I cant get rid of hair algy, it keeps coming back (PICS)

floods7

floods7

Member
I have quite a powerful light for my tank. Coralife PC 2X65 watt and a 20G High tank. I also have quite a powerful power head. When I put those two in, which happened about in the same week I noticed a huge amount of hair algy.
I posted on the forums and people recommended that since i didn’t have any corals or anemones I should shut off the lights for a while.
How bad it once was:


:
So I shut them off and turned the power head off for about 3-4 weeks and that did the trick. But now I have an anemone in the tank, it is doing quite well BTW (contrary to what others told me), and the hair algy is slowly coming back. Bottom two pics are close up pics of the thermometer and the hair algy buildup. In the pic of the left, look at the rock with small but noticeable (Looks like lint from the dryer) hair algy.
What should I do to get rid of this problem. In the past people recommended to stop feeding flake food, so I did. I now use Mysis shrimp and some sponge food here and there.
Algy coming back

My most current water parameters are:
Nitrate 10
Phosphate 0.25
Calcium 440
Salinity 1.025
ph 8
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
 
meowzer

meowzer

Moderator
You need to kill the aptasia too.....
what exactly is in the tank as far as fish? and your cuc (clean up crew)?
How long have you had your anemone and what type is it?
 
floods7

floods7

Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by meowzer http:///t/390138/i-cant-get-rid-of-hair-algy-it-keeps-coming-back-pics#post_3453168
You need to kill the aptasia too.....
what exactly is in the tank as far as fish? and your cuc (clean up crew)?
How long have you had your anemone and what type is it?
Yah im gonna get the aptasia tomorrow.
2 Clowns, 1 Hawaiian Fire Fish. 1 Hermit Crab 2 Turbo Snails. I have more crabs and snails but they seemed to die off when I got the anemone...maybe just a coincidence??..?
The anemone is a Sebea blue tip. Had it for about 2 weeks.
 
meowzer

meowzer

Moderator
Looks like you have something on your sand too......I think you need more cuc....some nassarius snails for your sand, cerith and astrea, maybe an emerald crab too
having an anemone for 2 weeks is not sufficient time to say whether or not it will survive in your tank......with your lighting, it will be really difficult....and with water issues..well...that makes it's survival chances even less
what powerhead do you have? I think you need more flow too. ALSO what type of filter are you running and what is in it?
 
snakeblitz33

snakeblitz33

Well-Known Member
2 weeks is not long enough to say your anemone is surviving. If hair algae is forming, your tank is not established enough, the water is not clean enough and your anemone will die, regardless of your best intentions. Sorry.
1. Water changes with very clean water. Buy RO/DI water or distilled water and do 5g water changes once a week. if not more often.
2. Run some chemi-pure elite in your filter if you can, if not, buy and use a two little fishies phosphate reactor and run some chemipure elite in it or even some phosban. That, along with water changes, should rid your tank of nutrients that algae feeds off of.
If your lights are 6 months old, change the bulbs.
Your lights are not strong enough to keep an anemone alive. It already looks bleached. Also, don't go around saying that you have a good strong light and go confusing the newbies, please.
 
meowzer

meowzer

Moderator
Quote:
Originally Posted by SnakeBlitz33 http:///t/390138/i-cant-get-rid-of-hair-algy-it-keeps-coming-back-pics#post_3453202
2 weeks is not long enough to say your anemone is surviving. If hair algae is forming, your tank is not established enough, the water is not clean enough and your anemone will die, regardless of your best intentions. Sorry.
1. Water changes with very clean water. Buy RO/DI water or distilled water and do 5g water changes once a week. if not more often.
2. Run some chemi-pure elite in your filter if you can, if not, buy and use a two little fishies phosphate reactor and run some chemipure elite in it or even some phosban. That, along with water changes, should rid your tank of nutrients that algae feeds off of.
If your lights are 6 months old, change the bulbs.
Your lights are not strong enough to keep an anemone alive. It already looks bleached. Also, don't go around saying that you have a good strong light and go confusing the newbies, please.
HMMMMM....does this mean you agree with me
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member
I just want to add...never turn off your power heads. The lights yes, but not the water flow.
A tank that size is hard to keep the parameters stable, ther bigger the better.
 
1guydude

1guydude

Well-Known Member
wat kind of water are u using?
Wat filtration excactly do u have?
Wats ur w/c schedule?
How old r ur lights? The light bulbs! ???
-devin
more questions before i can give answers sry! LOL
 
floods7

floods7

Member
I am unfortunately using tap water but i will be changing that soon. Me and my friend are going to split on RO system. I leave my lights on for about 8 hours a day.
This is the light I am using....http://truvuaquariums.com/coaqdolist2x.html
It and the bulbs are about 4-5 months old.
I am running a Whisper 30.
Thanks for the help and quick replies!
 
floods7

floods7

Member
Oh yah, i mean i knew it wasnt good but i dont really have a choice until I get my RO, you know? I guess I could buy a bunch of distilled water but....
I will be picking up some Chemi pure elite later tonight. thanks for the tips
 
1guydude

1guydude

Well-Known Member
They should sell RO water at the grocery... maybe out of a water dispenser... get some 5gal jugs and fill em up.
Also look at phosban, polyfiber pads(for phosphates) and or any kind of phosphate removal media... i think purigen is a popular one.
Wat is in ur whisper 30? A sponge? Some charcol or activated carbon or watever? Ceramic rings?
Ive never had a whisper filter but u need a filter that has some room in it or can be customed a lil...
Try to google AC110 fuge mod... this is a simple good filter.
 
btldreef

btldreef

Moderator
Tap water is definitely your major contributor.
A word about that anemone: It's not healthy. You can clearly see from the picture that it is bleached and that is not a good sign. Long term, you're going to have a really hard time keeping that in your tank, especially if you're using tap water.
As for the tap water, you might want to get yourself a copper test. If your inverts keep dying off, you could have copper in your tank from your tap. Definitely look into that.
For a 20G tank, you could just buy a gallon or two of distilled water for your water changes and be fine until you get the RO unit. Make sure you get a TDS meter with the unit. STOP using tap ASAP.
 
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