No luck getting rid of this stuff!

[skienlzer]

I've had this 90 gallon tank set up for 7 months. The guy at the lfs said to turn on the powerjets full blast with bubbles at night to help get rid of it. No LUCK, bi-weekly h20 changes, NO LUCK. I think it has gone away alittle on the rocks, it looks like our emerald crabs and snails are eating it. But it has kinda overtaken our tank. And the floor is just covered. When we clean the cc it comes up in big chunks the cc actually sticks to it .(I showed it in the last pix) And with in 3 days its back. We have two p.heads and one can filter and one over the side filter. Cant remember how to do the math for gph. I even bought sone algee magic, NO LUCK>>> can anyone tell me what to do?? Is this stuff ??grass hair algee?? I had two lawnmower blennys but somehow they disappered, just found one last night behind the tank along the wall. ***Crispy*** I didn't know they could jump that high.

 

[jonthefishguy]

algae's food source is not only phosphates it also grows under light, wrong sprectrum, too much light, cause there are nitrates, list goes on and on. I would check to see if you have any nitrates. If you do, bring them down via water change. They go up due to overfeeding or too much poop and pee in the water , due to overfeeding, something dead in the water decaying, or just new water whether it be top-off or new salted water that hasnt been treated to eliminate nitrates. If you just got these lights, the algae begin to proliferate more cause it is more brighter and intense. If you leave the lights on longer than they are needed, the algae will continue to grow out of control. I would reduce your lights down a few hours if thats the case. they generally should be on no longer than 10 to 12 hours. If you have the lights on that long, then cut them down 4 hours to 8. test al your parimeters and post them

 

[reefer545]

Right on Jon.

 

[monalisa]

Also, I didn't see that you noted whether or not you use tap water or RO. Tap will definitely be contributing to an outgrowth of this stuff. What kind of salt are you using (just curious).
I had a terrible outgrowth of green hair algae when I started my first reef, and with patience and perseverence and following the good advice given on this board I was able to get rid of it without having to add anything to my tank water.
Good luck to you, and as I stated, be patient...it will go away, but VERY slowly.
As far as lighting goes, and not that this is gospel, I have my white actinics on for 6 hours and my blues on for 8 hours, lunars 24/7.
Lisa

 

[skienlzer]

I have a softener system called ionics, but I use the little ro tap out of my sink, could this be a problem. I use coralife salt.

 

[jonthefishguy]

check your TDS out of the RO and make sure it is 0. You didnt mention what your parimeters are.

 

[legoalie31]

id get a queen conch for the red algea they really cleaned up my tank

 

[ghettotang]

Originally Posted by skienlzer
I have a softener system called ionics, but I use the little ro tap out of my sink, could this be a problem. I use coralife salt.
Yeah you need to check make sure that you water has no nitrate and phospate. Also try to get some clean-up crew like snail for the side glass and some crab to eat the algea at the bottom of the sand. You will be amaze on how fast the algea be gone is a few days. I would also do a large water change every week to reduce the nitrate down to zero if you have any, which I doubt that you do. Reduce the food that you feed to your fish. Also are you feeding your fish with too much flake, try to reduce down that too and try to feed some froze food. Make sure that you wash the frozen food with fresh water before you feed to your fish because they contain phospate. Try to alternate the food. And like Jon said reduce you lighting. I hope this suggestion would help you out.
Good Luck and let me know how it goes.
Jay

 

[renogaw]

mexican turbo would chow through that, also a Lawnmower blenny, and even a sea hare.
but those are just bandaids on a seeping wound that won't close. like everyone else said, fix your cause not the symptoms.
and stop with the air bubbles--no good for salt tanks and your lfs needs to be slapped
also, you probably need more powerheads

 

[nigerbang]

Originally Posted by renogaw
mexican turbo would chow through that, also a Lawnmower blenny, and even a sea hare.
but those are just bandaids on a seeping wound that won't close. like everyone else said, fix your cause not the symptoms.
and stop with the air bubbles--no good for salt tanks and your lfs needs to be slapped
also, you probably need more powerheads
I was also going to mention the air-bubbles....
I seems to take forever but, Yes, It is possible to win the war over hair algae.

 

[fish911]

i had a lil bit of hair algae ... my nitrates were up ...
i got an urchin and did an awesome job ... in fact i have to find him a new home because hes ate all the algae and i dont want it to starve

 

[seasalt101]

skienzler,
ok first of all you need to post all of your water parameters and don't just say they are good we checked them , the kind folks here are trying to help you, but if they dont know all of your levels, they cant figure out whats wrong , i noticed in your other posts too that you dodged the question about your levels , if you dont have the test kits then take a sample of your water to your lfs and they should be able to do it for you- the next thing you need to do is before spending any more money on fish get the test kit ( an API it's not the best but pretty accurate and easy to use $30) you will save yourself and your fish alot of grief in the future-like i said we can better assist you if we know what your levels are...tobin