Hair Algae

[wallie03]

I have hair algae growing on one rock in my tank and its starting to grow on the opposite side as well within a large colony of zoos that i cant seem to make go away and its starting to get worse. what am i doing wrong to much light? any and all help is appreciated
This tank is 14 months old
equipment 30g BiocubeTank, 2 korala nano 420s,maxi jet 1200 for return, Agualife internal mini skimmer, i also have a media rack in the back that i run Chem-pure elite and purigen,and i have cheto growing in the back as well
Stock list (fish) Allards Clown fish, flame Hawk fish.(CUC) 5 Astrea Snail,5 Cerith Snail, 15-20 Nassarius Snail, 2 Large Turbo Snails and a bunch of small ones that i think might be offspring not sure, 3 Blue Hermit crabs,just added 10 red leg hermits and 5 Mithrax Crabs
Temperature My tank runes 81-83
Water I run RODI water that i get from a local LFS i also buy pre mixed saltwater from here to (Tropic Marine Pro Reef)
food i feed Prime Reef flakes once a day and i also feed HiKari Mysis Shrimp once or Twice a week About i hole cube a week.. I feed my coral phytoplankton once ever two weeks About 5ml
water changes.. i do right around 6g every week usually the day after i feed Mysis shrimp
lighting schedule? Type/Brand of fixture/bulbs? i have two reef bright led strips that are acinic blue i run these from 10-10 every day, I also have a 150w metal halide light that runs from 1-7 bulb is only 2 month old
parameters calcium 430-480 depending on what day i test from when i do my weekly water change
Ph 8.2, Ammonia 0,Nitrate 0, Nitrite 0, Phosphate 0<.25, KH 10, salinity 1.026 I use API Test kits that are almost a year old
I have Thought about removing this rock but it is a support rock and my hole reef would collapse if i did.

 

[geoj]

Retest the phosphate with a better test kit. If you get a number over 0.10 ppm try and replace your Chem-pure elite to bring it down. If the hair algae persist say 3 months with phosphate under 0.10 ppm, then look into fish or Algeafix.

 

[flower]

As a rule: The hair algae will cause any phosphate test to read a false negitive...if phosphates show at all, such as your 0.25ppm, it's only because the HA has not spread all over just yet.
The flakes and the mysis are really high in phosphates and then add coral food on top of the mix (phytoplankton is phosphate in a bottle according to some)
Increased water changes and stop feeding flake food altogether and (it only helps a little) rinse the frozen food before feeding it to the fish. Some kind of fast growing macroalgae would out-compete the hair algae for food and would take care of the problem as well. That's why some folks like a refugium. No refugium..... some macros are very decretive and would look good in the display tank. You have to keep it harvested (remove the overgrowth and as you do, you also remove phoshates and nitrates from the system.)

 

[snakeblitz33]

Sounds like a little too much food going in the tank to me...
cut back on food.... feed only every other day and a half cube of mysis a week and keep dosing phyto in 3mL. Starve the algae but not your corals or fish...
Once hair algae becomes weak, it will be very slim and turn brownish grey - that's when you know you have it beat.

 

[valentino82602]

+1 Snake! Thats exactly what I did to get rid of mine. It is so much harder to fight HA in a smaller tank. Snails are great for alge too, I dropped 6 in my 60 gal and with in three days the alge was gone, they will not eat it off the sand though. I have used Phosband "phosphate remover" only use the dosage it recommends, also I cut down on my lighting to 6 hours a day. Also if you have anymore room in the tank try investing in a star sand goby or somthing that would remain small. I hope everything works out for you. You are in the right place for help!

 

[wallie03]

So Should i not feed flake food any more? if i stop feeding Flake food what should i feed?when i feed mysis i do rinse it with ro water.. My plan is to change out my carbon and purigen and try to blow my rocks off at every water change.. Should i change more water once a week or do two water changes a week? Im also cuttin my lighting scheadual back, I also need to get a new coral food I have been using phyto 2 but im just about out any recomendations on food for my corals ... sps, lps, zoos, mushrooms, clam, one softy in the back.. or should i stop feeding phyto all together? Thanks again

 

[wallie03]

So I have also bean looking into different marine plants. im not sure wich ones to order. i dont want any that will turn sexual on me.

 

[tirtza]

I battled with hair algae as well, you aren't alone! I had a Mexican Turbo Snail that really plowed through the hair algae on my rocks...sadly once the hair algae was gone the little guy starved to death.
I've always read that feeding a variety of foods is the best. I feed frozen mysis and frozen Formula One (it has krill, plankton, clams, and all kinds of yummy stuff blended together). Cut the frozen mysis and Formula One cubes in 1/2 or 1/4 and keep them in a ziplock bag. Thaw and rinse what you'll use for 3 days. Keep the food in a little container in some RO water in the refridgerator. If you want to make it a little tastier and add some vitamine C add part of a clove of garlic that's been peeled and has slices cut into it. Put the piece of garlic clove in with the food/water. I also feed 1/4 cube of small frozen cyclops to my coral once a week using a turkey baster. The fish get some of the cyclops and love it too!

 

[geoj]

Before

After

Before

After

 

[snakeblitz33]

Chaetomorpha algae typically will not go sexual. Lol. Most caulerpa algae will not "go sexual" as long as you keep it trimmed back.

 

[wallie03]

Thanks... my new hermits seem to be going to town on it for now... as far as plants go I'm thinking Green Gracilaria, Ulva, and a Halimeda plant... i can not get a lot of species do to living in California... I dont have much space in my tank for plants but the back corners have some space left... would these be good choices?

 

[rickross23]

Chaetomorpha algae typically will not go sexual. Lol. Most caulerpa algae will not "go sexual" as long as you keep it trimmed back.
Mine did.

 

[geoj]

Halimeda will...
It is easy to keep as long as you maintain calcium and alkalinity. The only issue is if you damage a lot of it or the algae dies off all at one time triggering a spawning. This large spawning can kill fish and possibly other animals. You can not pune it with out having it die back becuase it lacks individual cells.

 

[snakeblitz33]

If you do buy halimeda, buy it attached to a rock. If it is free floating, its no good because there is no root structure. So buy it with it attached to a rock. Halimeda isnt the best choice of macroalgae to remove nitrates and phosphates from the water column.

 

[wallie03]

I will not be buying halimeda ill stick with Green Gracilaria, Ulva... and Chaeto in the back of my tank..
Thanks for all the help guys