running t5 lights and algea

[matix]

currently running t5 lights 2 10000k light cycle from 11am to 9pm and 2 purple blue antinics these go on a light cycle from 10am to 10pm

issue is my tank is growing dark green hair algea.

some other considerations that may help,

if i were to change the antinic blue purple cycle to ber 10am to 11am and 9pm to 10pm would this stop the algea from growing.

I am currently running a coral life 65 skimmer, which needs up grading but its running and water changes are done on avereage of 5 gals every week. or a 65gal tank.




fish are feed normal

and phosphate is near 0

any suggestions or comments?

[JDigital]

How old is your tank?

[matix]

How old is your tank?

3 solid years

[JDigital]

3 solid years

:neutral:, well, scrap my idea.. lol

[i have crabs]

id focus your energy on other issues like phosphates and skimming,
i know you say their is 0 phosphates but thier is a cycle of adding or creating phosphates as other things use it up which makes it a hard thing to control/monitor, if you feed frozen food test the water you defrost the food in also alot of other things that get added to tanks have phosphates.
if you dont have a ro/di unit get one right away, biggest improvement i ever seen fighting algae is when i started using ro water.
also a bigger/better skimmer wouldn't hurt but also wont be the cause in most cases,plenty of tanks run quite well with no skimmer,if you have a sump or area to grow some macro algae it is probably worth the effort to do so.

[matix]

Currently using RO water from safeway from a culligan refill water station. Any reason to question the quality of the ro water?

[JDigital]

Currently using RO water from safeway from a culligan refill water station. Any reason to question the quality of the ro water?

Yup... read quite a few things that culligan isn't as pure as it could be, lots of times the RO membranes aren't changed out as often as they should be. I've read many people take TDS readings and getting readings that are not 0. Might want to test your next bottle.

[RonPeter]

Yes, what is the TDS of the water being used? When you say feeding is normal do your fish eat everything within a few minutes? What types of food do you feed? Also how old are your bulbs? And as you already know your skimmer is a bit small for your tank.

[Myka]

I was getting RO water from Save On and when I tested it ranged from 8-15 ppm.

I agree you need to look at nutrient load - phosphates and nitrates primarily. Hair algae doesn't need much light to grow.

[matix]

Yes, what is the TDS of the water being used? When you say feeding is normal do your fish eat everything within a few minutes? What types of food do you feed? Also how old are your bulbs? And as you already know your skimmer is a bit small for your tank.

A TDS test, how do I do one of those?


Fish are feed with a few pinches I m feeding New life spectrum and formula 2

bulbs replaced in may 08

looking at getting a euro reef rs100 and now maybe a RO unit, any suggestions/recommendations would be great. I want to fix this

[RonPeter]

You need a TDS meter to check that...they are cheap, about $25.00 or a bit more if I remember right. A good RO/DI unit is AquaFX or Spectra Pure or there's one on eBay that a lot of people use with good results called AquaSafe I think.

[Myka]

Here, I just made an HA guide: http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=44473

[kwirky]

handling your detritus is a big boon to combating hair algae as well. Old tanks usually have built up detritus in the rocks and sandbed and it takes a long time to remove that.

Just blowing your rocks off daily is a big help against HA. Hair algae tends to grow where the detritus settles on the rocks. You'll notice when you do blow at the hair algae TONS of crap is released, because the hair algae catches detritus, snowballing the problem.

And once you've blown it off, you gotta get the detritus out. Siphoning the bottom if it's bare bottom is great. If you have sand, you could completely remove the top 1/4" layer of the sand and replace with new sand.

A 2 year old sand bed is usually ridden with phosphates and nitrates and they're quite difficult to deal with. Nobody wants to remove their sandbed, and removing it can release all sorts of nasty chemicals stored in the deepest areas of the bed.

[Myka]

I forgot all mention of detritus in my Algae Guide...I'll have to go add that in. Thanks for (unintentionally) reminding me. :)

[banditpowdercoat]

Kwirky, would it be better to siphon little sand off with each water change, and then add more sand, say once a year? Instead of a major sand change?

Myka, loving the HA guide. Sending the wife to town today to look for a larger SW storage tank for water changes. I have been neglecting my WC this summer :(

[Jaws]

Are you running sps or lps and softies. Relative to blowing detritus off your rock, I was able to get rid of my hair algae by adding more flow to the tank to stop detritus from settling on the rock. I had an sps tank though so I was able to get away with it. Good luck.