Hair Algae :(..

[Happy Harry]

Hi all ........Right i'm having a real prob with the dreaded hair algea...I have an orca 550 with 17k of live rock and about 2k in the rear....My water test's are at

Ammonia 0

Nitrite 0

Nitrate 5ppm

ph 8.2-8.4

Phosphate below 0.03 with a deltec phosphate test..


I change 25 lit a week without fail with ro water (0 tds) and a dd deltec h2 ocean salt...

When I added the live rock and I left the tank runing for about 3 weekes or so before adding the cuc....And once added they did a great job in mowing down all the hair algae...

CUC =

4 snorkel snails...(dont know what their called but they live under the sand)

8 turbos

8 red legged hermits...

2 cleaner shrimp.

..

Then after a few more weeks with just the live rock and cuc in the tank,I decided to add a few fish over the coarse of a month,2 clowns and a coral beauty... Im quite happy with what I have got and dont want to a add any more fish as i dont want to overload the system..


Well over the last couple of weeks I have noticed hair algea return with avengence,and the cuc dont seem to interested in any of it...

So far a have cut the feeding down too every other day with marine flake and cut the lighting down to 7 hours a day...

Anybody got any ideas on how I can tackle this little pro I have.......Cheers Clive

 

[seffieuk]

Hi Clive

I'm sure I read somwhere recently that the D & D salt had a problem with phosphates what might be happenening is you are getting a lower reading for phosphates as the hair algae is using it all from the water so it doesn't show on test think it might have been Ben who mentioned it a while back - sure he will be along soon to say yay or nay

Your cuc is sound - the snails you are referring to are probably Nassarius Snails

How long do you leave your lights on for and does any direct sun light hit the tank?

Seffie x

 

[BigC]

If you dont employ a sump, try a Sea Hare. These clear algae like nobody's business.
Regards
BigC

 

[Happy Harry]

Hi Seffie...Yep their the snails ... As for light...The main lights are on for about 7 hours aday...And the tank is not in direct sunlight,but it it quite light in our living room....Was thinking about putting a curtain around the tank to stop the light getting in....And the salt,my lfs shop told me its the best on the market and contained no phosphate at all...Cheers Clive

Hi big C....Yes I have read about the sea hare....But I have been told if possible hire one lol..As once the hair algae has gone thay can starve and then die and nuke yer whole tank....But this is only what i have read mind.....

 

[BigC]

Tis true but you can toss in some green seaweed (Nori)
There was a faulty batch of D&D H2Ocean Salt at one particular time but thats all sorted now.
Regards
BigC

 

[Little Fish]

I don't think there is any way to totally get rid of hair algae. As long as they don't get out of control it doesn't bother me too much as my tank looks more natural this way. I used to pull "tons" of hair algae out from my tank during water changes then I added a couple of Sally lightfoot crabs. They are amazing with hair algae, some of my live rocks with hair algae look like nicely mowed lawns. I also put some Clove coral and Taro trees at areas that the Sally lightfoot crabs don't like to go. They grow very fast and choke out the hair algae that was originally there. My Remora skimmer used to pull a cup of skimate every 3 days or so but now I have less than 1 cup every 4 weeks. Those softies are natural water filters. Together with the introduction of a Regal Tang 2 months ago I hardly have any hair algae to pull out during the last 2 water changes.

 

[scott133]

Hi

the haired algae think most of us have had this problem

when i get haired algae i grab a sithion hose and a bucket and a cotton wool media bag and put the sithion in the tank and sithion it out to the media bag so the water that comes out from the media bag is clean and can be pored back in to the tank with out any algae keep doing that then you should be fine

 

[Little Fish]

Hi

the haired algae think most of us have had this problem

when i get haired algae i grab a sithion hose and a bucket and a cotton wool media bag and put the sithion in the tank and sithion it out to the media bag so the water that comes out from the media bag is clean and can be pored back in to the tank with out any algae keep doing that then you should be fine

Well that might work for the short term but I prefer dealing with the cause while treating the symptoms at the same time. I truly believe a tank that needs little maintenance is best for all of its occupants. It means the ecosystem in the tank has reached a balance...not to mention less work for me