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rfoote 
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 Topic: Green Hair Algae
Posted: February 12 2013 at 8:06am |
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I've had my current setup for about 18months now(I think...) I've never had an issue with any algae, but a bit of GHA start up about a month now it is getting out of control.
Info, on my setup.
60g cube
LED lighting as well as T5's - T5 bulbs less than 6 months old
Waterflow is high with an MP40 and a MP10.
All topoff and water changes are with RO/DI.
I religiously do a 5g water change every 2 weeks. Since the onset
RO/DI TDS measures 0.
I dose BRS Calcium and Alk as well as Vinegar through a Bubble-Magus doser. I've been doing this well over a year.
I have reactors that I run both Charcoal and Phosphate remover in. The Charcoal I change out every month and the Phosphate remover every 3 months.
PO4 and NO3 all measure at 0(I understand the algae is taking up the nutrients, so likely getting bad readings)
I have a way oversized skimmer in a Super Reef Octopus XP2000SSS that I empty once a week.
I try to keep a good clean-up crew all the time(can be tough as I have a Mantis Shrimp that I can't catch)
For the past month, I've increased water changes to every week yet the GHA continues to grow.
Any thoughts or ideas? Thanks!
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Pete Moss
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Posted: February 12 2013 at 8:08am |
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What have you got running in the refugium? What is your feeding schedule? What do you feed? How long are your lights on daily?
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125g 90g 2x33g 34g
What stores do I recommend?
Up North: Bill ( Saltwater Paradise 801-317-8115 )
Down South: Jerry ( Reef On 801-563-0600 )
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rfoote
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Posted: February 12 2013 at 8:25am |
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I don't have a refugium. Not enough space with current setup to run one that I think would be of any benefit.
LED's start to ramp up at about 10a and turn off at 8p. T5's are only on from 1p to 6 p.
I daily use a couple Zeovit products. I only feed 3 times a week.
I feed 3 days a week, day one - GP 5-50 micron and 500-800 micron)day 2 - Reef Nutrition products, ie. mysis shrimp, pods, phyto, and AquaVitro Fuel. Literally just the slightest squirt of each. I'd guess that I likely actually underfeed...
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Pete Moss
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Posted: February 12 2013 at 8:50am |
Well, there are plenty of ways to approach this, but as you are doing everything you can to remove nutrients for the algae, maybe it just needs some competition! You don't need a sump to grow algae.
I have used Feather Caulerpa in my tanks many times when no refugium is available. It actually looks really nice, gives the tank a very natural look.  Of course there are several varieties of fish that will munch on it. But if they are leaving the hair algae alone hopefully they'd leave this stuff alone. I have feather caulerpa that you can have for free.
Additionally, try adding a bi-color blenny ( or any other type of blenny ) I just personally like the bi-colors. My bi-color blenny goes to town on any algae that tries growing in the tank! What a champ!
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125g 90g 2x33g 34g
What stores do I recommend?
Up North: Bill ( Saltwater Paradise 801-317-8115 )
Down South: Jerry ( Reef On 801-563-0600 )
Member of GCFB
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kellerexpress
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Posted: February 13 2013 at 1:55am |
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I would back off on the water changes for a bit.
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IM 30L
Kessil A160we x2
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rfoote
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Posted: February 14 2013 at 3:22pm |
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Thanks guys for the suggestions. Any other thoughts or opinions? There is nothing that frustrates me much more to see GHA all over my small reef right now. Thanks!
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Pete Moss
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Posted: February 14 2013 at 3:28pm |
If you're doing water changes with RO/DI that registers a 0 on the tds, then doing water changes will only help starve the algae. I'm not sure that doing weekly water changes is hurting anything unless your salt mix contains fertilizer. Not sure on why frequent water changes are harming anything.
The only other suggestion is that once you have the macro algae competition, that you manually remove all the hair algae you can. Take the rocks out, scrub them with a toothbrush, rinse them off, then return them to the tank. That, the addition of macro algae, and a reduced light cycle should solve a majority of the issues. Everything else you're doing is by the books, so I'd be amazed if the hair algae still took control after you took these steps.
Edited by Pete Moss - February 14 2013 at 3:29pm
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125g 90g 2x33g 34g
What stores do I recommend?
Up North: Bill ( Saltwater Paradise 801-317-8115 )
Down South: Jerry ( Reef On 801-563-0600 )
Member of GCFB
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rfoote
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Posted: February 14 2013 at 3:33pm |
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Thanks Pete! I'll grab some other macro when down in SLC/Provo next.
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Pete Moss
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Posted: February 14 2013 at 3:37pm |
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I've always got some for ya if you head that far north.
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125g 90g 2x33g 34g
What stores do I recommend?
Up North: Bill ( Saltwater Paradise 801-317-8115 )
Down South: Jerry ( Reef On 801-563-0600 )
Member of GCFB
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rfoote
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Posted: February 14 2013 at 3:47pm |
 Pete Moss wrote:
I've always got some for ya if you head that far north. |
Thanks! How far north are you?
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Pete Moss
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Posted: February 14 2013 at 3:48pm |
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Roy, it's west of Ogden.
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125g 90g 2x33g 34g
What stores do I recommend?
Up North: Bill ( Saltwater Paradise 801-317-8115 )
Down South: Jerry ( Reef On 801-563-0600 )
Member of GCFB
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ReefdUp
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Posted: February 14 2013 at 4:33pm |
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Phosphate removers really only work for less than a week. They are extremely effective when first added, so they pull everything out at once. After that, they only pull out a tiny bit. It is better to run small amounts and change it frequently. Running it for a long time makes it just trap detritus.
Speaking of detritus, how are you removing it? Do you run a filter sock? Do you blow out your rocks with a powerhead at every water change?
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badfinger
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Posted: February 14 2013 at 4:34pm |
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I would cut back on water changes also.....water changes add in trace elements, and these trace elements help fuel growth of coral and algae.
I would also remove as much algae as you can by hand, change out carbon every 2 weeks and phosphate remover every month till its under control then go back to normal schedule
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ReefdUp
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Posted: February 14 2013 at 4:53pm |
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I would do the exact opposite...I would increase water changes. A good salt will not contain much (if any) nitrate/phosphate, which is what fuels algae. Instead, a water change will help remove nitrate/phosphate from the aquarium, remove detritus that has not yet begun to decompose, and it'll also remove algal spores.
Carbon can absorb *MUCH* longer than GFO. I'd change GFO out every two weeks and carbon every month.
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Pete Moss
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Posted: February 14 2013 at 4:56pm |
ReefdUp wrote:
I would do the exact opposite...I would increase water changes. A good salt will not contain much (if any) nitrate/phosphate, which is what fuels algae. Instead, a water change will help remove nitrate/phosphate from the aquarium, remove detritus that has not yet begun to decompose, and it'll also remove algal spores.
Carbon can absorb *MUCH* longer than GFO. I'd change GFO out every two weeks and carbon every month. |
+1 on everything. Nikki's a champ.
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125g 90g 2x33g 34g
What stores do I recommend?
Up North: Bill ( Saltwater Paradise 801-317-8115 )
Down South: Jerry ( Reef On 801-563-0600 )
Member of GCFB
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badfinger
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Posted: February 14 2013 at 5:03pm |
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Where did you get your information that carbon outlasts gfo, not saying your wrong I just wanna read it too, cause everything I have heard says gfo will last much longer then carbon
But I agree with removing detritus, if you can find where it is sitting stagnant. But doing water changes with the only goal of removing nitrates/phosphate will help minimal, unless you are doing mass amounts of water changes. Not just 10% every 2 weeks
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ReefdUp
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Posted: February 14 2013 at 5:23pm |
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GFO can be depleted within hours (depending on quantity, flow, nutrient level, etc.) Advanced Aquarist published on this a few years ago, and Dr. Randy Holmes-Farley has published on it as well. The studies I've seen all show GFO depleting at a much faster rate than carbon.
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larseb
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Posted: February 14 2013 at 7:10pm |
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Do you have sand in the tank? If sand is not taken care of it can lead to nitrate problems. I also think that doing water changes weekly is a good thing the only thing i would change is to do bigger water changes while you have the problem. I would say 25% to 30% of you total water volume would be good every week. Also pete's tooth brush idea worked wonders for me when i had GHA and bryopsis, and if you don't have an emerald crab that seemed to work pretty good for helping too.
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Lewy
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Posted: February 14 2013 at 7:21pm |
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I had a real bad problem with hair algae in my tank. I did everything to get rid of it. I have a sump so I blacked out the tank leaving the sump lights on 24/7. I doubled my CUC to eat the algae, water changes, carbon changes, phosphate removers, different macro algaes in both display and sump, I even spot killed it with peroxide. I think the thing that helped me the most was checking my Mag levels. They were fairly low so I raised it to 1750 (slowly)then let it come back down naturally and currently the only place I have hair algae is in my sump.
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40 gal w/ 20 sump
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phys
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Posted: February 14 2013 at 7:50pm |
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So, I've battled this stuff too.. but I'm slightly too lazy to 100% win. lol. But, making sure your ro/di is working well and doing water changes is really good. So here's what I do (that's time consuming and will make you hate life).... Pull as much out as you can by hand and even toothbrush that crap off and put a filter in your tank to remove whatever you leave behind in the water column. Change it out the next day and do a water change while vacuuming your sand bed (not 100%, like 1/3 of it each time) and sucking out anything that you see on the rocks. Put the filter back in and run that for another day ( both times with carbon and/or GFO)... change it out again the next day. Keep your lights off for 24 hours. Then, turn them back on for another day and pull off any more that you can get your hand on and put that filter back in. Take it out the next day and change everything in it. Do all of this for a week or two and make sure you have a good cleaning crew in there. After you see it subside, then make sure you keep your sand bed clean and your water changes frequent. Using fuel and phyto will add food for your algae (this is seen through experience) so don't use that until its gone. Now another thing you can do on top of this, is get a large HOB filter with an adjustable flow. Put some of the fern caulpera or chaeto in there and put light on it. Run that 24h/day to help suck out any excess junk that's floating around in there. Remove it when you win or keep it in there with the same light schedule as the rest of your tank for preventative measures.
Edited by phys - February 14 2013 at 7:51pm
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