Hair Algae Question

[RonE]

I'm currently battling a really bad hair algae problem.
After cleanning everything the best that I could, there are still some spots of hair algae that I can't reach...Will this disappear over time?

[gho]

If you keep your phosphates at/near 0 and have algae eating critters, yes. I had a few clumps of algae left over from my cleaning, expecially around my xenia and my turbo snails ate all the algae but left the xenias intact.

Gregory

[astrogazer]

How old is the tank? If the tank is somewhat established then your problem could be phosphates as mentioned above. This can be caused by poor water quality and/or water source for top offs and changes. There are many methods to remove phosphates if this is the issue. If you don't have a phosphate test kit take a water sample to you lfs to get it tested. Hair algae is a pain in the ***.

[RonE]

the tank is 3 years old...I just started using ro/di water, and a new phosphate bag to reduce phosphates....i think the previous phosphate bag I had released all the phosphates it had back into the tank after 10 weeks of not changing it..........
after a few water changes my tank started smelling real rotten...any clues as to what thats about?

gho.....
my turbo snails have hair algae growing on their shells

[gho]

Sounds like you're on the right track. Do test the phospate levels though. You can get a test kit at your LFS. That rotten smell sounds like ammonia and/or decaying matter. You will probably want to test your ammonia/nitrite/nitrate levels too. To get rid of the smell run some activated carbon (be sure to take it out after about a week though). I use phosban to suck up phosphates. Supposidly, it won't leach phosphates back in.

10 weeks is definately toooooooooo long to run any sort of chemical/mechanical filtration. You clean your floss at least once a month, and change filtration media after a week or two, depending on if its lost its effectiveness. If Phosphate levels start to rise, the phosphate sponge should be exchanged, if the water starts to smell, or gets discolored, its time to change your carbon.

I had hair algae growing like mad in my tank for a couple of years. I recently decided to do something about it. Mine was a FOWLR tank too, and converted to a reef.

In my tank I try to stay away from chemicals. Either in the form of chemical filtration or additives (medications). I've recently added, abiet with great hesitation, a phosphate sponge (phosban), and, again with great hesitation aquamend (to glue down corals) - I added carbon to the sump to suck up any chemical released by the aquamend.

My Turbos eat algae off each other, and even cleaned of my hermits (one of which looked like a moving clump of hair algae). make sure you have enough turbos. I have 5 in my 30.

Also start feeding your fish less. Make sure they eat all of the food you feed them and that none sink to the bottom. They should be done eating after about 5 minutes. Don't worry about the fish being hungry, you can check their bellies, if they start looking skinny, you can up their feedings a bit. Excess food is the #1 source of free phosphate, and ends up feeding algae.

Hope this helps some.

Gregory