Green Hair Algae Problem

[leafman2]

I have massive amounts of green hair algae growing on my rocks and am wondering what the best solution is to get rid of it once and for all. Please Help!!
Some background info: I have a 100 gallon tank that is about 18 months old. I am running T5 lights on it that are about 1 year old now. My latest test results are as follows: Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 50, Phosphate 0.25, Solinity 1.026.

 

[beth]

Leafman, welcome to SWF.com.
I'm going to move your question over to our Fish forum, where you should get some help.
In the meantime, can you post up some info about your tank, and water readings?

 

[danedodger]

Yep, giving us specifics on the results of your water tests and about your tank setup will help.
Generally speaking though excessive nuisance algae comes from too much light, phosphates like what's found in tap water, overfeeding, and your nitrates being too high. Is any of that going on?

 

[hagfish]

Originally Posted by DaneDodger
Yep, giving us specifics on the results of your water tests and about your tank setup will help.
Generally speaking though excessive nuisance algae comes from too much light, phosphates like what's found in tap water, overfeeding, and your nitrates being too high. Is any of that going on?
DaneDodger is correct. But even if you don't find high readings on phosphates/nitrates, don't believe it. What is happening is the hair algae is consuming those resources before you can test for them. If you have excessive hair algae, then you have too much nitrate and/or phosphate and you'll have to find a way to reduce them IME

 

[blue20051]

what is the best way to get rid of phosphates?

 

[leafman2]

Originally Posted by Beth
Leafman, welcome to SWF.com.
I'm going to move your question over to our Fish forum, where you should get some help.
In the meantime, can you post up some info about your tank, and water readings?
Here is some background info on my tank as requested. It is a 100 gallon tank and is approx 18 months old. I have T5 lights that are about 1 year old now. My latest test results are as follows: Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 50, Phosphate 0.25, Solinity 1.026. If anyone can give suggestions on how to eliminate the green hair algae in my tank - I would really appreciate it.

 

[jmick]

If feel for you, I had terrible fits with hair algae a couple of years back and it took me about 5 months to get it under control and I will share with you how I was able to do it.
First, the key to controlling hair algae is to keep your nutrients under control (excessive nutrients may be caused by a lack of skimming, to many fish, over feeding, not enough live rock, no dsb, poor water movement, etc). The first step I took was to toss out my old air driven skimmer and I invested in an Aqua-C, which pulls out a lot of waste. Next, I took out my crushed coral bed and installed a deep sand bed (4-6”). After this I installed a refugium with Chaeto and a deep sand bed to help process nutrients. I also took out all of my live rock and scrubbed it clean of algae (this is a very effective method of nutrient export). Also, to aid my skimmer I invested in several powerheads to help keep all waste suspended with water column (no dead spots where waste will accumulate). Finally, after scrubbing the rock I did a 30% water change.
Even after all of this the hair algae didn’t disappear overnight, it took a couple of months for all of it to disappear and I’ve been hair algae free since.

 

[hagfish]

Jmick pretty much nailed it there. Your nitrates are too high as are your phosphates. The things Jmick mentioned will reduce both.

 

[dcowboy]

Thanks Jmick that was very informative. I'm having that same problem right now.

 

[segsig]

I also thank Jmick as I am also having that problem but I dont have the high nitrates just phosphates around 5. My one question is how to replace the crushed coral substrate with the sand without killing everything and recycling the entire tank?????
thanks

 

[hagfish]

Originally Posted by segsig
I also thank Jmick as I am also having that problem but I dont have the high nitrates just phosphates around 5. My one question is how to replace the crushed coral substrate with the sand without killing everything and recycling the entire tank?????
thanks
One way is to take out the crushed coral, but put it in some kind of fishnet container, or maybe pantyhose and leave that in the tank sitting on top of the live sand. Just leave that in there for a few weeks and then just take it out. Should be ok then.

 

[danedodger]

segsig, I personally think the best way to go on that is to take the crushed coral out a bit at a time. If you take out a bit at a time then replace the spot you took the CC out of with sand you won't really be harming your bacterial buildup significantly. When you replace with the sand either put the sand in a container of some kind with a hole in the top, lower it gently into place, then again gently let the sand out of the container to help minimize the sandstorm effect. Or another option is to run a tube of pvc down to the now bare spot and slowly pour your sand through that.
If you use regular sand it will develop the bacteria you need if you wait a bit between replacing spots of CC with sand. Or better yet if your pocketbook can withstand it is to replace it with good livesand.
Had to edit just to say that I really like hagfish's suggestion too! I'd think you could replace all of it at once with that method since you still have all the CC in there with the bacteria still intact and it will seed your sandbed. Just use one of the two methods I suggested to minimize the sand clouding up the entire tank.

 

[hagfish]

Originally Posted by segsig
I also thank Jmick as I am also having that problem but I dont have the high nitrates just phosphates around 5. My one question is how to replace the crushed coral substrate with the sand without killing everything and recycling the entire tank?????
thanks
Or even more fun is to upgrade tank size and just cycle it like usual in a different location in the house, then transfer everything over when it's done. Then not only do you solve your phosphate problem, you get a bigger tank out of the deal

 

[phoenixpi]

Leafman,
I had that problem for a couple of months in my 55. I was to the point of removing all my rock and actually scrubbing it with a brush every two weeks or so. Finally, my knuckles couldn't take it anymore. I was trying everything to avoid changing my crushed coral substrate. In the end, I upgraded to a 120. In the upgrade, I removed all the rock into a very large Rubbermaid bin. I kept it covered, with no light or food source and two powerheads for circulation. I also changed to a dsb. I'm happy to say that after about three weeks of water changes in the Rubbermaid rock bin, the hair algae was gone and has not reappeared since. Here's the short version:
Get a large trash can filled with water from your tank. Put a heater and powerhead in the trash can, then your fish. Then drain most of the rest of your water into add'l trash cans, leaving just enough to use to scrub down all surfaces that have algae. Syphon what's left and discard it. Then scoop out and replace your substrate. Then replace the water, doing about a 25 % water change in the process. This is the very simplified version, but you should get the idea. Plan most of your day, it took me about 8 hours.
Hope this helps. I know what a hassle hair algae can be.

 

[segsig]

sounds very simplified and easy--well, do-able for a beginner like me. Question about replacing the substrate-if I put in live sand, and then put back the water (I do put back the same water right???) does it need time to cycle before the fish go back in or can I put the fish in right away when I return the water????
Also, whats the best way to scrub the live rock and using what without damaging it or the tank in general when everything goes back in?
Of course I would love to upgrade in the process but my wife doesnt agree!!!!!
Thanks

 

[phoenixpi]

You shouldn't re-cycle because you're using the water that came from your tank. Basically you're just doing a large water change. I should have mentioned that I used the pre-packaged live sand that comes in bags from the LFS. I can't remember the brand name, but it's the stuff that says on the bag that you don't need a cycle. I wouldn't test that theory on a new tank, but since you're using your water I think it's o.k. Worked for me anyway. Also, just to be safe, put a little of your crushed coral in two or three old pantyhose and place those in various spots on the live sand to help get it going good.

 

[phoenixpi]

Missed the part about scrubbing the rock. If you "cook" the rock like I described, you don't scrub it at all. I just put it in the Rubbermaid bin, with enough water to cover it and two or three powerheads for circulation, then as you do water changes in your tank over the next 2-3 weeks, take the old water from your tank and do water changes in the rock bin.

 

[segsig]

well I went to the LFS and will be getting the live sand and trying this procedure and hope all goes well. I plan on scrubbing the LR with a metal brush instead of "cooking" it like you had mentioned previously and replacing it the same day in the tank. Should this effect the tank when I put it back in? Also, should my goal be to remove ALL the hair algae or leave some there--especially for the Coral beauty who always seems to be going at it.

 

[jmick]

You may want to use a large stiff bristled toothbrush to clean the rock--it's what I used and it worked really well. I also used a pipe cleaner for those hard to reach spots.

 

[segsig]

Jmick....did you put the live rock right back in the tank after you cleaned it? Are you able to get all algea the hair algae off or just most as I have never done this before? I was planning on putting it in the tank, then putting in the new substrate-live sand, and then putting back the water, fish and then more water.