(Help) Should I start over?

[artc1688]

After setting up my 60 gal tank for the past two years, I thought I have stabilize my system..
Due to my travel in the recent months, I have asked my daughter to “feed” my fish while I am away.

During the last month, I noticed an unbelievable growth of the hair algae in my tank and very quickly killing off my GSP, Zoa, and may precious corals. (not mentioning the unsightliness)

I have tried the following techniques:
1. Manually remove hair algae as much as possible (siphoned twice)
2. Introduce carbon filter
3. Conduct 33% water change
4. Reduce the lighting by one hour
5. Reduce daily feeding to every other day

Although I noticed the water is much clearer from the carbon, however, the hair algae is still persistent and growing with vengeance)

PLEASE HELP… I love my tank and do not want to start all over again!!
I am running a ASM-G2 skimmer and it seems to be doing okay pulling junk out….
Do I have to go bare bottom?

AC

[SeanySean]

have you measured for phosphates and nitrates....


from what you are saying your daughter may have been a bit over zealous with the feeding and may have upset you bio filter.

The way of removing it is... as much manual removal as possible and then limiting the food the algae recieves through lighting and phosphates, nitrates

[sir_dudeguy]

yes i agree w/sean...the overfeeding will have added either nitrates or phosphates (or both) which is what algae uses to grow. Specially if it was a cheap flake food...they usually have high phosphates.

Also, imo none of those things (besides manually removing the stuff) isnt gonna really make a dent in it. IMO you should get about 8 or so cerith snails and 3 turbo snails to start with....BUT FIRST you have to make sure your nitrates arent too high, because they're toxic to inverts i believe (altho mine lived thro nitrates above 100 lol)

ceriths and turbos are sposed to be good at eating the stuff....altho i've never really liked my turbos because they get lazy and dont eat the algae much (only if you overfeed i think...which i did but i dont now, but they still dont eat the algae much...) but everyone swears by them so i would suggest getting a few.

ceriths imo are way better. I had 2 of them in my 55 completely take away all the brown algae on the sand in like 4 days. And i have so far seen one of them eat a pretty big bush of hair algae recently.

do you have any cleanup crew as of yet? i wouldnt start all over...shouldnt be too hard to get back to normal..i'd say a month, prolly less, of keeping up on water changes, not overfeeding, and getting a good cleanup crew and you should be back too normal.

hth
mike

[Cwright]

I'm going through the HA battle. I cut my photoperiod down to about 4 hours (I'm pretty sure that mine was too long to begin with).

Between that, feeding less, keeping the nitrates and phosphates down (though water changes), and having the turbos in the tank, I've been winning. I got a massive chunk out the other day and that night my turbos were cleaning up the rest of the area. It's taken me about a month to get this far and I'm not done yet, but I can tell it's making a huge difference.

[AZDesertRat]

Reduce or eliminate your photoperiod all together unless you have SPS or other light demanding corals. Always use RO/DI water for changes and topoffs. Add a phosphate reactor or bagged media in some way. Get a variety of snails, they each eat something different and contribute to the overall process. Cut back on feeding, make the fish help eliminate the problem by eating the algae.
What is your bio load? How many and what size fish and other creatures?

[MJAnderson]

Have you considered a sea hare? Borrow one as they tend to starve in a well maintained tank that small once everything is under control.

http://www.janetsreef.com/sea_hare.htm

[Sk8r]

A sea hare would be good. A conch is good at getting it out of the sandbed. An pincushion urchin is a great down-to-bare-rock cleaner, and I have a huge one in my 52 with around 20-25 acros and lps and a clam [you may imagine it is crowded] that has thus far done a great ballet avoiding my corals. It doesn't like to touch them and I'm quite happy with it. Where it can reach, the rock is clean, and the "hairy" pincushion even eats caulerpa.

[2fishy]

Originally posted by SeanySean
have you measured for phosphates and nitrates....


from what you are saying your daughter may have been a bit over zealous with the feeding and may have upset you bio filter.

The way of removing it is... as much manual removal as possible and then limiting the food the algae recieves through lighting and phosphates, nitrates

Oh, I agree with this as I just did a water change, and the person that fed the tank when I am at work must not have been shutting the filter off when feeding like I do. All of a sudden I had a lot of algae on the glass, and when I did the water change it was GROSS in the filter! Obviously a lot of food got sucked up and I do 10% weekly water changes, so this all happened in just a few days!

[artc1688]

Originally posted by MJAnderson
Have you considered a sea hare? Borrow one as they tend to starve in a well maintained tank that small once everything is under control.

http://www.janetsreef.com/sea_hare.htm

Love the idea.... Thanks!!! I will go out and buy one tomorrow...
Always appreciate a good natural method to get rid of the HA....

aaarrgggg

I think I have lost over $500 worth of coral -> from the hair algae..

thanks and I will report back on the progress

[artc1688]

Originally posted by AZDesertRat
Reduce or eliminate your photoperiod all together unless you have SPS or other light demanding corals. Always use RO/DI water for changes and topoffs. Add a phosphate reactor or bagged media in some way. Get a variety of snails, they each eat something different and contribute to the overall process. Cut back on feeding, make the fish help eliminate the problem by eating the algae.
What is your bio load? How many and what size fish and other creatures?

My Bioload is a bit high for a 55 gal tank...
1. Yellow Tang (3")
1. purple tang (3")
1. Paj Cardinal (2.5")
1. clown (1.5")
1. chromis
1. flame angel (1.5")
1. fire shrimp

I have always used RO/DI... I thouhgt it might be the salt -> since I switched from IO to pureocean.. (to save money).... not sure if this is the cause....

[SeanySean]

How do all those Tangs get along Yellow, Purple, and pyjama?

[sir_dudeguy]

imo neither of those tangs should be kept in a 55. but together in a 55 is kinda asking for trouble.

but you've got too many "bigger" fish. granted they're only 2 inch tops for now, but once they grow out, you'll have the yellow tang, purple tang, and the flame angel. Imo the flame angel is fine, but not if you have the 2 tangs.

[Siiri]

I agree with that. I have a 55 g as well, used to have a yellow tang, blue tang and two clown fish. Once the blue tang started getting big ( I mean I got him when he was like an inch long- he now is a little bigger), he started being very territorial and fought with the yellow tang. Eventually I caught the yellow tang and brought him to my LFS.
So I can only suggest to keep just one tang in a 55 g!!!!

[ReefWreak]

Okay, besides the overstocking list, a great way to get rid of hair algae is to set up in your sump a little PC light and some caulerpa racemosa to compete for nutrients or some cheato. Either way, the macroalgae will compete for nutrients, and they'll win, they'll be controllable, and they'll be easily harvested for nutrient export. That's how I've gotten most of it out of my nano. Just either hang some from the top of the tank, or put it in the sump. In the sump or in a protected area (maybe a partitioned off section, or a mini-intank refugium) so your tangs don't eat it.

Maybe check out a lettuce nudibranch to borrow from someone who has one or something? I've heard that they work wonders with hair algae.

As much as it sucks to have to part with fish, I would certainly recommend that you loose some inches of fish, especially when they start to grow. Especially the tangs, because they eat all day and crap all day, contributing to the HA problem.

Good luck!

[artc1688]

Originally posted by SeanySean
How do all those Tangs get along Yellow, Purple, and pyjama?

When the Purple Tang was introduced, the yellow tang chased the purple tang for few days, after a week, they are okay now... they have been in the tank for over six months now... I love the purple tang and was worry about the having two Tangsin a 55 gal tank; but wife is not allowing me to get a larger tank :-(

[oceanscurve]

I used a pre made clean up crew it worked like a charm, apart from phosphate levels and nitrate this will help alot.

[SeanySean]

Originally posted by artc1688
When the Purple Tang was introduced, the yellow tang chased the purple tang for few days, after a week, they are okay now... they have been in the tank for over six months now... I love the purple tang and was worry about the having two Tangsin a 55 gal tank; but wife is not allowing me to get a larger tank :-(

I am having the same problems with a pyjama and Regal, the payjama is the recently introduced fish and sometimes he will chase the regal, they don't do it all the time, more if the regal gets too close for comfort, I am just wondering if I add another tang (my fav fish) if that will better the situation as it will be less competition to just the 2 of them????

[artc1688]

well..... just sold the tank

guess I will wait a bit longer and start all over again .,.