Green hair algae

[agarza3]

I was just wondering how to get rid of this green hair algae that came out as soon as I added my PC 4x65 Watt. I have no corals as of yet but I would like to add them soon. I must get rid of this green stuff first. Please Help it's taking over all of my live rock and I even how some powerheads facing the rock??

[Time4chillie]

hey i have the exact same stuff in my tank, and it comes on so fast, i have been resorting to taking my rocks out spraying with freshwater and scrubbing out side of the tank and then washing down outside of the tank. i too have a coralife fixture but mine is 2x65w.

[romunov]

Grazers, nutrient export, skimming, herbivorus fish...

[clown2be]

Is this my old friend "Raymond"? you were always good with the green hair algae!

What are you using as top off water and for water changes, untreated TAP?

[agarza3]

i've been using untreated tap for 6 months now and nothing ever showed up. It wasn't until after I added the 4x65 watt PC that it started to grow.

[Anemone]

Algae needs two things to grow - light and nutrients. Increase one and you may well increase your algal growth until you reach the limits of the other. In this case, it sounds like increasing your light led to the increased algal growth.

How to get rid of it? Either add consumers (herbivores), or decrease one of the other required items. Since you seem to want to increase your lighting, that would seem to indicate you need to decrease your nutrient input.... A very good way to start would be to do away with the tap water.

Good luck,
Kevin

[BenBradford]

Add a lawnmower blenny. These are great at keeping algae off rocks. Add snails and crabs. Best deals on GARF. Also only clean your rock with saltwater you take out of your tank during water change. If you use freshwater, you are actually killing the bacteria on your rock that keeps your nutrient levels down. Use Reverse Osmosis water, improve skimming, add purigen and phosguard.

[rshimek]

Hi,

Do a search of this forum using "nutrient export" as your search keys. That will give you some information about what you need to do to export the excess nutrient. Probably the best herbivore on these algae is a long-spined urchin (Diadema species).