I have tried everything..all my parameters are fine (I HAD IT TESTED AT 3 DIFFERENT LFS) but I still have this hair algae on some of my rocks..it started out as a little green fuzz now it is blowing in the breeze..I have put crabs ,snails,turbo snails.urchins,and lawnmower blennies (algae blennies), and nothing wants anything to do with this stuff.... I tried a sea hair also but for some reason after 2 weeks it didn't make it.... what is the best thing to get to rid my tank of this crap?.... I heard yellow tangs may eat it but my purple tang would just kill it ..... any suggestions?
Hair algae!!!
- Thread starter sean5267
- Start date
stingythingy45
Well-Known Member
My YT never touched the stuff.
I had a pretty good breakout of HA in my QT tank.
Personally,I would run some GFO in a reactor.
I had a pretty good breakout of HA in my QT tank.
Personally,I would run some GFO in a reactor.
pillowfish
#2
Have you tried running a phosphate reactor? Your readings may be fine because the hair algae is eating up the excess nutrients in your tank, giving you false readings. I would be careful with sea hare's when they die they excrete a ton of toxins into oyur system. How often are you doing water changes? And the obvious, are you using RO/DI?
You should try removing as much manually as you can as well. If you can remove the rocks from the tank, giving them a good scrub under hot water will help a bit as well. If your tank is large enough maybe try a foxface? It has worked for quite a few people. Good Luck!
You should try removing as much manually as you can as well. If you can remove the rocks from the tank, giving them a good scrub under hot water will help a bit as well. If your tank is large enough maybe try a foxface? It has worked for quite a few people. Good Luck!
afboundguy
Acan's are inedible candy
I agree with the phosban reactor. Even though you had the water tested at LFS's and you prob got low level-zero readings for phosphates but it was a false reading... Just the fact that you have problem algae means you have phosphates; the algae is sucking up the phosphates so quickly that they don't show a reading...
Only thing that worked for me was cutting back significantly on feeding. This was not intentional. It was a side effect of being really busy at work so I was only feeding every other day at best. Fish were fine, but hair algae was gone. As in 100% gone. And its not like I added any new critters or anything during that time.
afboundguy
Acan's are inedible candy
Also do you have a refugium? When I set up my sump/fuge I noticed that the HA started slowly dying because the macro algae was out competing it for nutrients...
pillowfish
#2
May be dumb questions...but when was the last time you changed out the GFO in the reactor(and are you using true GFO and not a phosphate sponge?) And sometimes if you have too much cheato in the fuge it can actually hinder and add to your nutrient problem due to the amount of oxygen it begins to suck up from the water column(?...I think I typed that wrong?
But hope it made sense).my Display is a 210GAL with dual over flows which empty into a 90 sump with a ASM G4X protein skimmer..and a 80gph pump that pushes water thru the 2 reactors and the UV in one continuous motion.then I have 2 pumps that one sends water in my fuge that over flows into my return tank and the other pump goes directly into the return tank..the return tank is where I do all my dosing...that goes back into the display.
as for GFO I am only using Seachem Phosguard and Matrix Carbon
as for GFO I am only using Seachem Phosguard and Matrix Carbon
pillowfish
#2
That is quite a heavy flow you have going through the reactors...I only use a mini-maxi 404 on mine and with the pump dialed back to it's lowest setting. Seachem Phosguard is not pure GFO, but rather aluminun oxide. Check the color to see if it has turned yellow(a sign of exhaustion in the media) but don't trust that solely. If you have a high enough nutrient issue you can exhaust that media within days. Also IMO/IME phosguard or other types of phosphate sponges do not work nearly as well as pure GFO(granulated ferric oxide, which is an iron oxide) in removing PO4 from the water.
theone
not so well known member
I agree as this has helped me in the past, but IMO I would use the water from a water change to scrub the rock. Using hot water would kill all the beneficial bacteria.
It will not be gone over night (nothing about reefing, except disasters, happens fast) but with some elbow grease and regular water changes with RO/DI you can win.
arvincito
Non-member
I had a huge HA problem before but I was doing everything wrong. Yes, rookie mistakes. I wasn't using RO/DI water, I had some spots within the tank with not enough flow, not enough snails (i had crabs and some snails, but the turbo snails were they key I think -- it wasn't manageable any more), I wasn't cleaning out the collection cup of the skimmer regularly to help it work efficiently. Also I started using Chemipure Elite with ferric oxide later on which, coupled with me fixing all of these problems, and after I routinely plucked as much of the HA as I could over the course of one week, it all disappeared almost like magic 3 days later. It was great!
Blueflu1
The Acan Reaper!
I have a hair algae problem too and I cant get rid of it. I have tons of snails, crabs, a tuxedo urchin, 2 emerald crabs, etc.. I feed every other day and not heavy. I run GFO through a reactor and my skimmer is cleaned regularly. I can't get rid of it. I even tried removing my filter from the system to reduce the chance of detrius buildup. I am considering Algaefix marine. I have not read of anyone having problems with it. I just am leary to putting any chemicals into my tank but I am at wits end.
stingythingy45
Well-Known Member
HA is tough to get rid of.I have some in my cycled QT and shut the lights off for 3 weeks.One week after turning the lights back on ,it was back.
If there's any phosphates,and I mean any,it will survive.
If there's any phosphates,and I mean any,it will survive.
stingythingy45
Well-Known Member
LOL...
Well,it can be beaten but it's going to take a while.I even burned the stuff off with a torch and it came back.
The last thing I did was throw the rocks it my refugium with loads of chaeto and limited light.The rocks are now in my display and HA free for a couple months.
I just did this too (along with a big water change last wknd). Seems like my HA growth has at least stopped, if not starting to recede...
