the same problem and no matter what I did, it kept coming back. I had a 20g at the time did my normal water change(RO), scooped out what I could (about half), went out and bought 15 blue leg hermits and 10 turbo snails ($15.00). Within a week to week and a half, the problem was gone and has never come back.
 
roggy

roggy

Member
I have a sand bed, not CC.....
Also i do recall one time i turned off my lights for like 5 days straight and the algae never went away, was still there. Just didnt look as Greenish.
the green crap is always on my sand bed too. looks horrible :(
there is a window somewhat next to it but the windnow has blinds...
MY bulbs are old but i have a feeling if i bought new bulbs thepeoblem wont go away :thinking:
 
agent707

agent707

Member
What does "old bulbs" have to do with algae? Especially compact flourescents? They last like 10k hours. There's really not much color change in them until late in life cycle.
And to change them every 6 months???
This theory sounds home minted.
 
O

oreo12

Guest
there are some snails they have what looks like a silver back nitrels? or somthing close to that. I bought some when my 29 had that hair alge mine started right after puting the pc lighting on it. Seems like anytime you change the lighting you go through some change in the alge growth or type you get anyway the snails eat it all up and where ever they go the rock just shines all nice and clean they are $1 a peace around here.
 
roggy

roggy

Member
i just bought 10 mexican hermit crabs... I hope they help...
im turning lights off also for atleast 3 days
 
O

oreo12

Guest
Originally Posted by roggy
i just bought 10 mexican hermit crabs... I hope they help...
im turning lights off also for atleast 3 days
ok but you might want to find 6 of them snails they wont let you down.
 
roggy

roggy

Member
u mean mexican turbo snails? do they clean the hair algae off the rocks???
or are they just glass cleaners?
 
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