Help with green hair algae!

[dzuckerm]

I can't take this hair algae anymore! I have a 135 gallon with over 200 lbs of live rock and sand and keep mainly soft corals and leathers and a few fish that I first set up about 6 months ago. Ive been having issues with green hair algae for the past few months...and Im at the end of my ropes. I cut my lighting period down to 8hrs of actinics, 6 hrs of metal halides. I put a new protein skimmer in (which requires ripping my sump apart, no fun!)---I installed an ASM G4plus that working beautifully! I got a new RO/DI unit (air,water,ice 5stage 75gpd)--which is producing 3 tds water. My ammonia is zero, nitrates are 5, calcium is 480ish, kH is 3.0ish, phosphates undet.
I also have been doing weekly water changes where i siphon out a ton of the stuff. But alas it always grows back! I even bought a huge sea hare and threw him in...and all he seems to be doing is sitting in the upper corner and laying eggs all day long!

ANy new ideas guys? Ive tried everything I can think of! Thanks!

 

[Chiefmcfuz]

Lawnmower blenny?

 

[LeslieS]

try putting your sump on the opposite light cycle and put some macro algaes in the sump to help compete for nutrients.

 

[reefman]

phosguard reactor,tangs,WC more often,cut down main light for a few days.

 

[dzuckerm]

Well I do have tanjs (yellow and naso)...they dont touch the stuff. I also have macro algae in my sump thats lighted 24 hours a day. Not sure about the lawnmower blenny though..are they any good? As for water changes...I've been doing about ten percent every week. Should i do more?

 

[drunktank]

how long has ur tank been running?

 

[herman]

The only thing you really have to do is find out why you have it in the first place. Poor husbandry or lack of knowlege is usually the cause. Your water has high nutrients therefore the algae grows out of control.

1. What water do you use?
2. Is your filter underpowered?
3. Do you have too much bioload?
4. what kind of lighting?
5. etc etc etc

There are very few fish/snails that can compete with that amount of algae so a lot of it has to be manually removed. With the manual removal you can add a couple of giant mexican turbos. That will do the job without increasing the bioload to much.

 

[deelucky]

lawnmower blenny,i have one and no more hair algae.got mine from house of fish.

 

[thepudge]

I had a long battle with hair algae.. Phosban helps a lot.. But the best thing you can do is go in your tank (or remove the rock if possible) and attack it with a toothbrush... Scrub hard and it will come away. Its the only way i was able to remove enough of it to keep ahead.

 

[LeslieS]

I had a long battle with Bryopsis.

Water quality was perfect and I tried all of the methods that I and anyone else could think of to get rid of it.

I ended up taking all of the rocks out and scrubbing them with a wire bristled brush and rinsing them in water that I had siphoned out of the tank. If you scrub without rinsing, it will just come back.

Occasionally, I see one little shoot pop up, but the snails, fish, and crabs can handle it now.

 

[romain]

I recommend tuxedo urchin to deal with hair algae.

 

[ming]

Hair algae thrives on nitrates which you have.
How many fish do you have and how often do you feed them? I'm leaning towards high bioload is the cause.

 

[dzuckerm]

OK so Im going to remove the rocks and scrub them down...I guess thats the only thing I havent done as yet.

Ming: I have 6 fish, and feed them a small amount once a day. Usually either a little flakes, pellets, or seaweed.

 

[jhale]

6 month old tank, it's natural to get some algae.
how many snails do you have?

also you should be feeding your fish more than once a day.

a few times a day is best, small amounts each time.
the amount of food that goes in the tank should not make a
difference to algae growth. don't starve fish in an attempt to keep
the nutrients low in a tank.

 

[Craig]

you didint mention the amount of flow you have in your tank.

 

[Aqua Pro Builder]

You sounded like the problem is a major outbreak if so,

I would second the following quote

Your water has high nutrients therefore the algae grows out of control.

There are very few fish/snails that can compete with that amount of algae

Also how many watts of MH you have for his tank? I kind of remember you said 2 x 400W, right? Check your iodide and phosphate level whether they are in range as well. If not, rethink how and when did system get out of balance.

 

[Aqua Pro Builder]

don't starve fish in an attempt to keep
the nutrients low in a tank.

110% agreed.

 

[dzuckerm]

Well I would guess that I have about 40ish snails in the tank. Its hard to say cause ive added more several times...but then u know...u always find empty snail shells around the tank haha.

Wingo: I have (3) 200watt 10000K metal halides running about 6 hrs a day. Phosphates are zero. I do add iodide once a week...but i havent been measuring iodide in the tank. Could high iodide be the problem?

Craig: In terms of flow... I have a 1200gallon/hr return pump that returns water into the left and right corners of the tank, the flow is pretty vigorous. I also have two seio powerheads in each corner which added flow into a couple of stagnant areas that I had.

 

[DonCisco]

if you are looking for JUMBO turbo snails, Reef Fantasy on Victory has a bunch left. THey are HUGE, and he is selling them for 3 bucks a piece. If he doesn't have them anymore let me know.. I bought 2, but they are too big for my tank.

 

[heuerfan]

I had to same problem when i first started, best advice is what Leslie mentioned. Take them all out and scrub, then get a ton of emerald crabs and hermits. They will keep your rock looking clean.

Just last week i started to noticed nusiance alage growing on my rocks (due to overfeeding of my wrasses ). I went out and purchased 12 emerald crabs and 12 dwarf zebras and in a week its all gone.

Good luck, its a lot of work but you will be very happy with the end result.