Introductions and Hair algae

[Seaweed Brain]

Hello, I am new to the hobby and just wanted to introduce myself. So far I have had good success but am still learning and still have questions. What I have is a 55 gallon reef with roughly 100lbs of live rock with a 1-2inch sand bed and a 29 gallon sump with a 4inch dsb and about another 15lbs of live rock with cheato and Caulerpa and a coralife skimmer(planning on upgrading soon), 4 bulb t5 lighting with 2 64 wat 14k bulbs and 2 54 wat actinics. my tank has been up and running for since october of 2009 (10 months). As far as livestock I have 2 Ocellaris Clownfish, 2 fire fish, 1 green goby, 1 yellow watchman goby, and 1 blue mandrian. For inverts I have a cleaner shrimp, about 5 blue leg hermits and 5 scarlet hermits, about 10 astreas, 10 cheriths, 7 nerites, 5 bumblebees, and 3 nassarius. For corals I have a Frogspown, a Hammer, xenia, various zoos, orange acan, green and red Favia, sun coral, and I just added a Orange Montipora capricornis and a straberry enchino. So far everything has been doing great. I do a 5 gallon water change every week using instant oceans reef crystals and r/o water and I have to top the tank off everyday with about 1/2 gallon of r/o water. I just started dosing my tank 2 weeks ago with ESV calcium and buffer system, Kents strontium & molybdenum, and Kents Iodide.

Currently my tank has a hair algae problem and I have been battleing it for some time. when I first set the tank up I had a huge outbreak of the stuff and was told to switch to R/O(I was just using treated tap water at the time) after switching water I saw a huge improvement in the clarity of the water and tank itself but the hair algae was still there. I've tried pulling it out and had added a sea hare and it did an awsome job of mowing the stuff down but the HA came back, I've added more sea hares but they kept getting sucked into my power heads so I gave up on them. I was told by my LFS to upgrade my skimmer, which I'm saving up for, but to also add a carbon reactor and possibly even a phosphate reactor. I was wondering if anyone else would recommend the same and if that would take care of the HA, and also if putting the carbon in a mesh bag in my sump would also work. Thanks

[Allmost]

Hello :) and welcome to RC.

lets start from the top. 1. sounds like a great set up, except the skimmer, u know that already :)

"I just started dosing my tank 2 weeks ago with ESV calcium and buffer system, Kents strontium & molybdenum, and Kents Iodide."
do you test for these ? never dose anything u dont test for ! sotest your KH, calcium and MG and dose ESV 2 part for KH and CA.

DO not Dose strontium, molybdenum nor Iodine as they can all lead to algea out break, and over dose is TOXIC to all live stock ! even in heavly stocked tank on ULNS systems, those are not needed and water changes will take care of it. have this rule at the back of your head all the time, "do not dose what you cant test for" and do not trust Iodine test kits, they still have not made one that measures all.

so the iodine can have a contribution to algea growth.

other than that, no3 and po4 are also fuel for HA. you should test for those and post the values.
do you trim your cheato in sump/fuge ? you should trim as it grows to remove no3 and po4 from system, if you leave it, they die and let more grow, so u wont remove anything.

GAC (activated carbon) will help ALOT as it will remove organics and in my opinion it removes more organics than a skimmer would ! it will also remove heavy metals which salt mixes have alot of and polishes ure water, les organics = less no3 produced.

GFO is useful as well. you can put GAC in a filter bag and just drop it in the sump, no reactor needed. for GFO you are better off using a reactor which is like 40 bucks.

upgading skimmer is always good, but wait, till u have saved up enough to get a top of the line skimmer.

good luck and happy reefing :)

[wilsonreefs]

Whats fueling your hair algae is probably phosphates. This happens when you have poor water quality. Over feeding is a really good way to increase phosphates. Fish dying off and not taken out of the tank will increase phosphates. When was the last time you did a water change? How big of a water change? I would start with that first, (check your phosphate level). Another thing I've seen help get rid of Hair algae is bumping your Mg levels up to about 1500. That, might have to wait until your comfortable doing and testing for.

Carl
Do you have a cleanup crew? Turbo snails help eat Hair algae, but it it has taken off pretty good, almost nothing will eat it.

[Seaweed Brain]

"I just started dosing my tank 2 weeks ago with ESV calcium and buffer system, Kents strontium & molybdenum, and Kents Iodide."
do you test for these ? never dose anything u dont test for ! sotest your KH, calcium and MG and dose ESV 2 part for KH and CA.

I test for the calcium but not the strontium, molybdenum or iodide. I see your point Allmost on not dosing what cannot be tested and I suppose it is a bit foolish and dangerous. I was recomended those from a fellow reefer in my area who has had success with them for over a year so I figured I'd give them a try. Thank you for the response on these. And as of right now I do not have a test for po4 but tomorrow I will have one and post the levels. My other levels are as follows:
Calcium-430
PH-8.4
Nitrite-0
Ammonia-0
Nitrate-0
SG-1.025

For the carbon, how much should I fill the filter bag? I'll see how that goes and then I'll try the GFO. Thanks a bunch Allmost

When was the last time you did a water change? How big of a water change?
I do a 5 gallon water change every week. Usually on a Tuesday or Wednesday.

Do you have a cleanup crew?
I have a cleaner shrimp, about 5 blue leg hermits and 5 scarlet hermits, about 10 astreas, 10 cheriths, 7 nerites, 5 bumblebees, and 3 nassarius, and a tile star fish.