Hair Algae Problem And usual techniques aren't working...help!!!!

[zacharytrimble]

Ok, here's an overview of the last 3 months...

75 gal.
nitrate: always 0-5 ppm
phosphates: 0
feeding lightly once a day
10 gal. fuge full of chaeto
lots of flow in tank...1300 gph
took all rock out to scrub it free of algae twice....
tried both small and large water changes
using reef crystals salt
(no, I don't use ro/di), which may be part of it...
INCREDIBLE AMOUNTS OF HAIR ALGAE...TOTALLY TAKING OVER TANK!!!

I want to know why this may be...I realize that it's hard to find a reliable test kit (the one stated is api)...but could they be that far off?

Is there anyone out there with an answer besides "don't overfeed your fish and get nitrates and phosphates out"? I'm totally stumped!!!

[zacharytrimble]

Oh, and one more factor...my lights have been on 9 hours a day

[psuedopimp]

I started to dose kalk and added cheato and my problem is starting to go away,,,,at least it is slowing down. The kalk has a high pH which causes any phosphates to precipitate out. I believe that is what is helping in my situation anyway.

[DocG]

What is the nitrate and phosphate values of your topoff water?

How old is your tank?

I wouldn't trust that the API test kit is going to measure phosphates low enough to give you good enough information (i.e. your phosphates are probably not zero).

You may benefit from a GFO phosphate remover (phosban, ROWAphos, etc).

You will definitely benefit from a RO/DI unit.

[BurntOutReefer]

(no, I don't use ro/di), which may be part of it...
INCREDIBLE AMOUNTS OF HAIR ALGAE...TOTALLY TAKING OVER TANK!!!

There you go then. Test your top-off water.....and looks like you mix you own SW for changes......so test your water matey...bet you thats where the cause is.

[BurntOutReefer]

dude,,,,
youar tap water aint no good.....

http://ewg.org/tapwater/statereports/statereport.php?state=OH
(Albeit the report is old...bet you it hasnt changed much)......

[BurntOutReefer]

ohh....and just IMO

[tom sumter]

Any herbivores in the tank? I had a nasty (and I mean nasty) hair-algae bloom and I added one large turbo snail and a sea hare and they went on a scorched-rock campaign until there was hardly anything hair-algae left in the tank. I already had 10 small snails and 8 hermit crabs but they weren't getting the job done. The "industrial" grazers took care of it.

[einsteins]

How is this water?

I don't know what to look for in that info.
http://ewg.org/tapwater/yourwater/system.php?pwsid=IA8222001

Thanks

[Craig Lambert]

You have six fish (of which two are tangs), and you don't use RODI water. Also, your skimmer is way to small for your tank/bioload...That's the perfect recipe for problem algae.

[RedEyeElf]

depends on which prizm, the one is rated for like 300 gallons right?

and he has 2 skimmers it looks like

I purchased like 60 lbs COVERED (had to remove tons to prove there was rock under it)

I purchased the smallest yellow tang i could find

with in maybe 1 week or 2 he had it manicured to 1 small garden

something about the superfast metabolism of the baby tangs
Heard foxfaces are the same way, but never seen them in action against hair algae
but since you have tangs, I'm going to lean towards old bulbs and say get some more productive snails

[KeepOnReefin]

use ro/di water.. or get a system at www.purelyh20.com they are sponsors of RC and ask for your RC discount. Is your tank aged? How long? Do you have a skimmer? if not, use one. change your filters more, if using them. get a goby fish.. oh yeah, one more.. use ro/di water. I have seen a direct relation with cyano and tap water...even though there are many that use it successfully. hope this helps. many do feel your pain..it sucks but dont give up.

[jmicky41]

I had a hair algae bloom once. I tried all the usual: phosphate removers, scarlet hermits, less photoperiod, new bulbs, more water changes, yellow tang, pb tang, turbos, asteas, scrubbed all the rock about 5 times - nothing did much. My tank and tap always showed little to no nitrate or phosphate. Once I added a DI to my RO the hair algae faded quickly and it hasn't been seen since. All it took was about 4 20% water changes with 0-1 TDS RODI while siphoning out some of the larger strands. I figured that RO water was good enough but I was wrong. My tap TDS was 550, RO was 55, RODI 0-1.

[JPMagyar]

You have six fish (of which two are tangs), and you don't use RODI water. Also, your skimmer is way to small for your tank/bioload...That's the perfect recipe for problem algae.

Dude listen to the voices of reason get an RO/DI and a better skimmer and your problem will disappear.

Joe

[zacharytrimble]

Just tested my tap water again....it reads 0 for both nitrates and phosphates...so my question now is how accurate is my test kit? I konw different brands can be trusted for different tests....what brand has a good test for nitrate and phosphate? Oh, and trust me...I'd love to have R/O D/I right now...but I don't have it for the same reason many don't....$$$ It will hopefully come soon though. You guys have been so helpful...thanks...

[zacharytrimble]

Oh, but one quick defense...I don't think 6 fish (especially when each are under 4 inches right now) is too much bio load...do you guys??? I mean we're talking about mandarin...dartfish, chromis? BAby baby hippo...cmon...am I wrong?

[supervdl]

Here is a good book to find the right herbivores to the right algae and learn more about the topic:

http://www.marinedepot.com/md_viewItem.asp?idproduct=BKALGAE

and I agree with previous posts: great skimmer and RO/DI go a long way to win the battle.

what's your alkalinity? Some Algae are on a decline if alk is consistently >8.

[Boat Racer]

Not anywhere near enough flow
Feeding to often
Too long of photoperiod.
Using bad water

Solution:
Double the flow
feed every other day
5-6 hours a day lighting
get ro/di water for each top off and w/change

I would also get an Emeral crab,small blue and red leg hermit crabs and a rabbit fish to graze the greens.Maybe a Lawn mower blenny might help as well.

[Reefdiver72]

There are alot of places theat sell ro di water I get it from my local coral shop I also get already made salt water from there rodi system I havent had nearly the algea problems since I started doing this but I just bought my own ro di system checkout buckeye field systems they sell some reasonably priced systems you only really need maybe a 17 galoon per day one hope this helps Aaron

[Craig Lambert]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9085805#post9085805 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by zacharytrimble
Just tested my tap water again....it reads 0 for both nitrates and phosphates...so my question now is how accurate is my test kit? I konw different brands can be trusted for different tests....what brand has a good test for nitrate and phosphate? Oh, and trust me...I'd love to have R/O D/I right now...but I don't have it for the same reason many don't....$$$ It will hopefully come soon though. You guys have been so helpful...thanks...

Testing for the TDS reading of your tap water is what's important.

A side note on the fish. Remember that tangs produce lots of waste. They expell something like 93% of their intake, so it takes about 3 of those smaller fish to equal 1 tang.

[zacharytrimble]

What's TDS?

[zacharytrimble]

Ok, if 9 hours a day with lights on is too long I'm quitting this hobby...I don't buy that...

[supervdl]

TDS of your tap water gives you a reading of your dissolved solids in the water, i.e. impurities. My water had so many impurities I had to add a DI stage and the cartridge has to be replaced after three water changes (which is really extreme).

9 hours of photoperiod is not too long.

Maginificant Foxface is a nice rabbitfish and those go really to work on your hair algae. Don't take a Foxface, since you have a Yellow Tang. I had them both in my tank and I felt like the Foxface never really got along well with the Yellow Tang.

My local fish shop sells ro/di water too many reefers that don't have their own unit to prepare water and with your size tank it is still possible to go that route.

[davocean]

This is a no brainer.
You're using tap water, not RO/DI
If you can't afford an RO right now, you should be making regular trips to purchase RO water as part of your regular maintenence.
And I agree the prizms aren't helping you that much either.

[JPMagyar]

I don't think 6 fish (especially when each are under 4 inches right now) is too much bio load...do you guys???


I have to agree with you that 6 fish is not too much, and I respectfully disagree with the lighting issue. I have run as much as 3400 watts total light on a 280 gallon tank running 10 hours per day with no increase in algae. Even my 30 gallon frag tank which is crystal clear gets 14 hours of light per day including 2 x 150 watt Mhs and 2 x 24 inch T5s, and the only flow I have in that tank is the Prizm Pro and 2 Maxijet 600s. That's not to say that light doesn't promote algae; its just that if you keep the nutrient levels down, and add some good cleaners it won't matter what lighting you run because the algae will stay under control. (Personally I have had tremendous success using tuxedo urchins and I might suggest you give them a try. They are the ultimate hair algae eating machines but many here on RC would disagree so be sure to read up).

What ever you do the results will not be visible overnite, but I'm sure you'll have it licked in no time ;)

Best of luck!

Joe :rollface:

http://www.bluefrags.com/images/gallery/pictures/RS107.jpg

[jimwat]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9085805#post9085805 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by zacharytrimble
Just tested my tap water again....it reads 0 for both nitrates and phosphates...so my question now is how accurate is my test kit? I konw different brands can be trusted for different tests....what brand has a good test for nitrate and phosphate? Oh, and trust me...I'd love to have R/O D/I right now...but I don't have it for the same reason many don't....$$$ It will hopefully come soon though. You guys have been so helpful...thanks... IMO, Salifert makes the best test kits.

It sounds like you need a TDS meter (start around $12 on ebay) to measure your tap water. You'll need one anyway when you get your RO/DI unit so you'll know when to replace your filters.

Critters-Flow-Lighting-Skimmer-etc. changes will probably not give you the results you want until you start using RO/DI water.

Good Luck

[reeformadness]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9087965#post9087965 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by zacharytrimble
Ok, if 9 hours a day with lights on is too long I'm quitting this hobby...I don't buy that...

9 hours is not too much IMO. I have ran mine for 10 hours from the start and I am now up to 12 hours. I have had a hair algae problem through much of this tanks 1 year life. Patience has helped alot. I am blessed with soft water so I don't use RO or DI. I do top off with Britta water though, just to do as much as I can without spending the bucks. Grazers are the best solution. Some Trochus or Turbos would do you some good. That's what has gotten me over the hump, but I'm not all the way there yet. Also make sure your lights bulbs aren't too old. They should be changed as much as every 6 months...Don't go over 1.5 years. They should also be on the bluer end of the spectrum. I use 3 VHO actinics and 1 daylight. On that subject, kepp your temperature down too. That will help. Increasing your flow is also a must. 1300 gph isn't much. Go to mjmods.com and get you the kits. They are affordable. I have two of the 2400 gph for my system and it is night and day from when I had aquaclears. Also lowered my tank temp 3 degrees F! Harvest the algae manually often and keep doing water changes. I also added a Phosban reactor, polyfilter, and carbon bag just for good measure. If you aren't dosing kalk or a 2-part solution then you need to. Hair algae thrives at lower pH's and higher calcium puts the algae growth in corallines favor. I use a 2-part but its just a matter of preference and money. I'm not sure if you said how much live rock you have but more is better. I know this sounds like alot, but these are actually pretty simple solutions. The simplest solution is to get a good cleanup crew. They can't help with nutrients, but they definitely help with algae. I put 50 trochus in my 75 gal. tank once and they had it spotless in less than a week. Needless to say most of them starved (I think) after that and the problem came back, so try maybe half that.

[weaver5]

First off I agree that the water is probaly the biggest problem. That said I can understand the cost of the ro/di unit might be a bit to swallow all at once there are some pretty good ones for around 100 on ebay.If cash is alittle tight right now use distilled water from walmart is is only like 59 cents a gallon.I had a problem and started using B-ionic helped tons.Good luck

[sasscuba]

Get a sea hare...mine is getting it under control. My tank is still new though...3 months...http://archive.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1029440