Hair Algae !!!!!!!!!!!!

[wwfstyle]

Been battling this for close to 2 months now! I think I got it but then BAM it's back. My phos. lvl is a little high and I just started a Phos. reacter which seems to help lower the phos. lvl. But now I'm thinking of turning my MH off for 2 to 3 days and have my VHO atinics on for only 4 hrs a day. Everything in the tank is pretty much gone due to the algae growing ALL OVER! I have a derasa clam and a couple zoos left, and I think some shrooms. Should I keep the lights off longer then 3 days? Keep doing WC (Tap water (SRY))? Keep pulling the algae off dayly? Then I was thinking of purchasing about 50 - 75 blue leg hermits after the lights have been off for awhile. My tank is a 75 with a 55 sump. My lights are 2 MH 150 10,000k with 2 VHO atinics. ANY OTHER SUGGESTIONS GLADLY EXCEPTED. You dont know how close I am to just through all my LR away (140#)! Thanks Rick

 

[craigbrown]

i found turning the lights out does not work i found this stuff cald phosphate filter it works great it will be gone in a few days comes with 2 pads put one in the filter for 24 hrs and put the powder in change the pad and take it out after another 24hrs and watch it go away its about 23 dollers but works great

 

[efishnsea]

The blue leggies will definatly help

, I friend of mine had a bloom and put like 300 in and controlled it within a week in a 75g. If you were my neighbor I could show you a spot here in Jupiter where there are more blue leggies than you would know what do with...
good luck
efish :happyfish nsea

 

[xdave]

I have an old school method thats real easy, do you have a sump or refugium or anything like that attatched to that tank?

 

[wwfstyle]

I have a 55 sump hooked up with a sump about 30 gal of it is a fuge.

 

[xdave]

When you get the screens made, lay them in your tank to get the growth started.
Algal Turf Scrubbers grow ( turf ) algaes on screens that are in a seperate, but connected, system located outside or below the main aquarium. The basic concept is that the algaes remove nutrients from the water as their food source.
These screens should be scraped every 4-7 days as the algaes grow most rapidly when they are short. Harvesting the algaes regularly during their peak growth phase allows the nutrients, which are drawn up inside the algae, to be removed from the entire system.
The flow of the water across the screen(s) comes from the main tank and is returned to the tank That flow should be regulated, and if possible, alternated not just run from one end of the system to the other. This can be accomplished by a tilt tray or a dump bucket that creates a surge across the trays. The surge idea is to give the algae time to exchange gasses and absorb nutrients as well as provide light to all sides of the algae for maximum growth in a small area.
For these algaes to grow they need light. The lighting of an algae scrubber should be run the opposite to when the main tank lights are on. The reason for using a light cycle opposite from the main tank is to maintain stable pH, oxygen and carbon dioxide levels within in the system due to photosynthetic respiration. This prevents the wide range fluctuations found in most tanks. The type and output of the lighting will also affect the type of algae and growth rates. Nearly any type of intense light can be used, metal halide, VHO and HO flourescents, mercury vapor, halogen to name a few.