hair algae on live rock to start a new tank

[pgaschulz]

I have a chance to start a new tank with some free live rock with hair algae on it during my cycle will that kill all the hair algae off it or is this a bad idea? Or what can I do to kill the hair algae??

Thank You,
pga

[cmejaf30]

run carbon, make sure you have an active skimmer. are you going to have lighting on during your cycle. you don't need it, and if you did have som VHO lighting that would just magnify the growth. keep the lights off, the algae will go into a sort of "remission." I did the exact same thing (gettin rock with hair algae on it) and had a little issue...got some nice Mexican Turbo snails and they helped with the problem. Are you running a sump? The reason I ask is because what I did is just reach in, take a clump from the display tank, and put it in the sump. I have lights on 24/7 in my sump so it's competing (and winning) against the algae in the display...as of about a week ago my DT is algae free. I also have a flame angel and powder blue in there which help control algae growth. good luck...and take the free rock!

[pgaschulz]

Yes I am going to run a sump

[pgaschulz]

Why did you throw the algae in the sump

[cmejaf30]

the reason i put it in the sump was this: If i have hair algae growing in my tank and my sump, and I'm leaving the lights on 24/7 in my sump but only 12hrs on my display, then the algae in the bottom is getting 2x the lighting to carry on photosynthesis and grow...because of this, I would rather have it growin in my sump than in my tank...by competing with the algae in the dt but having 2x the lighting, the algae in the sump is going to win the battle and take all of the "nutrients" that it needs out of the water, therefore (in a sense) "starving" the algae that's in my dt. Believe it or not, it actually worked. I have a couple rocks in my sump that have a good colony of algae growin on it (along with a bunch of chaetomorphe algae for my copepods in the sump) that has seemed to eliminate the algae in the display. Hope this sheds some light (pun intended) on the situation. Good luck!

[pgaschulz]

thanks for the info any more would be great if anyone has anything else to add