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marks4470
12/30/2008, 01:48 PM
Hi,

Ive still got that hair algae problem. My tank is 3 months old and the water tests show everything normal (I only have test strips)..no phosphates present according to that. I only have 4 small fish and 3 soft corals in the 90 gallon tank. The local shop says its because thers still phosphates, but the hair algae is using it before testing. I put phos-ban in my canister filter on saturday and used some chemical phosphate buster on sunday and cut down how much I am feeding them. The hair algae is still going strong at this time. It looks like it might be getting lighter, but not sure. How long does it take this stuff to die? thanks

jenglish
12/30/2008, 01:55 PM
try to physically remove as much as possible. If it is growing from PO4... it dies... it releases PO4.... more HA grows from the available PO4. Most PO4 media has very specific flow rates that it is effective at. Your LFS is correct that if you have a lot of algae you will not get a PO4 reading. Actually even w/ the best hobby test kit if you can read it at all you are in trouble and the test strips offer virtually no info on PO4. You are on the right track w/ reducing feedings. maybe a few extra water changes after removing the HA to get nutrients under control. What kind of lights do you run? how old are they and what color? HTH and happy reefing

marks4470
12/30/2008, 02:08 PM
I am currently running 15000k 400 hailde (its a deep corner tank) lamp for 8 hours a day and I run my 2 compact flores (1 normal 10000 and the other an astetic 10000, both for about 16 hours.

Brandon M
12/30/2008, 02:11 PM
Here is a great article about battling nuisance algae

http://www.brettsreef.com/index.php/tips-on-battling-nuisance-algae-in-the-marine-aquarium/

Good luck!

jenglish
12/30/2008, 02:46 PM
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14043304#post14043304 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by marks4470
I am currently running 15000k 400 hailde (its a deep corner tank) lamp for 8 hours a day and I run my 2 compact flores (1 normal 10000 and the other an astetic 10000, both for about 16 hours.

How old are the PCs. Normally your supplemental lighting doesn't effect algae much due to the small amount of light overall that they put out. But the 16 hour photoperiod is a bit on the long side and if the color has shifted it may help feed the algae. The PO4 is the primary concern but cutting back the overall photoperiod may... I repeat may help.

And that was a good article Brandon