Hair algae problem

[Jeff D]

I have got a Hair algee problem in my 150 gal tank, And had a couple of questions. I dont over feed, ever !
My 3 150/w MH lights are on 8 hours a day, To much ?
I started the system w/well water, now I switched to r.o. will this help? I know it will remove my phosphates , but is it too late ?
Here are some pics. Thanks ,J

 

[Chiefmcfuz]

What are your phosphates now?

 

[Jeff D]

I used a 6.00 dollar API test kit and it read, less than .09 ppm on the salt water chart . in fact it was closer to 0.25 on the freshwater chart !

 

[Solace Aquatics LLC]

I have seen worse I assure you!

First things first- Do a good algae pull followed by a couple large water changes to help dilute the phosphates already in your water. Make sure you use R.O. water.

Second - Add a Phosban Reactor

Third - More water changes!

Fourth. Add a Sea Hare. This guy will help annihilate the hair algae you have. However, if you fix the problem with water changes and a little better husbandry this little guy may run out of food. I would then suggest donating it to another reefer or lending he/she/it out to other reefers.

 

[meschaefer]

I have seen worse I assure you!

First things first- Do a good algae pull followed by a couple large water changes to help dilute the phosphates already in your water. Make sure you use R.O. water.

Second - Add a Phosban Reactor

Third - More water changes!

Fourth. Add a Sea Hare. This guy will help annihilate the hair algae you have. However, if you fix the problem with water changes and a little better husbandry this little guy may run out of food. I would then suggest donating it to another reefer or lending he/she/it out to other reefers.

Ditto, but I would scrap the sea hare.

 

[ZANYMASTER]

I want to do a sea hare too but if they die,don't they pollute the water and kill everything?

 

[h20 freak]

I've heard urchins plow through any algea and he has 2!!:bigeyes:

 

[jackson6745]

Jeff, you didn't mention anything about what you''re using for filtration, and oddly, no one asked???

 

[jadakiss]

i had the same problem and i just doin 15 to 20g water change every week and skimming and pullin it out with my hands and now i have nothing.

 

[Tonyscoots84]

as rich said wat is ur filtration and fish load in the tank. also well water was not a good choice rodi is the way to go for water. ur phosphates are prob. off the charts. also check ur nitrates out. for phosphates see if someone on the board will let u use there hanna meter. those api test kits are crap...

 

[clownlover]

dude my hair algae problem was about 5 times worse than that. i got a sea hare and it did a real good job and when it was gone i gave it away for some good reef karma points. 2) i have purple urchins, i swear when they r done w a section of rock it is WHITE. 3) i reduced my photoperiod by 3 hours. 4) not sure if this was an issue but my uv steralizer bulb was OOOLLLDDDD, maybe the spectrum shift was good for hair algae so i changed it. lastly and most importantly i seriously cut back on my feedings. u can get it under control in a couple weeks. now im increasing feedings and light period to get a happy balance. oh and i did get a phosban reactor, and algae started growing inside of the reactor so i dont think it worked so well for me. good luck

 

[johnmaloney]

Urchins are great, but they are usually to big to get everything. You should try to get a diverse clean up crew. I have always found that works best. I have a form on my website that calculates CUCs, but I don't want to violate any forum rules.

You are right, if sea hares die, (or get scared and ink the tank) they will foul up the water, and probably kill some of your tank's inhabitants. They are definitely cool though.

What is your CUC like now?

 

[tommy818]

first thing u should do is try and remove as much manually as u can.hair algae feed off phos use a phos reactor rowa phos or phos ban.use all ro di water start dripping kalkwaasser it precipitates phos plus it will raise your ph the only time i had hair algae is when i was using a calcium reactor the co2 will make your ph drop your ph should be 8.4 day 8.2 nite.drip 24 7 also try cropping it down as thin as possible then add blue legged hermits and scarlet hermits they get in the rocks and keep it clean also replace any old bulbs and stay in the blue spectrum 14k halides 420nm actinics 8 hours is not to many hours for halides.but for now cut back on photo period until u get the problem under control hope this is helpful.keeping reef tanks for 15 years only had 1 algae problem because of the reactor.

 

[ZANYMASTER]

Rule of thumb is every year right or is it 6 months?For any light that is.Man,using RO/DI and using phosban in the reactor and still got it.Hard to pull everything out.The hare does minimal damage in my tank but it's a 90 so I might want to try a bigger clean up crew or some more hares.:splitspinI hate seeing that crap in my tank.

 

[meschaefer]

Rule of thumb is every year right or is it 6 months?For any light that is.Man,using RO/DI and using phosban in the reactor and still got it....

?

 

[ZANYMASTER]

I meant changing the bulbs

 

[meschaefer]

Rule of thumb is a year on MH bulbs. Some people say less, others say more. I need to look for it but there is a guy who did a study who found that after the intial break in period there is not as much spectrum shift as we think and stated that we could probably get a lot more out of our bulbs. I will take a look for the article and post a link if I find it.

 

[PhoenixOne]

Is there a way that you can "pull out" the hair algae? I mean unless it is really long that you can get a grip on it, it is usually too short to grab so your only solution is to brush it off and try to catch the floaters with a net right? I have also been fighting a loosing battle with hair algae for the longest as well. I use Kold Steril filter system, I do 25% water changes every two weeks and I brought a phosban reactor a week and a half ago and still, no change...its just everywhere. I ordered a TDS meter to see what the levels are from the filter system and I went through 3 sea hares that all died shortly within days of putting them in. So i'm in the same mess as you.

 

[ZANYMASTER]

Did you check your nitrates?I had my blue spotted one for over 2 months now,must be eating some algae.It is a losing battle which I intend to win one day.

 

[Lolli631]

I started my nano with tap water and also had a bad hair algae problem. Nothing got better until I started using RO/DI water. You need to find the source that is feeding the algae and solve that problem. The sea hare will only temporarily solve the problem if phosphates are still introduced to your tank.

As others stated, pull out the long strands of algae and dont let any float away. I cut down my feeding to every other day and also cut back my photo period. Weekly 10% water changes and four months later not a trace of algae in my tank.