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View Full Version : Hair Algae issue - Advice ?


Felix T Cat
01/17/2014, 09:03 AM
Mixed 135g reef, been up and running for almost 2 years. I got very lax on water changes at the end of last year and I'm trying to get things back in order. Right now I am battling a serious issue with hair algae and I'm hoping for advice on a snail / critter that will go to town and help me win the fight.

Nitrates and Phosphates are reading 0 via API test kit

I have done 2x 25g water changes this week and I am mixing another 25g right now to change later tonight. I've dialed my skimmer up a bit to skim a little wetter than normal. Running carbon and Phosguard in the sump.

One thing I did realize is that I'm running no filter sock and there was a ton of garbage that had accumulated in the sump. I've managed to vac out most of it as well.

Right now I have Nass and Cat's eye turbos, blue leg hermits and a few emeralds.

Here is a pic:
http://www.thefelixfamily.com/images/Hair%20Algae.jpg

mtaswt
01/17/2014, 09:34 AM
Get you a Sea Hare.....I had the EXACT same problem that you did and the Sea Hare went to town on that stuff. I was amazed at how quickly he was able to get my problem under control. Just remember that is just about all they eat so once your problem is taken care of you will most likely need to trade him in.

ca1ore
01/17/2014, 10:09 AM
Getting hair algae under control once it has taken a good foothold is tough, and can take a while. Essentially you must approach it from two directions. First, do whatever you can to increase nutrient export - water changes, heavy skimming, ATS, GFO and GAC. Second, add animals that will eat the algae - snails, crabs, nudi, and fish.

You may have to do some significant manual removal and in some cases raising the Mg levels can help.

Laddy
01/17/2014, 10:22 AM
I have battled hair algae a time or two. I can almost guarantee it's a function of a few issues: too many nutrients added, not enough exporting, and water flow.

If you're not using RODI water with zero TDS then no matter how many water changes you do you're still not curing the problem--just contributing to the problem. Check and replace cartridges in your unit, or get clean fresh water. Cut your feeding in half and reduce your photo period in the tank--many people feed their fish too much subject to the bio uptake of the tank; long lighting periods contribute to the problem as well. Add more flow, regardless of what you are currently running. Get Mg in the 1350-1450 range.

Hope this helps.

brandon429
01/17/2014, 10:51 AM
if all else fails I want that wrecked tank in my thread to fix

pico reef pest algae challenge thread post your pics there if no others work out, we can fix easy.

Felix T Cat
01/18/2014, 07:11 AM
Using RO/DI (have been since day one) filters are about 6 months old, TDS out of the system is 0. I'm running 2x MP40, one at each end and roughly 800gph through the overflows back up into 2x sea swirls for flow.
I'll check mg levels. last night I went at it with my vac and a pair of scissors. It looked a little thinner last night (might be wishful thinking) so I'll continue with the water changes and see how it progresses.

screamingibis
01/18/2014, 07:42 AM
I would do what Laddy says. I would also get a GFO reactor. I've used AlgaeFix with good success in the past also. But you need to cure your underlying phosphate problem first. It will take weeks to months to be gone. Also, a lot of awesome tanks have a small amount of HA. There's many tanks of the month on this website that I guarantee have a small amount of HA.

Laddy
01/18/2014, 11:16 AM
+1 on the GFO