Hair Algae problem. Need help on solution please

tjnitro

tjnitro

Member
I had some medical reasons that kept me form taken care of my 75 gallon reef. The tank went bad fast. I lost most of my fish and 2/3 of my coral.
Most of my cleanup crew also was lost. During that time the tank was not being taken care of well. Hair Algae took over the tank. I have now started to get better and i am able to take care of the tank again. I have done multiple large water changes and now do 20% every week. I only have two small fish in the tank and 4 corals. I also have lots of live rock. I have scrubbed a lot of the hair algae from the rock and slowly started to add some crabs and snails. My corals that survived are looking good again. But i am still unable to get all of the hair algae to go away. i have good filtration and my skimmer working again, i hardly ever feed the tank and i have kept up on water changes. One problem that i have is that half of my light went out so i am only running 2 T5 HO bulbs now. I am looking at getting a new light with 6 T5 HO bulbs. Will new and more powerful lights help kill off the hair Algae?
Please help.
 
calbert0

calbert0

Member
Old bulbs will add to an algae problem.
How old are your bulbs? If more than 12 months i would replace them.
Check your magnesium levels. I struggled endlessly with hair algae until i started dosing magnesium.
*** Now some people may disagree with my next statement but take it as you will***
I am always an advocate of lots of water changes but 20% a week might be a bit much right now. Per your post you have already done a few large water changes and are now doing 20% a week. In my experience it sometimes helps to let your tank "stabilize" for a bit and leave it alone. For the next few weeks try a 5-10% change instead and definitely check your magnesium levels like i mentioned.
 
geoj

geoj

Active Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by calbert0 http:///forum/thread/384813/hair-algae-problem-need-help-on-solution-please#post_3372617
Old bulbs will add to an algae problem.
How old are your bulbs? If more than 12 months i would replace them.
Check your magnesium levels. I struggled endlessly with hair algae until i started dosing magnesium.
*** Now some people may disagree with my next statement but take it as you will***
I am always an advocate of lots of water changes but 20% a week might be a bit much right now. Per your post you have already done a few large water changes and are now doing 20% a week. In my experience it sometimes helps to let your tank "stabilize" for a bit and leave it alone. For the next few weeks try a 5-10% change instead and definitely check your magnesium levels like i mentioned.
If the alga's food source is the water you use to make up your salt then more water changes will make things worse... So I can agree with you because the longer the water sits in a clean tank that is not overstocked the cleaner the water can become of course if all other things that could foul the tank did not.
 
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