Hair Algae!

[Trigs]

So i am starting to get a pretty bad case of this HA in my tank, i have never had any problems before until i started my new tank, i ran a 90 gallon for long while with no cases of this and now it comes up and i dont know how to get rid of it, im thinking possibly a big water change? or perhaps scraping it up? anyone else ever had issues with it and resolved the problem quick and efficiently?? i would really like to know!

[Keri]

Fix your water = fix your HA

What are your parameters like and how old are your bulbs? Are you using RODI?

In the meantime, I've had great success with a sea hare just be sure to pass it on when you're done and remember that what goes in must come out so it's not really solving the water quality issues, but if you can fix those he will clear it up for you.

[Trigs]

yah i figured it would come to that, i have been using the same test kit for a while now like a year its a master test kit, im wondering what i should be using?

[niloc16]

first off what type of water are using for new saltwater and topoff. if it is tapwater then i would say definitely thats the problem. if its ro/di water test the water before it goes into your tank and see if thats the problem. hair algae takes over from high nutrients, find the source and cure the problem. sometimes testing your tank water doesnt help cuz the algae eats the nutrients so fast you cant register it on your test kit

[Trigs]

first off what type of water are using for new saltwater and topoff. if it is tapwater then i would say definitely thats the problem. if its ro/di water test the water before it goes into your tank and see if thats the problem. hair algae takes over from high nutrients, find the source and cure the problem. sometimes testing your tank water doesnt help cuz the algae eats the nutrients so fast you cant register it on your test kit

i use a Ro unit, but when i use to use tap water i never had any problems, it wasnt until i started using the Ro water that i ran into these problems.

[niloc16]

what is the tds reading coming out of the ro

[Trigs]

what is the tds reading coming out of the ro

not sure...

[GreenSpottedPuffer]

i use a Ro unit, but when i use to use tap water i never had any problems, it wasnt until i started using the Ro water that i ran into these problems.


A few years ago I had a tap water tank and a RO tank. Similar lighting and whatnot. The tapwater tank had a higher bioload although it was smaller than the ro reef tank. I used to get HA in my RO tank but never in the tap water tank. I am not saying RO caused HA at all but I ended up switching all to tap water. Two years later I am using the same LR and mostly tap water (I use both now, whatever I have at the time) and never had HA. I do dose kalk though and that will precipitate phosphates, so I bet thats keeping things in check but whatever it is, I am very happy to use tap water.

My problem with RO is that I live in a condo and have no use for the waste water. I didn't have a great way to reuse it and couldn't justify wasting so much water. My parents would kill me if they knew how much I used to waste :) They are VERY, VERY "green" and brought me up that way.

I am happy with tap water but I test the TDS quite often and only use it when the TDS is below 10 or 20.

[Carmen]

The sea hare was extremely efficient for me - gone in 2 weeks and so far VERY little has come back. (My Phosphates tested 0 and I use tap water.)
As with my nano, once the initial HA cycle finished, that was it - never saw it again. (Hoping for the same!)

[fishytime]

You also could think about your feeding regiment. How much food? How often? What kind(s) of food. If you feed frozen foods what is your method?

[Der_Iron_Chef]

Plenty of good advice here. But here's some more: some people (including myself) find the pejorative use of the word "gay" to be extremely offensive, and it really isn't appropriate on a public forum like this.

[Reefer Rob]

Find something that will eat it. I.m not sure what's eating it in my tank, but something is. Try Mexican Turbo Snails, and an Abalone.

Run a refugium with macro-algae. Use a 5500K bulb or so to encourage the hair algae to grow in the fuge and not in your tank.

Run 1200K bulbs or higher on your display.

Use GFO! Hair algae needs phosphates to grow.

[tang daddy]

His tank is going through a cycle....

He set it up not even a month ago so this is normal just let it ride out the cycle then either put a seahare or golden rabbit fish both great for manicuring a tank.

[Trigs]

hmm yah i think i will either go with a sea hair or do a water change with tap water again like i use to, i feed frozen food, every other day mysis shrimp and brine, i mix with tank water and pour in, or feed from my hand.

[wisesam]

I'm having hair algae for my tank as well.
My tank is also newly setup, and I came back from a 1 week trip finding my light timer was stuck at on.
It looks like a planted tank..
I've bought a sea hare and lawnmower blenny and I am seeing some improvement already after 3 days.

[GreenSpottedPuffer]

hmm yah i think i will either go with a sea hair or do a water change with tap water again like i use to, i feed frozen food, every other day mysis shrimp and brine, i mix with tank water and pour in, or feed from my hand.

I don't know if I would switch to tap water. That could make it worse. Tap water will still always have much higher nutrients/TDS than RO water. Even if your filters were old or not working properly. The RO unit is not the problem I don't think.

[Oscar]

The sea hare was extremely efficient for me - gone in 2 weeks and so far VERY little has come back. )

I am still having hair algae problems. I am on RO/DI, phosban reactor, algae pruing, water changes every 2 weeks, hermits and snails.

Next is to add a sea hare.

Carmen: If your sea hare knocked back algae in your 72G in 2 weeks then my unit will be cleaned up in less than a week by a sea hare. I am a little concerned about starving the sea hare before I find a new home for it. The local LFS had a sea hare that was buried in the substrate. Do they eat nori or substrate material when they get hungry?

[Carmen]

I am still having hair algae problems. I am on RO/DI, phosban reactor, algae pruing, water changes every 2 weeks, hermits and snails.

Next is to add a sea hare.

Carmen: If your sea hare knocked back algae in your 72G in 2 weeks then my unit will be cleaned up in less than a week by a sea hare. I am a little concerned about starving the sea hare before I find a new home for it. The local LFS had a sea hare that was buried in the substrate. Do they eat nori or substrate material when they get hungry?

Oscar,

I did notice my seahare eating my red macroalgae many times (Almost seemed to prefer it at times?!)
But I don't know how long it would continue to eat it???
Mine never did bury into the substrate and I did not see it eat anything else.
See if the LFS will let you "rent" the seahare and return it for partial credit when finished with it. That is what I did and I thought it to be a remarkable program to help preserve their little lives. Neat critters.