Hair algae and alkalinity relationship

[JeffK]

Hello all.

I'm battling a fairly substantial hair algae outbreak in my 2-year-old 75-gallon reef. About 3 months ago, I switched from PC lighting to a metal halide/fluorescent combo (2 175-watt, 10,000K MH and 2 NO actinic tubes). Corals are loving the new light, but so is the hair algae.

I've stepped up my water changes to around 20% twice weekly. Each time, I brush as much of the stuff from the rocks as possible and vacuum up most of the debris. This seems to be an exercise in futility since a healthy crop of algae reappears within days.

I'm not detecting any nitrate or phosphate, but I'm not sure whether I'm using the most ideal test kits available (FasTest for nitrate and Hagen for phosphate).

However, my alkalinity is at the low end of the acceptable range: 7 dKH.

I've heard that raising akalinity can help overcome hair algae problems. Is this true? If so, what is the best way to bring it up? I'm currently dripping Kalk for topoff about four days a week. On the other days, I top off with plain RO/DI water.

Any suggestions would be most welcome.

Jeff

 

[Anonymous]

First, I'd get either SeaChem or Salifert test kits. Then go from there. Oh yeah, abalone are voracious algal consumers.

 

[JeffK]

Thanks for the tip, Seamaiden. How are abalone from the standpoint of longevity? Will they consume all of the algae and then starve as some molluscs tend to do?


Jeff

 

[MediaOne]

Long!

Here are some helpful tips/points for winning the fight against hair algae. First... I noticed you measured your tank for phosphate. This is fine, but you should know that during most algae blooms phosphate typically measures zero. Why? The algae is extremely proficient at removing phosphate from the water, and typically crashes the value. Try turning the use of that testkit on to your source water to double check that your source water is actually phosphate free. If you have a RO... DI or use store bought water don't rely on the name here... make sure you test it. Doing a 20% water change a few times weekly will only be feeding the algae if there is phoshate/nitrate in your source water.

You are doing the right thing by sucking/brushing out all the algae you possibly can... and I recommend you keep doing this. Try taking an old toothbrush and drilling a hole in the back of the head, glue a small hose to it and use this to scrub your rock. This way you can get the algae really short (I'll tell you why this is important later). Besides this, try using activated carbon as well as a phosphate removing media until you win the battle. Know that running activated carbon 24/7 will suck up much of your trace minerals etc. but who cares at this point.... the water changes will be introducing more... and I'm sure beating the algae is a priority.

Why algae short? So you can introduce herbivores, in this case crabs, to deal with the hair algae you can't "manually" export. South American Red legs are good here, however any crab will crop algae to some extent. The key is in using LOTS of crabs. Even if you have to remove some later... sobeit. Remember to arrange with a fellow aquarist or store to take the crabs if you purposely use more than your tank can support long term.

Oh I almost forgot. Alkalinity.

You definitly need to raise your alkalinity up to around 10 or 11. You could go a little higher if ya want. An important thing to keep doing while you are battling any negative algae is to keep calcium and alkalinity at good acceptable levels. Why? This encourages positive algae (ie. coralline algae) to flourish as best they can. Since these algaes use similar nutrients... they help to keep them from getting to the hair algae. This over time, with all the other tips in use, will have a BIG impact on the health of your reef. Raise alkalinity using a buffer, there are many brands.

I second the notion of using good quality testkits. Take care to do them as accurately as possible. You don't want to add too much human error to the already existing error in the testkit.

Hope these tips help,

Cheers!

 

[Anonymous]

That is very good advice, thanks for expounding on this.

I will add one cautionary note, as I've only relatively recently learned that some activated carbons actually leach phosphates! Yeah! (Imagine my surprise.) If I recollect, either StevenPro or DonBossung (Don's on wetwebmedia) know which brands are best to avoid this.

Good luck!

 

[JeffK]

Thanks so much for the info and suggestions, MediaOne and Seamaiden. I hadn't thought about the phosphate being present, albeit contained within the algae itself and, thus, undetectable.

I've currently got some red-legged hermits that I purchased for algae control when I first set the tank up, but there are far too few to make much of a difference. Perhaps I'll bolster their numbers.

I'll definitely add some quality activated carbon. I suspect that with the frequent water changes, any adsorbed trace elements should be replenished sufficiently (?).

Any thoughts on the best buffering products? I've been toying with the idea of switching to a 2-part calcium/buffering system, such as B-ionic, but I'm somewhat deterred by the price tag.

Anyway, I'll keep you posted on results from your suggestions.


Jeff

 

[Anonymous]

In my anecdotal experience (hey, its the only kind I have!) alk does make a big difference. You can get it up with baking soda which works just as well as a buffer. 2 Part products do both calcium and alk, you just need the alk. Look at Randy Holmes-farleys articles in the advanced aquarists archives- contains all you need to know and more.

 

[Unarce]

Definitely get those dwarf hermits in there. Astrea snails also controlled hair algae in my sump.

CAUTION: I read an article that stated that scrubbing the algae off live rock prepares the surface for even faster growth. I'm sorry that I can't remember the article, but you may want to look into it.

 

[JeffK]

DanConner, The Holmes-Farley articles were most informative (though I'll likely go back and read them again to make sure I understood it all). Thanks for the suggestion.

Reefnutz, I think there might be some truth to your admonition about scrubbing the rocks. The algae does seem to grow back with even greater gusto after each brushing.

Thanks to all for the suggestions. I can always count on getting help when I need it from this forum.

Jeff