hair algae problem

[jiffy1990]

no! not the zoas! i have that green hair algae sprouting up almost everywhere in my tank ive been fighting it by picking it all off and just doing the same thing when it grows back (not fun) i have about 16 or 17 turbos but they never eat it lol
im already at my max limit of fish (clown, six lined, and randalls goby)
somone said a phos filter works good??

[stingythingy45]

Yes,your best bet is a phos reactor.GFO.
But,are you using good ro/di water to begin with?

[jiffy1990]

what does it do exactly? and where can i buy them and for how much?
and yea i got a good R.O tank under my sink, my dad sells them.. (florida water services)

[stingythingy45]

what does it do exactly? and where can i buy them and for how much?
and yea i got a good R.O tank under my sink, my dad sells them.. (florida water services)

GFO reactors can be purchased online from many of RC's sponsors.
The media removed phosphates by absorbing them from the system water.
This in turn starves the HA of nutrients.
Works quite well and sometimes results can be seen in a matter of days.
But,make sure you read up on using this type of apparatus.

[90accord]

water changes might help. also cut back feedings

[stingythingy45]

Here's one from a sponsor to show what they look like.
Most need a pump like a MaxiJet 1200 to feed it.
You can shop around for price and availability.

http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/store/products/carbon-and-gfo

[NickRummy]

what does it do exactly? and where can i buy them and for how much?
and yea i got a good R.O tank under my sink, my dad sells them.. (florida water services)

If it's an RO only system there still might be phosphates in the water? Maybe you should test the RO water for phosphates?

I'm battling a new outbreak of hair algae right now in my tank and I use RO/DI water. My phosphates are at .25ppm right now and I'm nearly %100 sure it's because I was over feeding. Might want to cut back on feeding as well as look into the GFO use?

I'm waiting for my GFO to come in. I'll be using it in a BRS reactor.

[jiffy1990]

dumb question:whats the difference between phos reactor and protein skimmer?

i feed once a week (frozen food mostly, last 2 weeks i fed them live brine)
just did a water change the day before yesterday , 5 gallons (28g nano cube)

and its an RO/DI, nothing in it at all he said.

[chase01]

Watch the video on media reactors on the Bulk Reef Supply website- it should give you a better idea of what it actually does.

[tchndie]

Turn your lights out for a couple of days and put garbage bags around the tank so no light get in. In a couple of days your algae should be just about gone. Get a phosbahn reactor and some gfo from bulk reef supply. It will take phosphates out of your water. How old are you bulbs in your light fixture? How long are your lights on for? Does any sunlight hit your tank?? Also check to see if your food contains any phospherous products.If so either switch foods or feed less. I only feed what they can eat in 1 minute.

[jiffy1990]

cant watch video, no speakers on my computer..

it wont harm the corals? (a couple days without light)
a lil over 6 months (150w MH).. run them for 6 hours and run (12w panorama)blue LEDs 6 hours.. no sun light really hits it and if it did its when the lights are on so i dont think that makes a difference.
i target feed and some of my corals are slow eaters, but ill feed less and see if i see a change.

[rayn]

Cut back on light time, feed less, get a reactor. Test your water, test your phosphate and nitrate. Are you running di or just ro? A reactor will help, but you need to attack it head on. If you can clean your glass and get the HA out. Take your LR out and scrub in a bucket of salt water when you do a water change, rinse in clean salt water, place back in tank.
Reactor with gfo will help, but wont solve your problem.

[jiffy1990]

i probably wont have the money for the reactor anytime soon, like i said its an RO/DI.. too much coral on my live rock to take them out and scrub them, plus its mostly tangled around my zoas, i pick off what i can (on the rocks and corals).

but i was going to try the no light thing for a couple days, is that gunna work for sure or no?

[stingythingy45]

Probably not.
I had HA in a basement QT tank that got very little outside light(just reflective from a small window).
I kept the light off for over 4 weeks and when I turned the light back on.......HA came back.
From what I've read sea hares can clean a tank up pretty fast.I have no experience having one though.Other than that,lights out,turbo snails,lawnmower blennie all are for not.

[seaflea]

I just got a sea hare to take care of my prob. For the 2 days I had the poor little guy he did a great job. My rabbit fish is alittle to inquisitive about new things tho and took a large chunk out of him. Careful if you have any larger fish I guess.

[bamf25]

Is it worth going to this type of reactor immediately at tank startup, or do people see how things go first. That double unit from bulk reef is a decent price, and I have a rio 1400 already that I could use to drive it. Should I just start the tank with one or see how things go first?

[stingythingy45]

Is it worth going to this type of reactor immediately at tank startup, or do people see how things go first. That double unit from bulk reef is a decent price, and I have a rio 1400 already that I could use to drive it. Should I just start the tank with one or see how things go first?


In general,most tanks have some sort of nuisance algae in the first 6 months to a year.In most cases,with good ro/di water and water change,good skimmer,things clear up rather quickly.Most people have persistent algae problems,especially HA due to high phosphates and nitrates.Sometimes luck has it that the phosphates my be leaching from the live rock.
I wouldn't start a tank immediately with a GFO reactor.
Just watch and be patient and see how things go.

[jiffy1990]

its been over 6 months for me since ive started my tank, had big HA problems in the beginning.. hasnt been all that bad but its still noticeable, im gunna hold off on the reactor for now. but i will purchace a sea hare or 2, is their certain ones better than others or are they all the same?

and ive also read that cerith snails eat hair algae as well.. is that a fact or sales pitch? =]

[rayn]

For those looking at a sea hare......HAIR ALGEA IS ALL THEY EAT! When or if that is gone they will starve. When I started my 120 I ran a reactor from day one and for almost 7 months now have not had ha in it. Cheato and DSB in the fuge to help out as well.

[AUreef10]

i actually had the same issue i have a large tank 170 gallons, large skimmer, and a large gfo, and a fuge. i could not stop the HA. i ended up stop feeding for 3 months now. My 3 tangs started feeding on it. The tank is looking a lot better now .

[Jstdv8]

I use an algae turf scrubber, built it for about 60 bucks. IMO it performs better than GFO, far outperforms cheato and is something you can make yourself for cheap.
I used to ahve GHA like crazy, within a couple of months it was all gone. just takes a little bit for the screen to grow in and then you are golden.

[MaxxdOut]

If you don't want to purchase a reactor, I have heard good things about stacking Puregen and Chemi-Pure Elite. I myself am battling an algae issue like you and I'm about to try these out. Furthermore, I'm very far from an expert. However, if you have any corals I would exercise caution when listening to the earlier advice of keeping your lights off and tank covered as this could negatively impact them. Good luck and keep us updated - I'm interested to hear how to correct the problem.

[vono]

I run GFO in a media bag with high water flow. It works pretty well if you don't have a reactor. Change the GFO every 3-months or when you notice your phosphate levels start to rise again.