Hair Algae

[jman785]

How do you guys fight hair algae?

I'm having an outbreak I just can't get rid of in my newly setup 20 gal. I switched the lights to PC, and its just going crazy :) So are the corals, that's a good thing :-D

How do I fight it? Dont get it to begin with. But thats easier said than done and understadibly so.

I have had very few problems with this in my tanks, but do have a little experience here and a few suggestions that might help you out a bit.

First I would remove as much of the hair algae as possible. I would suggest RO/DI water afterwards if your not using it. If you got any fish feed very sparingly. Try to increase the water flow in the tank a bit if you can without creating a jacuzzi. Cut white lights off and run actinic only if possible, if not minimize lights to a few short hours a day. Get a healthy sized clean up crew, lots of hermits here! You didnt mention water parameters so I will assume that they are pretty good. I am not sure what else to do beyond that....

Being a LFS owner and moderator and obvioulsy experienced (not to imply you are perfect and infalable) I will assume that you knew all of the above, but I guess its good to compare notes from time to time too, especially if for all you do you have a problem you just cant beat.

Good Luck!

[jman785]

I'm just seeing how all of you, have combated this problem, to learn more about it, I suppose...to see if there is an easier way than waiting it out and cutting down on food and light.

[coral_diver]

jman I just bought a product called Marine S.A.T. it is a biological clarifier not sure how well it will work but is for reef and salt tanks...100% Biological, non toxic, and non pathogenic. However it can take up to 2-4 weeks for results. I will keep you posted on my experience with it. The owner of the store where I purchased it swears by it, we'll see if he is right because I too had just a bit of hair algea and now that I have the new PC's it is going wild even with a major light cut back. My lawnmower blenny RIP was eaten by one of my crabs and the hermits will not touch the stuff not that the blenny was really doing a great job but then the only other option was a fox face and I think my tank is really to small for one.

[mojoreef]

The only true way to combat algae is to cut off its source of food. Anything else is really just a bandaid and wont stop the problem. Algae live off of nutrients, that is where you need to do you work, or it will be something you suffer with for a long time.


Mike

[MikeS]

Ya know....a good DSB will clear that problem right up....wouldn't you agree mojo? :D

Seriously...starving the algae of its food source (usually phosphates and nitrates, but can be other stuff as well) and making sure you change out your lights when they need to be are the best way to combat the problem.

Killing it off with chemicals or medications will only remove the symptoms of the problem (algae, cyano) but does nothing to solve the underlying problem that is causing the algae in the first place. Also these chmeicals and meds can be rough on your biological filter and other critters in the tank.

Mike

[jman785]

So you are recommending, finding what its feeding from..phosphates/nitrates...well this water reads out normal..maybe its just a cycle, I have to deal with, considering this particular tank isn't old, but it had established, sand and water added to it...hrmm

[MikeS]

Jared....

what are the exact levels of nitrate and phosphate?

Mike

[coral_diver]

I am not using a chemical!!! Marine S.A.T. is Live Bacteria the consumes the N and P etc. naturally to restore tanks to the equilibrium it should be at....It does not eliminate maintence it is just supposed to help in combination of "common sense maintence." And BTW I have a DSB remember...? I use a skimmer and my lighting is new so on my end I have followed what you all suggested. I am switching over to ro water so my phosphates should be getting low by now (5gal first change and 10gal x 3 so far) it is only a 37gal. N reads 0 in my tank also or is undetectable so....I think my tank is looking better so far with the use of the Marine SAT and it is only day 4. Everyone has their oppinions but I have tried the critters, fish, water changes, I have plenty of flow and filtering plus the DSB and using this looks like it is finally a start. Either way in what you decide good luck

[jman785]

Nitrates are 0-10ppm...the move sometimes...

Phosphates 0.02

[mojoreef]

Ya know....a good DSB will clear that problem right up....wouldn't you agree mojo?
You guys and your Aquarium composting, lol


Hi Coral diver
Marine S.A.T. is Live Bacteria the consumes the N and P etc. naturally to restore tanks to the equilibrium it should be at....It does not eliminate maintence it is just supposed to help in combination of "common sense maintence

Bacteria does not comsume N or P it reduces it and changes the chemical nature of it. Basically turn it into another form off N or P. If it comes in a container it is most likely a form of aerobic bacteria which will only convert N to nitrates, and P from inorganic to organic. Also dont put to much wiat into this type of product as the average life span of this type of bacteria is about 11 hours, so if they did bind up some of the N and P it would be released fairly quickly as they began to die off once more. In regards to testing results for N and P. In the case of N, just because you dont have a reading it does not mean you dont have it, it is usally taken up very quickly by algae, so the best indicator is the fact that algae is present, if it is ...so is the food that feeds it.
In regards to P. Hobby P test kits only test for Inorganic forms, which are just the tip of the ice berg. Th way to look at the rsults of this test is that If you have any reading of P from these test kits it is telling you that your organic P is so saturated that it cannot hold any more and thus it sits in an available form.

Jman right now your tank is still young and is in a very large state of flux. When you cycled your tank, you are basically introducing a large ammount of food to help build up the population base of the various bacterial types you need in your tank. As the food source slows and the population of bacteria max out, they will begin to die off to reach the proper equalibrium in your tank. As the bacteria dies off, algae is usually johnny on the spot and take advantage of the food from the decaying bacteria. The algae will continue to use this food (bloom) until it is used up, then it will begin to die off and the bacteria will start blooming once again. Your tank will be in this state a large fluxes until it reaches what will be normal in your tank. So dont worry about it to much at this point, just keep practicing good husbandry.


MIke