Hair algea issues! w/ Pics

[Fpraino]

Can anyone tell me what type of algea this is and besides the regular water changes and minimizing light source, what can I purchase that will mow this stuff down.

6 months old
75 Gallon
120 lbs of live rock
25 astreas
4 mexican turbos
10 blue leg hermits
1 large sand sifting star that has dissapeared for about 3 weeks now.
Berlin Classic Skimmer in Sump (hasnt been skimming much, maybe not enough bioload?)
1- Koralia 3
Mag 900
5 Gallon water changes per week
RO/DI water
10,000k coralife flourescent bulbs
10 hours a day light
some sunlight as you can see in the pic...

 

[bigbris1]

That's not algae, it's bacteria. cyanobacteria.

What are your plans for this tank? What do you feed & how often. What are your water parameters? Do you dose?

 

[nanoreefer22]

Ditto on what Bris said. There are ton's of threads on how to deal with this stuff, just do a search on the site.

 

[ZBT3091]

i had the exact some problem about 6 months into my tank... i got a diamond goby and never saw it again, before that i would just sift the sand around with my hand once a day. my maroon clown also sifts the sand with his tail sometimes to make pits with the LR, there are tons of fish and inverts to solve this problem

 

[jackson6745]

" Berlin Classic Skimmer in Sump (hasnt been skimming much, maybe not enough bioload?)"

NOPE, It's actually that the Berlin Classic is a $hitty skimmer. If you have algae problems including cyano after 6 months your water quality is poor. You have to take some steps to improve it.

First thing I would do is add a Phosban Reactor

Increase the size of water changes

Upgrade skimmer

 

[bigbris1]

The cure to this is not any animal. Neither is a Phosban reactor or any other equipment at the moment. It's water quality & flow.

The first step is to test the water & tell us where you're at.

 

[DevIouS]

. Neither is a Phosban reactor or any other equipment at the moment. It's water quality & flow.

Phosban improves water quality....:tired:

 

[bigbris1]

Sometimes you guys have to read between the lines. This guy might go out & buy a phosban reactor thinking it will solve his problems. He doesn't even know what the problem is yet. I mean he thinks that's hair algae!

We have to get him to understand why it happened so he can take the appropriate action.

 

[Wes]

Sometimes you guys have to read between the lines. This guy might go out & buy a phosban reactor thinking it will solve his problems. He doesn't even know what the problem is yet. I mean he thinks that's hair algae!

We have to get him to understand why it happened so he can take the appropriate action.

Phosban WILL help his problem :sigh: ...so will a better skimmer.

 

[bigbris1]

Shakes head in disbelief. Please take a really good look at the first pic. Add to that the time the tank had been running.

Nevermind.

 

[DevIouS]

You have to "read between the lines" too....

You said water quality & I agree, but how can you say a Phos reactor or good skimmer won't aid in quality?
With water changes of course.

If these equipment won't work....why do we all have them? for show?

6 months old is not a "new" tank.

Nevermind.

 

[JHOV2324]

I have to agree....a Phosban reactor or Phospads will help him rid of this....it will take a while though....

 

[jhale]

do you have any test kits?

can you measure for phosphate and nitrates?

do you have a TDS meter for the RO/DI water.

a better skimmer will help, so will reactor's with phosban and carbon.

try larger water changes,

but this advice does not mean much unless you can tell us your water quality, both in the tank, and the water change water.

 

[bigbris1]

I never said a phosban reactor wont help. Neither did I say a skimmer upgrade is not warranted.

However, first things first. That all.

 

[DevIouS]

The cure to this is not any animal. Neither is a Phosban reactor or any other equipment at the moment.

That's what I took....

Maybe I "read between the lines" too much...

 

[bigbris1]

The cure to this is not any animal. Neither is a Phosban reactor or any other equipment at the moment. It's water quality & flow.

The first step is to test the water & tell us where you're at.

Fixed it for ya

 

[jackson6745]

He will not find an accurate testkit for phosphates unless he spends $$.

Adding the phosban to a FOWLR will not hurt, only help. In this case it will help a lot.

 

[jhale]

the elos kit is pretty good Rich, I tested one against my hanna meter. 4 people picked out the right color on the elos that matched the hanna. I'm not saying the elos is perfect, but it's the best low cost po4 kit i've seen yet.

 

[jackson6745]

J, have you ever tried Lamotte Po4?

 

[KathyC]

Granted he should give us the parameters, increase the size & maybe frequency of his water changes, the addition of a phosban reator will also be an asset., increase his flow (only because it looks like he doesn't have very much to start with....but isn't anyone going to tell him to suck the cyano out of there with a baster??

The only person who mentioned the physical part of all this was the newbie XBT3091 who told him to stir it back into the sand! ..which we know is WRONG!


(nice info to know on that Elso kit Jon!)