zoanthids coral with green hair on it
- Thread starter cdek11
- Start date
flower
Well-Known Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by cdek11 http:///t/394652/zoanthids-coral-with-green-hair-on-it#post_3512652
Have a zoanthids coral and one side is doing good the other has some type of green hair that just showed up out of the blue. it is only on one side of the coral and this side is not open. what can i do to help this coral out. it is just a green zoanthid
IF THIS IS THE ONLY ROCK WITH HAIR ALGAE ON IT........Take a bucket (FISH ONLY) with saltwater...get a toothbrush (marked FISH ONLY) and very gently scrub the hair algae off...then rinse the rock in more CLEAN saltwater. Hair algae spreads by spores so you don't want to mess with it while in the display unless you have too.
Check to see if natural light is hitting the tank in that area...hair algae loves sunlight. Also check your phosphate levels...if you have too much algae the phosphates will read 0 but that's only because the algae is feeding on it. Check your nitrates as well and make sure you have good bulbs in your lighting. Don't overfeed coral or fish, overfeeding is another cause.
Hope that helps.
Originally Posted by cdek11 http:///t/394652/zoanthids-coral-with-green-hair-on-it#post_3512652
Have a zoanthids coral and one side is doing good the other has some type of green hair that just showed up out of the blue. it is only on one side of the coral and this side is not open. what can i do to help this coral out. it is just a green zoanthid
IF THIS IS THE ONLY ROCK WITH HAIR ALGAE ON IT........Take a bucket (FISH ONLY) with saltwater...get a toothbrush (marked FISH ONLY) and very gently scrub the hair algae off...then rinse the rock in more CLEAN saltwater. Hair algae spreads by spores so you don't want to mess with it while in the display unless you have too.
Check to see if natural light is hitting the tank in that area...hair algae loves sunlight. Also check your phosphate levels...if you have too much algae the phosphates will read 0 but that's only because the algae is feeding on it. Check your nitrates as well and make sure you have good bulbs in your lighting. Don't overfeed coral or fish, overfeeding is another cause.
Hope that helps.
cdek11
New Member
t5 bulbs are about a year old i think. so time to change them i think. also i went back to tank and took a closer look also asked my wife and she said the stuff growing looks more or a brown color to her is this the same type. it still looks like hair and i see some on the glass in across the back of tank
flower
Well-Known Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by cdek11 http:///t/394652/zoanthids-coral-with-green-hair-on-it#post_3512665
t5 bulbs are about a year old i think. so time to change them i think. also i went back to tank and took a closer look also asked my wife and she said the stuff growing looks more or a brown color to her is this the same type. it still looks like hair and i see some on the glass in across the back of tank
Hair algae feeds on phosphates (PO4) and nitrates (NO3)...bad lights or old bulbs is a common cause. Do a 50% water change, then keep doing small daily water changes to keep the water pristine, and get you some new lights ASAP. Be careful to not overfeed.
One method to keep PO4 and NO3 away is to add macroalgae to a refugium system...the macro feeds on the PO4 and NO3 starving out the bad algae.
Originally Posted by cdek11 http:///t/394652/zoanthids-coral-with-green-hair-on-it#post_3512665
t5 bulbs are about a year old i think. so time to change them i think. also i went back to tank and took a closer look also asked my wife and she said the stuff growing looks more or a brown color to her is this the same type. it still looks like hair and i see some on the glass in across the back of tank
Hair algae feeds on phosphates (PO4) and nitrates (NO3)...bad lights or old bulbs is a common cause. Do a 50% water change, then keep doing small daily water changes to keep the water pristine, and get you some new lights ASAP. Be careful to not overfeed.
One method to keep PO4 and NO3 away is to add macroalgae to a refugium system...the macro feeds on the PO4 and NO3 starving out the bad algae.
flower
Well-Known Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by cdek11 http:///t/394652/zoanthids-coral-with-green-hair-on-it#post_3512888
thanks for the help. I checked NO3 and it was 0 i do not have a P04 so will buy one and get new bulbs
Hi...+1 for getting new bulbs. I just wanted to clarify something. Hair algae, while very invasive and butt ugly...acts like macroalgae. So it feeds on nitrates and phosphates, so when you do any water tests such as PO4 and NO3, you will get a false negative reading.
Your water parameters are pristine for fish, inverts and coral...those extra nasties (PO4 and NO3) are absorbed by the macroalgae to do that. Many people like myself, purchase macroalgae for that very purpose. The problem with hair algae is that it's so invasive that it covers and suffocates the corals. If you added a macroalgae that isn't so invasive such as prolifera caulerpa in your display, or something like chaeto in a refugium...it would keep your water parameters pristine. The algae scrubber works the same way.
If do a 50% of water change, and then keep doing a small weekly or daily WC (the more often you do a WC the less water you need to swap) you will remove so much PO4 and NO3, that the hair algae will starve out and die. Once you have the new bulbs you eliminate the type of light hair algae likes as well...The plan: Keeping the water so clean so that the the poor unhappy starving hair algae will go the way of the Dodo bird.
Originally Posted by cdek11 http:///t/394652/zoanthids-coral-with-green-hair-on-it#post_3512888
thanks for the help. I checked NO3 and it was 0 i do not have a P04 so will buy one and get new bulbs
Hi...+1 for getting new bulbs. I just wanted to clarify something. Hair algae, while very invasive and butt ugly...acts like macroalgae. So it feeds on nitrates and phosphates, so when you do any water tests such as PO4 and NO3, you will get a false negative reading.
Your water parameters are pristine for fish, inverts and coral...those extra nasties (PO4 and NO3) are absorbed by the macroalgae to do that. Many people like myself, purchase macroalgae for that very purpose. The problem with hair algae is that it's so invasive that it covers and suffocates the corals. If you added a macroalgae that isn't so invasive such as prolifera caulerpa in your display, or something like chaeto in a refugium...it would keep your water parameters pristine. The algae scrubber works the same way.
If do a 50% of water change, and then keep doing a small weekly or daily WC (the more often you do a WC the less water you need to swap) you will remove so much PO4 and NO3, that the hair algae will starve out and die. Once you have the new bulbs you eliminate the type of light hair algae likes as well...The plan: Keeping the water so clean so that the the poor unhappy starving hair algae will go the way of the Dodo bird.