Hair alage should I do this.

[pumpdogs]

I have a hair alage problem in my 180 gal.I am thinking about placing most of my rock in my 75 gal sump and let go without light for a few weeks to try and kill this hair alage.Will this work?

[soldier1911]

If you're going to do that, do a search on rock cooking. Are you using ro/di water?

[pumpdogs]

Yes, I use ro/di.I can not take the rock out of the loop because I do have corals in my tank.

[dippin61]

the problem with that is, your not addressing the underlying issues. your HA is growing because you have a phosphate problem. by putting the rock in the sump, all your gonna get is dying off algae, that will just keep fueling your phosphates and other parameters.

if your gonna cook your rock, take it completely outta the system and cure it elsewhere.

[king1522]

It only took three days without lighting to kill the hair algae in my 225 gallon. I have three tangs, a rabbitfish and lawnmower blenny that keep the algae in check.

[Chad Vossen]

you need to export those nutrients better. a good sized refugium is the top of my list because it also helps produce pods.
alot of chaeto will out compete hair algae within a few weeks under the right conditions.
upgrading your skimmer after doing ALOT of research on which will solve your problem.

i plan to run my next system with no skimmer and one MASSIVE refugium.

there are a few more ideas but im dead tired right now.

[wanabeeReeFeR]

nutrient/light control, a bucket of fresh water and new toilet brush from the store. that helped me allot with some addtive called marine sat. not fun but if u get it in control, its worth your expen$ive rock not sufficating.

[lgoins]

If you have bryopis algea turning the lights off for three weeks won't do anything for your algea problem.

[Chad Vossen]

the rock wont suffocate, the caroline algae and corals living on it would. as long as you have your live rock in your tank and dont use formalin (toxic to bacteria), your live rock is alive with bacteria. caroline algae can easily be re-seeded with a small peice of live rock that already has some growing on it.
the hair algae suffocating the live rock is wrong because many people will cook their live rock in complete darkness for months, of course caroline algae often dies out, the bacteria is still present along with all your pods and sponges

[lgoins]

it's coraline algea, not caroline.

Also, I've cooked rock in buckets with no light for months at a time and have had several corals survive and even retain color. For example I "cooked" a rock that had orange digitata and anthelia on it for several months and when I took it out, the digitata was still alive (a little less orange but still orange) and the anthelia was alive. Another piece of rock with green favia on it, retained it's green color after 2.5 months in complete darkness. I've only cooked rock for three months at a time at this point, but the coraline algea and many corals can withstand the no light environment provided with clean water and moderate flow.

[pumpdogs]

I am in the process of making a 15 gal nitrate bucket.Should be up and running by the weekend.Should I just try this first before moving the rock into the sump.

[Sk8r]

Phosban might help, short of this, and corals don't mind it.

You might also try a freshwater molly acclimated to salt over a few hours---they'll eat most filamentous algaes.

[B33FST3W]

I am getting over my HA problem. What I did was took out every rock and scrubed it with a toothbrush. While I was doing that, I was running a phosphate remover in the tank. Once I was done scrubing the rocks, I left the lights out for the rest of the day and since, I havent noticed too much regrowth (my cleaning crew can keep up with it). Last night, I added some chaeto to my fuge, and that should take care of the rest of my problems, and keep it from ever coming back. GL with you problem.

-Stew

[pumpdogs]

I tried the phosban and the scrubbing to no avail.My lawnmower belnnie does not even touch the stuff.My coraline was just starting to take off before the hair alage came.Maybe I will try scrubbing again and the phosban and this time leave the lights off for a few days and see what happens.

[dippin61]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8742268#post8742268 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by lgoins
it's coraline algea, not caroline.


if you really insist on correcting peoples spelling on an online forum, here we go:

its actually coralline.

back on topic. if you want to get rid of it, take it out of the system to do it. put it in a rubbermaid with some water, scrub it real good, THEN put it in your sump in the dark, that should try and get the little stuff off, without fouling your water too bad.

[pumpdogs]

I think that is a good plan.

[soldier1911]

Are you running carbon?

[ADA33]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8747361#post8747361 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by soldier1911
Are you running carbon?

Just curious what carbon would do for HA

[joestreich]

[QUOTE]<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8744256#post8744256 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by dippin61
[B]if you really insist on correcting peoples spelling on an online forum, here we go:


actually peoples should be people's......possesive as people is already plural -lol

[dippin61]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8747884#post8747884 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by joestreich
[QUOTE]<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8744256#post8744256 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by dippin61
[B]if you really insist on correcting peoples spelling on an online forum, here we go:


actually peoples should be people's......possesive as people is already plural -lol

Your actually should be Actually since it's the beginning of a sentence, possesive is really possessive. :p

see how silly it gets? :D

[Watch Yo Wrasse]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8748102#post8748102 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by dippin61
Your actually should be Actually since it's the beginning of a sentence, possesive is really possessive. :p

see how silly it gets? :D

Your see should be See since it is the beginning of another sentence. Possessive is extremely possessive. :lol:

[Watch Yo Wrasse]

If you're gonna do it, do it. Don't ask the hair algae for permission.

[Chad Vossen]

come on guys, if this is going to become a grammar class, start a new thread.

and thanks for the correction on my coralline spelling.

i am willing to back up that alot of mollies will eat hair algae, such as sailfin mollies, however its not solving your problem, just recycling the nutrients.

[dippin61]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8749529#post8749529 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by armagedon48
come on guys, if this is going to become a grammar class, start a new thread.

and thanks for the correction on my coralline spelling.

i am willing to back up that alot of mollies will eat hair algae, such as sailfin mollies, however its not solving your problem, just recycling the nutrients.

nah.. i was just pointing out how silly it is to correct grammar/spelling on an online forum :p

i was actually defending you! :D

anyways.. i think there should be some good advice in this thread to start with.. let us know how it goes