Hair Algae

fenska87

fenska87

New Member
It has over dominated our 65g tank. We have tried not feeding as much as well as pulling the algae out when we can (our clowns bite pretty good) lol. We have also tried keeping the lights off for sometime. Any suggestions? Could this be the reason our clownfish haven't mated?
 
tur4k

tur4k

Member
Hair algae is a result of excess nutrients. Most people with reef tanks try to phosphate limit hair algae since phosphates are bad for corals in even small amounts. Hair algae can't grow without phosphates.
Things that you can do to reduce phosphate levels in your tank:
- Never use tap water. Use RO/DI water instead.
- Don't overfeed.
- Rinse frozen foods with RO water
- Do regular water changes
- Run a skimmer
- Grow macro algae or use a turf scrubber
- Use GFO to absorb phosphates. Products like Phosban and Chemipure Elite contain Granular Ferric Oxide which absorbs phosphates. Avoid aluminum oxide based products.
I do all of the above.
 
snakeblitz33

snakeblitz33

Well-Known Member
+1 I do a combination of some of the above. In some tanks, you'll have to use GFO and water changes with a combination of only turning on the lights for 2 hours a day until I starts to go away. You would see a great improvement in the amount of algae by turning the lights off and using an algae scrubber if you can. The algae scrubber creates a favorable condition for hair algae to grow on the screen where you can clean it off instead of letting it grow in your tank. It also has the ability to remove nitrate and phosphate from your system completely.
 
tur4k

tur4k

Member
Also try to remove as much as you can manually. It will take some time to clear up once you get phosphates under control. Nothing good ever happens fast in a reef tank.
 
snakeblitz33

snakeblitz33

Well-Known Member
Buy a magnesium test kit and some Kent Tech - M (for Magnesium) and test your water to see where it's at, and then get your magnesium up to 1600ppm by the end of one week and keep it at 1600 for two weeks. You'll have to test every day, and buy more Kent M before you run out. Once the hair algae dies, you'll have an increase in nitrate and phosphate in your tank, which if you don't get rid of by water changes, protein skimming, and nitrate and phosphate absorbers, it will just come right back. But, that's a good way to get rid of it in a month.
There's a thread about it to read in more detail how to do it somewhere. Just do a search for "Magnesium for GHA?" and you'll get some results.
 
egmont33

egmont33

New Member
if we discuss about hair algae, so hair algae can be an infestation in a reef aquarium that can lead some to turn to tearing their tanks down, cooking rocks and spending enough money leading to divorce and car repossessions. For some, hair algae can be a quick fix that leads them to wondering what all the hype and struggle is about for others. And for many, hair algae can be a problem where there seems to be no end.
Those that have followed my reef threads may remember or reflect upon the fact that I have had wave after wave of poor luck. Energy consumption, medical issues, vermetid snail explosions and then hair algae have all taken a toll on my tanks through the years. It led me to think that maybe I was destined for bonsai plants, rather than reef tanks. But, I love this hobby so much that I refuse to give it up.
So after I set up my current 300-gallon system, everything was going well until one day a little hair algae presented itself on a few small areas of rock in my tank. I quickly implemented typical and common recommended techniques to rid algae and was met with a hair algae explosion that quickly over ran the entire tank and led to losses of two fish and one coral fragment. Within this time frame I elected to try to find out why the tank succumbed to such a widespread infestation, what caused it, what made it spread, what I did that worked, what didn't work and how I eventually beat the infestation.
Within this article I want to stress once again that I am not a chemist nor a biologist. I am a hobbyist who has a desire to know why things happen, which leads me to research things as they present themselves. I recently began taking various biology classes in college to supplement my reef tank addiction, but still I consider myself a hobbyist who wishes to spread knowledge that common hobbyists can learn from and understand without a dictionary in hand.
 
btldreef

btldreef

Moderator

Just curious....I looked under his name and I don't see anything that says banned, he is just off line????

 
 
Hmm, maybe only mods can see that someone is banned. I thought everyone could.
Either way, the user was posting garbage in other threads and was banned.
 
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