http://www.utahreefs.com/forum/ Copyright (c) 2006-2013 Web Wiz Forums - All Rights Reserved. Wed, 15 Jul 2026 19:15:51 +0000 Sat, 21 Jul 2012 15:41:55 +0000 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Web Wiz Forums 12.03 360 www.utahreefs.com/forum/RSS_post_feed.asp?TID=57330 http://www.utahreefs.com/forum/1by1.gif http://www.utahreefs.com/forum/ http://www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=57330&PID=477666&title=hair-algae#477666 Author: Nails12
Subject: 57330
Posted: July 21 2012 at 3:41pm

Dont use tapwater, contains phospates and other elements that arent good for a tank. Try using RO when cleaning and doing water changes... I vodka dosed when i had a problem... Worked for a while then flipped upside down and basically crashed my tank...  when i was a newb.. Not recommeneded, unless you know exactly what your doing. . ]]> Sat, 21 Jul 2012 15:41:55 +0000 http://www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=57330&PID=477666&title=hair-algae#477666 http://www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=57330&PID=477408&title=hair-algae#477408 Author: Lemonpeel
Subject: 57330
Posted: July 19 2012 at 9:57pm

I cleaned everything out using regular tap water. I didn't use any chemicals. I have been vodka dosing and so far everything is doing great. I am concerned about my bullseyes not extending the way they used to but, I figure they will be alright. I have been testing my water and my nitrates are down to 40 after being above 200 a month ago. I have not noticed any sludge buildup in my tank and got an urchin to help with algae and he has been slowly, but surly decimating the algae. I went and got a phosphate filter pad today to cut and put into my overflow and I will be getting my own test kits.]]> Thu, 19 Jul 2012 21:57:05 +0000 http://www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=57330&PID=477408&title=hair-algae#477408 http://www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=57330&PID=474677&title=hair-algae#474677 Author: Mark Peterson
Subject: 57330
Posted: July 01 2012 at 9:04pm

I believe that Dion may be speaking of the cleanup that would be needed for a neglected aquarium. Yours does not sound neglected, but rather it sounds like the biofiltration is a little out of balance. It sounds like the yearly cleaning has been used to eliminate nuisance algae and bring the tank back into balance.

If I were there, I'd offer to come visit and discuss how your maintenance fits in with the easy way to keep a beautiful aquarium. Since a visit is not possible, we can do this remotely. May we go over a few things?

1) Of the 50 snails and hermits, if you don't mind, please give us a breakdown of the number and types of snails.
2) Pics of the system will be really helpful for us to help you. We can suggest how to resolve this algae problem, without a full tank cleaning, so that the algae never returns and improve the aquarium so that it cleans itself, with or without a skimmer, I might add.

]]> Sun, 01 Jul 2012 21:04:39 +0000 http://www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=57330&PID=474677&title=hair-algae#474677 http://www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=57330&PID=474626&title=hair-algae#474626 Author: Lemonpeel
Subject: 57330
Posted: July 01 2012 at 2:01pm

I do a complete cleaning of the tank once a year cleaning the substrate and rock.]]> Sun, 01 Jul 2012 14:01:24 +0000 http://www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=57330&PID=474626&title=hair-algae#474626 http://www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=57330&PID=474007&title=hair-algae#474007 Author: Dion Richins
Subject: 57330
Posted: June 27 2012 at 7:51am

OK 5 years old with out a skimmer can be the problem. Have you cleaned the sand at all? IT will become a nutrient trap over time with out the other equipment helping to clean up.
couple things you can do there.
1- use a sand vacuum and suck the top layer of sections with every water change. this will remove the built up detritus.
2- to really clean it up I would empty the rock coral and fish. Stir the snot out of the sand and drain. Re fill with new water and re set it up. Instant clean. Ive done this several times with older tanks and it works awesome.
Same goes with the sump. It needs to be cleaned every once in a while or it just becomes a trap of crap.:)
]]> Wed, 27 Jun 2012 07:51:07 +0000 http://www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=57330&PID=474007&title=hair-algae#474007 http://www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=57330&PID=474006&title=hair-algae#474006 Author: Lemonpeel
Subject: 57330
Posted: June 27 2012 at 7:39am

Sorry its been a while responding. the tank is 5 years old. I feed a small pinch of food about 1 flake per fish once a day. I don't have a uv, ozone or skimmer at the moment, but plan on getting one. I have turbos in there but they don't seem to want to touch it.]]> Wed, 27 Jun 2012 07:39:40 +0000 http://www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=57330&PID=474006&title=hair-algae#474006 http://www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=57330&PID=473836&title=hair-algae#473836 Author: Dion Richins
Subject: 57330
Posted: June 26 2012 at 8:01am

Corals can go with out light for several days (think storms)

How old is the tank? How have you been feeding? Frequency and amount?
Uv? Ozone? Skimmer?

I found that when haveing a bad out break (only happened on my ray system) that turbos mowed it down great. However the root cause needs to be figured out and fixed for long term health.]]> Tue, 26 Jun 2012 08:01:11 +0000 http://www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=57330&PID=473836&title=hair-algae#473836 http://www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=57330&PID=473795&title=hair-algae#473795 Author: Lemonpeel
Subject: 57330
Posted: June 25 2012 at 7:42pm

just looked through the pics. I definitely have hair algae.  ]]> Mon, 25 Jun 2012 19:42:36 +0000 http://www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=57330&PID=473795&title=hair-algae#473795 http://www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=57330&PID=473674&title=hair-algae#473674 Author: Mark Peterson
Subject: 57330
Posted: June 25 2012 at 10:14am

I learned everything I know from hobbyists like you.

Pics are important because there is hair algae and then there is Bryopsis algae, sometimes mistaken for hair algae. We know a pretty easy way to get rid of Bryopsis. To discover whether you have Bryopsis, look here for pics of the different types of algae we find in our tanks http://utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=5037

Oh and one more thing, the best herbivorous snails are Astrea, Cerith, Nerite, Hawaiian Strombus, and Margarita (Mexican Turbo). A combination of these is recommended because they each eat a little differently.
Large Pacific Turbo Snails are also great algae eaters but they knock things over, so we generally only recommend them to tanks that don't have small unattached coral frags.
The Nasarrius Snails are not useful because they don't eat algae, preferring instead to just wait in the sand until they smell fish food floating by.

There are some good people right here on this MB that sell the herbivorous snails at decent prices. Arthuriv is one of them.

]]> Mon, 25 Jun 2012 10:14:55 +0000 http://www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=57330&PID=473674&title=hair-algae#473674 http://www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=57330&PID=473648&title=hair-algae#473648 Author: wickedsnowman
Subject: 57330
Posted: June 24 2012 at 11:09pm

I actually agree with everything Mark said. That doesn't happen a lot ]]> Sun, 24 Jun 2012 23:09:24 +0000 http://www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=57330&PID=473648&title=hair-algae#473648