green hair algae

[dlj420]

i been having this green hair algae prob. for a couple of weeks now my tank has been up and runnig for 2 months now my phopates are 0 i have a rodi unit that i used to fill the tank so the water quality is not a q's i dont have any fish yet just a cleaner shrimp and 2 turbo snails the algae is getting longer and longer by the day it seem its almost 5" long what do i do to get rid of this disgusting looking stuff?

[tanker]

Your phosphateis "0", so what is your nitrate?? The LR could be leaking Nitrates.

[tarax]

When you have an algae problem testing the tank for phosphates is pretty useless as the algae normally uses all of the available nutrients for its own growth purposes. The only way you would see phosphates is if the amount in your tank is more than the algae needs to sustain itself.

Since you are using RO/DI water the phosphates have to be getting introduced into your system between water generation and tank.

What I have done in the past is checked every part of the process from water coming out of the tap to the RO water to the water after the salt was added to the left over water from the cup that I use to soften the food for feeding to the tank.

What I found in my own system was the frozen food actually contained a significant amount of phosphates and have now started rinsing the food in RO water before introduction to the tank through a bulb feeder.

Here is a link to a great article on phosphates..

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-09/rhf/index.php

[jamiep]

Could be over feeding if you feed your shrimp! Puts phosphate up! Also get a check on the Nitrates.

[tinmanny]

you need to test the ph and nitrates possible the trates are high like stated earlier and that would keep the problem going
first thing to do is a big water change or enough to wash the rock in save the old water and then you can brush the algae in it and rinse it off before you return it to the DT you can ust a trash can to syphon the tank in to for washing the rock later
Then you need to find the problem and fix it. as stated before you might be over feeding and that is the easiest of the causes set a schedule and feed only half of that for a fiew days.
Good luck
Manny:smokin:

[MrsJasonH]

We had a similar situation happen where water quality wasn't a clearly identifiable issue. We bought a bicolor blenny and he took care of the algae in a matter of a couple of days. And not only that but he's pretty fun and interactive too.

[cutegecko3]

i have a peppermint shrimp that feeds naturaly on small aptasias,amphiopods,brisstle worms etc. and no he doest get fish food,dont tell green peace but i dont feed them either.i have a sailfin blenny that feeds on algae and diatoms and a mandarin dragonet that feeds on pods.after my algae episode i specificly picked the livestock so that foods high in nutrients will not be needed.the point im getting at is that you dont have to feed your shrimp as much as you might think.