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Help brown hair algae

Printed From: Utah Reefs
Category: Specialized Discussion
Forum Name: Reef Pests
Forum Description: Discussions of known Reef pests, remedies, and ongoing studies.
URL: http://www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=79561
Printed Date: March 29 2024 at 1:45am
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Topic: Help brown hair algae
Posted By: catchoftheday
Subject: Help brown hair algae
Date Posted: March 24 2016 at 2:31pm
So I am having an issue with the brown hair stuff it started small and now it even on my sand, I do not know how to get rid of this stuff , I I run a phosphate reactor with GFO I test my water and the PO4 is 0 I use Salifert test , I can't load the church so if any of you can help me out loading pictures I would be greatly appreciated , my photo bucket is not working right my number is 949-444-6316

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I currently have a 24 gallon JBJ all in one tank has two powerheads a phosphate reactor with the small bubble skimmer it is also powered by 2 X165 W LEDs and as a mixed reef



Replies:
Posted By: catchoftheday
Date Posted: March 24 2016 at 2:42pm
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I currently have a 24 gallon JBJ all in one tank has two powerheads a phosphate reactor with the small bubble skimmer it is also powered by 2 X165 W LEDs and as a mixed reef


Posted By: Krazie4Acans
Date Posted: March 24 2016 at 3:04pm
That looks like a mix of Green hair algae, Bryopsys and Cyano bacteria. You mention that your P04 is 0 but what is your N03 level? How often are you feeding and how much? what other Clean up crew do you have besides the red leg hermits?


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My ocean.
90g (yup, won it!), 40g, 28g, & 10g Systems
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http://utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=63568&title=krazies-nano-paradise" rel="nofollow - Tank Thread:


Posted By: catchoftheday
Date Posted: March 24 2016 at 3:13pm
Originally posted by Krazie4Acans Krazie4Acans wrote:

That looks like a mix of Green hair algae, Bryopsys and Cyano bacteria. You mention that your P04 is 0 but what is your N03 level? How often are you feeding and how much? what other Clean up crew do you have besides the red leg hermits?

NO3 is reading 0 on api test kit
I feed 1 a day sometimes every other
And I have a bunch of different types of snails in there

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I currently have a 24 gallon JBJ all in one tank has two powerheads a phosphate reactor with the small bubble skimmer it is also powered by 2 X165 W LEDs and as a mixed reef


Posted By: Hogie
Date Posted: March 24 2016 at 3:18pm
What lights are those? What's your lighting schedule?


Posted By: catchoftheday
Date Posted: March 24 2016 at 3:35pm
my wife said she turns them on at 8 in the morning and I turn them off at 830 at night , this might be the problem , the light are the ones from eBay I think Aqua somthing

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I currently have a 24 gallon JBJ all in one tank has two powerheads a phosphate reactor with the small bubble skimmer it is also powered by 2 X165 W LEDs and as a mixed reef


Posted By: Marcoss
Date Posted: March 24 2016 at 4:04pm
You must have phosphates, they are just being eaten by the algae. The phosphates are in it, per se. 

I'd try to manually pull it out, decrease feeding, cut back on the lighting, and increase water changes. A combo of that would probably help and I doubt hurt too much since you do not appear to have any SPS in the tank.


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RedSea Max S400 - 90G Rimless Frag Tanks x2 - 185 Lookdown Bin


Posted By: laroc
Date Posted: March 24 2016 at 8:48pm
If  you have snails. have any of them died (usually mass die off)?
Are there bubbles in the brown algae. I think I see them but not sure? Do have a slime or skimm that is starting to build on the surface of the water. If so...... it be DINOS( dinoflagellates). how often do you do water changes? If they are dinos then water changes feed the dinos. what you  can do is black for three days complete no light at all ( black trash bags or cardboard  work great no light to darkness). However, from my experience as soon as you turn the lights back on boom there they are again but diffidently put a dent in them. You can get filter sock (this will catch your dinos) and siphon out the water but the water must go back into the tank. Some have not done a water change for almost a year with dinos. The other thing is ..this a biocube ya. The top of the tank or water surface is where the gas exchanges ( last stage of the nitrification cycle ). Those of us that run the cubes ( 50g my self ) have half or less the surface area that a regular 50 or standard aquariums would have. To combat that more turbulence on the surface of the water should .


I was doing water changes  religiously .Nitrate and the measurable phosphates were 0 ( same api test kit which  are not that great  but still give a water mark). On the left side the green algae ( green patch) has it stop growing by chance and now the brown algae is running a muck. Another clue its dinos. They are relentless feeding on nutrient light whatever. Currently have been a battling them and its been an array weapons. they also love the sand!!!!

Hope it helps.


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Always be leery of a fish farmer...wait or is it a pig farmer?


Posted By: Mark Peterson
Date Posted: March 25 2016 at 3:10am
Originally posted by catchoftheday catchoftheday wrote:

I had it at one time and I did 4 day black out I wrapped my tank up with cardboard and kept the lights off for four days in this process I also ran a lot of carbon because it needs light to help it grow and if it does not have the light it will die off which creates a lot of ammonia so you need to run a lot of carbon after the four days was complete I did a large water change and continued with my regular light cycle for me personally it was the best thing I ever did to reach its own
This is the advice you gave to another hobbyist here a few months ago about the same problem. Have you done this yet? How well did it work?

BTW, AC(activated carbon) does not remove ammonia but it does help in important ways, so that is good advice. Smile

Aloha,
Mark  Hug

P.S.
Take it from an old timer. It's actually as simple as stopping feeding for a week, turning off the two light fixtures for a week (total blackout with cardboard not advised) and then removing one light fixture forever, feeding half as much from then on and continuing GFO, with AC replaced at least monthly. If, and only if, the sand is packed with detritus, it also would help to give the sand a once over by vacuuming just a small portion at each monthly water change until complete.

BTW, your signature line needs updating Smile


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Reefkeeping Tips, & quick, easy setup tricks:
www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9244
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Posted By: catchoftheday
Date Posted: March 25 2016 at 2:19pm
Thanks for all your help so I am going to be changing my light schedule and reduce feeding I have not tried the blackout thing and the only reason is because this look different from the stuff that I had before. I'm hoping that this will help I think I need to go get some more snails see if that'll help as well

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I currently have a 24 gallon JBJ all in one tank has two powerheads a phosphate reactor with the small bubble skimmer it is also powered by 2 X165 W LEDs and as a mixed reef


Posted By: Mark Peterson
Date Posted: March 25 2016 at 2:32pm
It appears slightly different, but trust me, it's essentially the same algae, just growing slightly different this time in this small 24 gal tank.

I really do believe that one of those two lights is unnecessary, creating an intensity of light (330 Watts Shocked) that is invisible to your eyes, but is just what that algae needs to bloom out of control.

Aloha,
Mark  Hug


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Reefkeeping Tips, & quick, easy setup tricks:
www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9244
Pay it forward - become a paid WMAS member


Posted By: catchoftheday
Date Posted: March 25 2016 at 3:25pm
Originally posted by Mark Peterson Mark Peterson wrote:

It appears slightly different, but trust me, it's essentially the same algae, just growing slightly different this time in this small 24 gal tank.

I really do believe that one of those two lights is unnecessary, creating an intensity of light (330 Watts Shocked) that is invisible to your eyes, but is just what that algae needs to bloom out of control.

Aloha,
Mark  Hug


OK Mark I just took off one of the 165 W OK Mark I just took off one of the 165 Watt and we'll see how that goes do you suggest I do lights out or just cut back on my light schedule, quite frankly last week on Saturday I did a large water change and then few days later is when I really noticed it starting to grow so I don't think I'll do a water change just yet what do you think? Thanks for your help greatly appreciated

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I currently have a 24 gallon JBJ all in one tank has two powerheads a phosphate reactor with the small bubble skimmer it is also powered by 2 X165 W LEDs and as a mixed reef


Posted By: Mark Peterson
Date Posted: March 26 2016 at 8:59am

As I wrote above do a week with lights off. The ambient light from the room or a window, will be enough to keep animals doing fine. If the tank is very near a window then it will need to be covered with a dark sheet/blanket or cardboard.

It's a known fact that new salt water feeds algae growth the same as it feeds coral. In the old days, before we knew much about biofiltration for reducing pollution, water changes were used to dilute the Nitrogen and Phosphorus pollutants(nutrients). These days we know that algae (as part of the biofiltration) considers that same pollution as nutrition for dinner. When algae is growing well, pollution is most often near zero. This is one of the benefits of algae. Smile

I recommend: Use AC bi-monthly, AA/GFO as needed, make sure there are enough Snails and do regular monthly 10% water changes and all should turn out well. If any issue develops, please come back here with it where we can help modify or add something else to aide the resolution.

Aloha,

Mark  Hug



-------------
Reefkeeping Tips, & quick, easy setup tricks:
www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9244
Pay it forward - become a paid WMAS member


Posted By: catchoftheday
Date Posted: March 26 2016 at 9:26am
Originally posted by Mark Peterson Mark Peterson wrote:

As I wrote above do a week with lights off. The ambient light from the room or a window, will be enough to keep animals doing fine. If the tank is very near a window then it will need to be covered with a dark sheet/blanket or cardboard.


It's a known fact that new salt water feeds algae growth the same as it feeds coral. In the old days, before we knew much about biofiltration for reducing pollution, water changes were used to dilute the Nitrogen and Phosphorus pollutants(nutrients). These days we know that algae (as part of the biofiltration) considers that same pollution as nutrition for dinner. When algae is growing well, pollution is most often near zero. This is one of the benefits of algae. Smile

I recommend: Use AC bi-monthly, AA/GFO as needed, make sure there are enough Snails and do regular monthly 10% water changes and all should turn out well. If any issue develops, please come back here with it where we can help modify or add something else to aide the resolution.

Aloha,

Mark  Hug


Thanks Mark , will you keep you all posted

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I currently have a 24 gallon JBJ all in one tank has two powerheads a phosphate reactor with the small bubble skimmer it is also powered by 2 X165 W LEDs and as a mixed reef



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