hair algea...help please

[rynosreef]

in a matter of a week my tank started getting hair algea everywhere. i have done everything water changes, skimming harder less hours off light. i know my water has to be clean as he11 bc my sps are just growing like weeds and my water is testing at o ppm no3 and 0 ppm po3. i know when u have a bloom like this that ur test will make a false pos. so i have just gone and down water change after water change and nothing helps. anyone have a clue why this is happening.

 

[flower]

Quote:
Originally Posted by rynosreef http:///t/390767/hair-algea-help-please#post_3462173
in a matter of a week my tank started getting hair algea everywhere. i have done everything water changes, skimming harder less hours off light. i know my water has to be clean as he11 bc my sps are just growing like weeds and my water is testing at o ppm no3 and 0 ppm po3. i know when u have a bloom like this that ur test will make a false pos. so i have just gone and down water change after water change and nothing helps. anyone have a clue why this is happening.
Check the lights, if the bulbs are old it can feed HA...is there natural sunlight hitting the tank? Are you overfeeding? Do you use RO water or tap/well water? Have you checked your filters to the RO unit?
Bad water and bad lights are the main causes of HA...not the only causes, just the most common.
The HA, as ugly and invasive as it is, does the job of removing phosphates and nitrates from the system just like any other macroalgae. That makes it nice for the SPS corals just before it gets choked out by the HA getting all over it. So healthy corals and critters are no surprise even though the HA is present.

 

[rynosreef]

i did just change my bulbs on my 400 watt mh and i changed and tested my ro couple weeks befor so i cant see it being the ro. i only feed 2 times a week maybe 3. no natural light. and i do understand that with algea growing that my test would give me a pos - thats why i done 2 40% water change in a week just to make sure planning on doing another one in the next day or so. thanks for u help. it just might be the fact that i just changed to newer bulbs and went from 14k to 20k bulbs.

 

[btldreef]

It could be the new bulbs, but more than likely there is something in your tank that's feeding it. I'd check that RO filter again. Test the water that you make up before it goes in the tank to rule out phosphates (which the algae could be feeding off of). Is it your basic green hair algae?

 

[rynosreef]

just ur green hair algae and tomorrow i am going to test everything once again and just keep the lights off for a few days to try and keep the algae undercontrol until i can find out whats doing this. testing fresh ro water and mixed ro and salt, to see if i got a bad batch of salt. and then test the tank again, being the algae should have stopped, i should be able to see if i really do have nit and pos in there. i hope its something easy to fix..................?

 

[flower]

Maybe it's just me...but 400w??? The highest I ever thought a coral could need would be 250w.

 

[geridoc]

Had the same problem in my 40 gallon reef tank until I refreshed the CUC with 6 Mexican turbo snails. You could see them smile when they found the walls of the tank and began clearing 1/2 inch wide swaths through the algae. It took 3 days, and now there is no algae to speak of.

 

[rynosreef]

sorry u can grow an coral under 400 watts it does take time for any coral to get used to them. believe me i found out the hard way but now i get how to get corals used to the 400 watts.

 

[rynosreef]

ok so i tested my ro water and its bad. i wouldnt even drink it..................... i just ordered a new membrain and filters everything even a in line tds meter so none of this will happen again. i also bought a couple of tubo snails to help control the hair algae until i get everything tomorrow and do some more water changes. thanks to u all.