Nusance Algae!

[columbia45ebb]

In the past couple of weeks, I've encountered some nasty growth eminating from the strata of my marine tank. I looks like tiny brown hairs and is only prevalent in the high waterflow section of the tank. Previously, I've had other types of algae problems, prinipally associated with higher phosphate levels, and each and every one of them has been corrected. However frequent (daily) water checks indicate no elevated levels of anything that would promote an unwated "nusance algae". What's a feller to do? Thanks in advance for your comments.
Neil

 

[dingo0722]

do you have a cleanup crew or some other algae eating fish?

 

[columbia45ebb]

Yes, cleanup crew...however, the Volitan has disposed of all the crabs, and a couple of the snails. I keep putting a "fresh" crew of janitors, but apparently, none of them are really fond of the dreaded "brown hair algae" that is causing this predicament.
n

 

[rlablan]

YOU HAVE THE EXACT SAME THING I DO!!! (It sounds like). I have a clean up crew and they won't eat it... it's detritus. It's dark brown and hairy looking. It multiplies very fast right? You are most likely using tap water, (like I was) and it is full of silica. That is what detritus uses to feed. you will need to start doing changes with RO water, because it has no silicates in it. 10% every few days for about 2 week. Also try Chemipure. I am running that right now and it helps remove silicates. But if you are using tap water, stop. The tap water is definitely the problem. Refer to picture- Is this what is in your tank?

 

[columbia45ebb]

Nope, that ain't it. I do 20% water changes about every two weeks with RO water exclusively, and this situation has never been a problem before. (The tap water here in Florida is absolutely deadly, and after losing a ton of marine life in the initial stages of this system, I switched to RO about a year ago. No loses since.) The only thing different, is I put in a pretty agressive power head about a month ago, and the problem occured since that. Last night, I redirected the flow of the Koralia and VOILA!, when I got home from work today, the hair-like algae had disappeared. This seems too simple, and I'm anticipating a recurrance of the algae in a few days, but now in the direction of the re-directed flow. This is weird. I contacted my local marine aquarium supply guys last night, and they had no clue as to what could be causing this. I'll continue to monitor phosphate and other levels, but this thing has got me mystified. Any help from you "pros" out there is greatly appreciated.
Neil