Can you identify this algae?

dismayed · #1 10/28/2007, 01:43 PM

Well I'm still struggling with algae problems. I was hoping that someone could identify this type of algae for me (link below). At first it was brown and so I was guessing diatom, but as time has gone on it is becoming much more green and hairy now. I have noticed one or two spots that have a purplish hue to it too.

seakwon · #2 10/28/2007, 02:02 PM

hair algae, fix the problem now before it is too bad to fix.

dismayed · #3 10/28/2007, 02:41 PM

Here are some metrics I just took. I'm not sure what is going on, I do a water change every week and just did one, yet my levels are still high.

PH 8.4
KH 9
Calcium 380
Nitrate 20
Nitrite 0
Amonia 0
Silicate between 3 - 5
Phosphate 0.25

I buy my water from a local fish store. I just bought some yesterday still in the jug, I'm about to run a test on that water now.

Any suggestions?

kau_cinta_ku · #4 10/28/2007, 02:45 PM

lower the phosphates and nitrates and that will help rid it.

Brandon M · #5 10/28/2007, 03:48 PM

Do you have a refugium?

I had the same problem and am starting to solve it by doing three things.

1. Added a refugium with cheato
2. Added a phosban reactor with phosban running 24/7 and replacing every 3-4 weeks
3. Manually removing the hair algae with a toothbrush weekly during each water change.

Completing these steps will help with your problem. Good luck!

dismayed · #6 10/28/2007, 11:27 PM

I don't have a refugium. I only have a 24 gallon AquaPod so that probably isn't something I am interested in doing.

I did recently add a little protein skimmer that was made for nano-reef tanks. It contains a small filter. It reminds me of the phosban a bit.

I am running with live rock and sand, two sponge filters, several bio-balls, a filter bag that contains what kind of looks like "popcorn" that you get in packages from UPS (it came with the AquaPod) and activated carbon. I have also added a power jet to the tank recently.

It really seems like with the amount of stuff I have in the tank I shouldn't be having this problem. I went ahead and did a 50% water change today. It honestly didn't seem to do much to the nitrate level.

Something must be leeching nitrates into the tank but I just don't know what it could be. My fish recently died off, so I have stopped feeding except for an occasional dose of DT's for some of the reefs (right now once a week).

I'm thinking about adding a polyfilter, Purigen, and a sea hare and seeing if that helps.

loosecannon · #7 10/29/2007, 12:11 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by kau_cinta_ku
lower the phosphates and nitrates and that will help rid it.

Those are not that bad . low S.G. will do that as well.

uscharalph · #8 10/29/2007, 12:36 AM

The phospates are low because the Hair Algae is consumming them.

jokeloma · #9 10/29/2007, 01:08 AM

Try to add a phosban reactor I struggled for along time and just finally spent the 40-50 bucks and it was pretty much gone in two weeks.
of course only my .02

jokeloma · #10 10/29/2007, 01:09 AM

But yes I believe this would be the dreaded green hair algae and it will make your phosphate test read incorrectly.

demonsp · #11 10/29/2007, 04:42 AM

Nitrates are kinda high. Do you clean those sponge filters and bio balls weekly ?
And what is the water source ?

dismayed · #12 10/29/2007, 07:50 AM

I've been cleaning the sponges and bio-balls about every 2-3 weeks. I could beef that up to weekly and see if that helps. I've been cleaning them by running tap water over them and then squeezing all the water out until the water comes out clear.

The water source is from a LFS. I tested the source water before putting it in the tank the other day and it is pretty much perfect coming from the store.