hair algae out of control...
- Thread starter davidjapw
- Start date
yosemite sam
Active Member
We need to know more about your tank before we can help. How big and how old is it? What sort of substrate (sand, crushed coral, etc) and how much live rock do you have? What are your water parameters, especially nitrates and phosphates? What sorts of animals do you have? What about lighting, skimmer, and other equipment. If you can answer these with as much info as you can give then we can start to help you out.
davidjapw
New Member
Originally Posted by Yosemite Sam
We need to know more about your tank before we can help. How big and how old is it? What sort of substrate (sand, crushed coral, etc) and how much live rock do you have? What are your water parameters, especially nitrates and phosphates? What sorts of animals do you have? What about lighting, skimmer, and other equipment. If you can answer these with as much info as you can give then we can start to help you out.
tank has been running since oct. 20th but was upgrated from a system running since late may (7 months)
90 Gal. with 30 gal. sump
120lbs. sand (40lbs. live) 4 to 5 in. sand bed
90 to 100 lbs. live rock from original tank
nitrates between 0-10
phosphates 0.25
very light load on tank
1 firefish
2 scooter blennies
1 cleaner wrasse
1 percula clown
15 turbo snails
10 jade hermits
10 blueleg hermits
2 sand sifting stars
1 serpent star
1 cleaner shrimp
2 peppermint shrimp
48"aqua lunar light
no skimmer yet but plan on getting one soon
We need to know more about your tank before we can help. How big and how old is it? What sort of substrate (sand, crushed coral, etc) and how much live rock do you have? What are your water parameters, especially nitrates and phosphates? What sorts of animals do you have? What about lighting, skimmer, and other equipment. If you can answer these with as much info as you can give then we can start to help you out.
tank has been running since oct. 20th but was upgrated from a system running since late may (7 months)
90 Gal. with 30 gal. sump
120lbs. sand (40lbs. live) 4 to 5 in. sand bed
90 to 100 lbs. live rock from original tank
nitrates between 0-10
phosphates 0.25
very light load on tank
1 firefish
2 scooter blennies
1 cleaner wrasse
1 percula clown
15 turbo snails
10 jade hermits
10 blueleg hermits
2 sand sifting stars
1 serpent star
1 cleaner shrimp
2 peppermint shrimp
48"aqua lunar light
no skimmer yet but plan on getting one soon
yosemite sam
Active Member
Your phosphates are really high, which is probably part of the problem. What test kit are you using, and what kind of water do you use for top-offs and water changes (RODI, tap, etc.)? How long do your lights run? Lastly, how much flow do you have in your tank, powerheads, return pump, etc.?
davidjapw
New Member
Originally Posted by Yosemite Sam
Your phosphates are really high, which is probably part of the problem. What test kit are you using, and what kind of water do you use for top-offs and water changes (RODI, tap, etc.)? How long do your lights run? Lastly, how much flow do you have in your tank, powerheads, return pump, etc.?
API phosphate test kit
RO water only
about 8-10 hours daily
1000 gph from the sump
hydor koralina 3 turbo pump
(I have very strong flow in the tank)
Your phosphates are really high, which is probably part of the problem. What test kit are you using, and what kind of water do you use for top-offs and water changes (RODI, tap, etc.)? How long do your lights run? Lastly, how much flow do you have in your tank, powerheads, return pump, etc.?
API phosphate test kit
RO water only
about 8-10 hours daily
1000 gph from the sump
hydor koralina 3 turbo pump
(I have very strong flow in the tank)
yosemite sam
Active Member
Have you tested your tap water for baseline water parameters, and do you have a tds meter or test your RO water? When did the algae first appear? Sorry for all the questions, just trying to understand your system.
davidjapw
New Member
Originally Posted by Yosemite Sam
Have you tested your tap water for baseline water parameters, and do you have a tds meter or test your RO water? When did the algae first appear? Sorry for all the questions, just trying to understand your system.
I don't use tap water
I get my RO water from the lfs
about a week ago
Have you tested your tap water for baseline water parameters, and do you have a tds meter or test your RO water? When did the algae first appear? Sorry for all the questions, just trying to understand your system.
I don't use tap water
I get my RO water from the lfs
about a week ago
yosemite sam
Active Member
Test the RO water before you put it in your tank. The LFS might not have the most pristine RO water if they don't change their filters regularly.
You can try shortening your photoperiod. Do you have any corals? If you don't have anything photosynthetic, you can shorten it quite a bit. Did the algae appear after you switched tanks?
You can try shortening your photoperiod. Do you have any corals? If you don't have anything photosynthetic, you can shorten it quite a bit. Did the algae appear after you switched tanks?
davidjapw
New Member
Originally Posted by nycbob
why dont u try converting ur sump into a fuge, and put cheato in there. cheato will lower ur phosphate and nitrate.
Just returned from my lfs. Purchased some cheato for the sump, PhosBan to help lower the phosphates, and some carbon.
I am doing a 20 gal. water change in th morning.
Hpefully that will do the trick.
why dont u try converting ur sump into a fuge, and put cheato in there. cheato will lower ur phosphate and nitrate.
Just returned from my lfs. Purchased some cheato for the sump, PhosBan to help lower the phosphates, and some carbon.
I am doing a 20 gal. water change in th morning.
Hpefully that will do the trick.
ninjamini
Active Member
Here is a post I created a while back. Its funny because I have gotten alot of free rock because of hair algae. Its easy to beat. Just take away.....
https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/t/255585/do-you-have-hair-algae
Do you have hair algae?
If you have a hair algae problem then read my cure all. I just recently took a tank off someone's hands, a very experienced reefer too, who had a hair algae problem that they could not fix. But the fix is so easy when you understand it. This is the instructions for a established tank. If your tank is under 3 months old read below* first.
Hair algae wont grow if you don't feed it.
1. Use Ro/DI water ONLY. If your not doing this then you are making a fatal mistake.
2. Pick off the big clumps of hair. Pull the rocks out you can and pull pull pull. Dip them back in the water to get the algae to hang down. Turn off the flow for the rocks you cant remove while you pick it off. By picking off the big clumps you remove the nitrates and phosphates from the water.
3. Know why it grows. It consumes nitrates, phosphates and light. Export the nitrates and phosphates with water changes and some cheto. Rember if you test says that you have 0 Nitrates and 0 Phosphates that does not mean you don't have them. It just means that they are consumed. If you have algae growing then you have nitrates and phosphates. Yea there in there.
4. Cut back on feeding. Where do you thing those nitrates and phosphates come from. If you have any really piggy fish then you may want to move them to QT.
5. Turn down the photo period by shutting the lights off and only turn them on for 6 hours a day. Most corals can handle this for a month. Just think of it as the rainy season.
6. Get a emerald and some mexican snails. Yea the big ones. They will both eat the short stuff.
7. Time. Give it 3-4 weeks then start to turn the lights to 7, 8...more hours till your back to a normal amount of time.
Done. Now I have my nano cube filled with sand, rocks, zoos and fish because I was able to follow this plan and he was not. Which is weird since he has an awesome sps tank.
*If your tank is new that is less than 3 months old then the question is not how to get rid of them but understanding that this is only part of the natural cycle of a new tank. If this happened just as your ammonia and nitrites test at 0 then its going to grow. Its the same reason because there is alot of nitrate and phosphate in the water. This would be the time to do your first water change and then add your clean up crew. They will take care of the algae along with water changes.
Remember don.t feed your nuisance algae and it wont grow.
Good Luck.
https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/t/255585/do-you-have-hair-algae
Do you have hair algae?
If you have a hair algae problem then read my cure all. I just recently took a tank off someone's hands, a very experienced reefer too, who had a hair algae problem that they could not fix. But the fix is so easy when you understand it. This is the instructions for a established tank. If your tank is under 3 months old read below* first.
Hair algae wont grow if you don't feed it.
1. Use Ro/DI water ONLY. If your not doing this then you are making a fatal mistake.
2. Pick off the big clumps of hair. Pull the rocks out you can and pull pull pull. Dip them back in the water to get the algae to hang down. Turn off the flow for the rocks you cant remove while you pick it off. By picking off the big clumps you remove the nitrates and phosphates from the water.
3. Know why it grows. It consumes nitrates, phosphates and light. Export the nitrates and phosphates with water changes and some cheto. Rember if you test says that you have 0 Nitrates and 0 Phosphates that does not mean you don't have them. It just means that they are consumed. If you have algae growing then you have nitrates and phosphates. Yea there in there.
4. Cut back on feeding. Where do you thing those nitrates and phosphates come from. If you have any really piggy fish then you may want to move them to QT.
5. Turn down the photo period by shutting the lights off and only turn them on for 6 hours a day. Most corals can handle this for a month. Just think of it as the rainy season.
6. Get a emerald and some mexican snails. Yea the big ones. They will both eat the short stuff.
7. Time. Give it 3-4 weeks then start to turn the lights to 7, 8...more hours till your back to a normal amount of time.
Done. Now I have my nano cube filled with sand, rocks, zoos and fish because I was able to follow this plan and he was not. Which is weird since he has an awesome sps tank.
*If your tank is new that is less than 3 months old then the question is not how to get rid of them but understanding that this is only part of the natural cycle of a new tank. If this happened just as your ammonia and nitrites test at 0 then its going to grow. Its the same reason because there is alot of nitrate and phosphate in the water. This would be the time to do your first water change and then add your clean up crew. They will take care of the algae along with water changes.
Remember don.t feed your nuisance algae and it wont grow.
Good Luck.
coral keeper
Active Member
I also have a hair algae problem. My stock list is: 1 small Maroon Clownfish, Red Mushroom, 3 Margarita snails, Xenia, 2 Metallic Green Torch heads, 2 Torch heads, Toad stool, Feather Duster, 2 Nass Snails, 1 small Pacific Anemone, Chaeto Algae, 13 LB of Live Sand, 13 LB of live rock, and lots of diff hitch hikers. Its a 8 gallon oceanic bio cube. Its been set up for about 9-10 months so far. I feed my clown every other day.
ninjamini
Active Member
Originally Posted by Coral Keeper
I also have a hair algae problem. My stock list is: 1 small Maroon Clownfish, Red Mushroom, 3 Margarita snails, Xenia, 2 Metallic Green Torch heads, 2 Torch heads, Toad stool, Feather Duster, 2 Nass Snails, 1 small Pacific Anemone, Chaeto Algae, 13 LB of Live Sand, 13 LB of live rock, and lots of diff hitch hikers. Its a 8 gallon oceanic bio cube. Its been set up for about 9-10 months so far. I feed my clown every other day.
A Maroon clown will get way too big for an 8 gallon.
I also have a hair algae problem. My stock list is: 1 small Maroon Clownfish, Red Mushroom, 3 Margarita snails, Xenia, 2 Metallic Green Torch heads, 2 Torch heads, Toad stool, Feather Duster, 2 Nass Snails, 1 small Pacific Anemone, Chaeto Algae, 13 LB of Live Sand, 13 LB of live rock, and lots of diff hitch hikers. Its a 8 gallon oceanic bio cube. Its been set up for about 9-10 months so far. I feed my clown every other day.
A Maroon clown will get way too big for an 8 gallon.
coral keeper
Active Member
Originally Posted by ninjamini
A Maroon clown will get way too big for an 8 gallon.
Yeah, i know.
A Maroon clown will get way too big for an 8 gallon.
Yeah, i know.
coral keeper
Active Member
Hey ninjamini, what els should i put in my tank to stop the hair algae? Like fish, inverts, ect? Ill post a few pics of my tank.
coral keeper
Active Member
Here is a link to my 8 gallon diary and here is a pic of the tank i just took. I feel embarrassed showing a pic of my tank.
https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/t/281119/coral-keepers-8-gall-bio-cube-reef-tank-diary
https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/t/281119/coral-keepers-8-gall-bio-cube-reef-tank-diary
ninjamini
Active Member
Originally Posted by Coral Keeper
Here is a link to my 8 gallon diary and here is a pic of the tank i just took. I feel embarrassed showing a pic of my tank.
EEEEEEeeeeeeeekkkkkkkkkkkkk..........Thats bad! But I have seen worse.
OK You get my help.
1. Where are your nitrates and phosphates? Your test may say 0. But its not. There are nitrates and phosphates stored in the hair algae.
2. No more feeding this tank. Use a small amt of food every 3 days or so.
3. You need to rip off the long stuff. Nothng will eat that long stuff. You do not want it to decay and return the stores nutrients into your water. Only way to do this is to pick up the rocks and use the water to make the algae hand down so you can grab it. ITs yuckie but it has to get done. This may tank a few days of doing this. ITs hard to see the algae when its not in the water and some may sprout up as you go.
4.No food! No light. These feed the algae as much as the fish and corals. If you feel bad about starving the fish and corals them move them to another tank with a heater/llight...
5. Once you pull off all you can its time for emeralds, turbos, pencil urchins, mexican snails. Anything that will eat at the algae on the rocks.
6. Once you add the critters then watch for more algae or any you missed. Pull off what ever you can get your fingers on.
7. Water changes. The break down of this algae will increase nitrates and phosphates. You will need to monitor and change water.
This is the issue when you have a small tank with a big fish. They produce too much waste and eat too much. What you really need is a tank that can have a refrigum so that you can run cheato that will consume both these things. They were my savior.
Remember you have to minimize nitrates and phosphates. You can do this by:
=dont introduce them into the water. They get there by both feeding and poo.
=export them through water changes.
=export them through the use of an macro algae like cheato. Cheato needs both nitrates and phosphates to grow. When it grows you simply rip some off and dispose. Thue you exported the N&P that were stored there.
Buy a bigger tank. They are easier to take care of and allow for more plumbing. I started with a 6 gallon. went to a 12 nano cube then a 55 then a 90. Bigger is easier.
Here is a link to my 8 gallon diary and here is a pic of the tank i just took. I feel embarrassed showing a pic of my tank.
EEEEEEeeeeeeeekkkkkkkkkkkkk..........Thats bad! But I have seen worse.
OK You get my help.
1. Where are your nitrates and phosphates? Your test may say 0. But its not. There are nitrates and phosphates stored in the hair algae.
2. No more feeding this tank. Use a small amt of food every 3 days or so.
3. You need to rip off the long stuff. Nothng will eat that long stuff. You do not want it to decay and return the stores nutrients into your water. Only way to do this is to pick up the rocks and use the water to make the algae hand down so you can grab it. ITs yuckie but it has to get done. This may tank a few days of doing this. ITs hard to see the algae when its not in the water and some may sprout up as you go.
4.No food! No light. These feed the algae as much as the fish and corals. If you feel bad about starving the fish and corals them move them to another tank with a heater/llight...
5. Once you pull off all you can its time for emeralds, turbos, pencil urchins, mexican snails. Anything that will eat at the algae on the rocks.
6. Once you add the critters then watch for more algae or any you missed. Pull off what ever you can get your fingers on.
7. Water changes. The break down of this algae will increase nitrates and phosphates. You will need to monitor and change water.
This is the issue when you have a small tank with a big fish. They produce too much waste and eat too much. What you really need is a tank that can have a refrigum so that you can run cheato that will consume both these things. They were my savior.
Remember you have to minimize nitrates and phosphates. You can do this by:
=dont introduce them into the water. They get there by both feeding and poo.
=export them through water changes.
=export them through the use of an macro algae like cheato. Cheato needs both nitrates and phosphates to grow. When it grows you simply rip some off and dispose. Thue you exported the N&P that were stored there.
Buy a bigger tank. They are easier to take care of and allow for more plumbing. I started with a 6 gallon. went to a 12 nano cube then a 55 then a 90. Bigger is easier.
