Hair Algae Outbreak - Causes and Treatments?

[BoxInSox]

Hi All

My tank is just over 3 months old - 53 gal total volume Red Sea 200+

I've had a sudden spike in hair algae, and it's mostly concentrated on my rock work and taking over some of my zoa colonies, etc that are glued to the rock work.

Current testing with Hanna checkers show Phosphates at 0.05 and Nitrates at 10.8. I know that neither of these are high, but it is out of balance with the 16:1 ratio I've read about by a lot.

I just run a filter sock and UV skimmer in my sump for now, along with a bag of carbon.

Another unique thing going on is that I'm currently going fishes due to a velvet or brooklynella outbreak (have about 4 weeks to go to hit the 77 day cycle to reintroduce fish). I do have various snails, a cleaner shrimp, emerald crab, tuxedo urchin, and conchs to help keep things clean without fish.

So my questions focus on 1) Are my phos and Nitrates out of balance, and should I address that first, and 2) would a chemical approach like Vibrant or something be warranted here, to try and save the corals?

A few pics are attached for reference.

Thanks!

 

[thrillreefer]

Really doesn’t look too bad, just normal early tank uglies until coraline coverage chokes it out. Your parameters seem spot on, definitely not enough phosphate to be a problem or warrant anything drastic.

Manual removal near the corals every week or so to keep them from getting choked out. And turbo snails will munch that right down. I trust Reefcleaners to send the right ones but plenty other sources locally too.

 

[DylanCameron]

Definitely avoid vibrant as it contains chemicals that are known to kill various inverts….this looks like normal new tank uglies, you can use a toothbrush to remove algae that’s growing on frag plugs.

FWIW, the 16:1 ratio is nitrogen to phosphorus, and when converted to nitrate/phosphate it ends up being about 10:1, but most people actually do keep that ratio closer to 100:1 (quick article talking about nutrients: https://reefbuilders.com/2023/07/22/the-role-of-nutrients-in-a-reef-tank/)

Try and keep things as consistent as possible, don’t make any huge changes, and make sure your alk and calcium are in a good spot to encourage coralline algae growth