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View Full Version : anyone from edmonton also dealing with green hair algie blooms


isaac1
12-05-2011, 02:05 AM
I'm not sure if its because of city water or what but myself and almost every one I talk to in fish stores are having simalir problems

Beverly
12-05-2011, 02:20 AM
I'm using Edmonton tapwater (treated with Prime) and am not having any algae problems. I do weekly 20-25% water changes on my 10g, though, siphon out the crud on the bottom of the tank as well as clean the foam filter. Also don't have much of a bioload - just hitchhikers and soft and lps coral frags. Tank's been up for just over two months and hasn't had any algae issues due to the serious husbandry.

BlueTang<3
12-05-2011, 02:38 AM
I'm not sure if its because of city water or what but myself and almost every one I talk to in fish stores are having simalir problems

What size of tank, can you tell us a little more about your setup?

isaac1
12-05-2011, 02:55 AM
35 gallon t5ho lights 2 450 korila power heads 40 pounds live rock 30 pounds sand 2 clowns 2 striped damsels frogspawn 2 bubble tip anenomes hammer corals an entire rock engulfed in greenstar polyps pulsing xenia 1 brain coral 3 plate corals two candy canes 8 ricordia mushrooms redsea prizm skimmer 8 sandsifting snails 2 turbos an emrald crab witch I bought to eat the green hair but dosnt and 2 peppermint shrimp and o ya 1 blenny I change my water every two weeks 15 percent and do fresh water top ups every couple days I turned my lights on a 8 hour runtime from 12 I've delt with it before but I put a yellow tang in the tank and it was gone and under control thow when he died I noticed a couple weeks later it started comming back

RyanJ
12-05-2011, 03:02 AM
Do you know what your ph/dkh/cal/mag/po4/sillica parameters are??

intarsiabox
12-05-2011, 03:07 AM
I've been using tap water in my 30g that I've had set up for the last three months and a very neglected 25g tank still at my parents house from 7 months ago and still have had no algae issues.

isaac1
12-05-2011, 03:11 AM
Ph is 8.3 ammonia is 0 nitrates 0 nitrites 0 and truthfully I don't even bother checking the other levels now ppl call me crazy but I can tell pretty much just by looking at my corals and watching the fish when levels are gertting out of control thow it could have somthing to do with phosphates

RyanJ
12-05-2011, 03:18 AM
Ph is 8.3 ammonia is 0 nitrates 0 nitrites 0 and truthfully I don't even bother checking the other levels now ppl call me crazy but I can tell pretty much just by looking at my corals and watching the fish when levels are gertting out of control thow it could have somthing to do with phosphates

Yep you are. Are you running gfo and carbon?? Cuz there could be phosphates and Sullicas building up... Well if u have hair algee.. U have phosphates. Check them and do something to control them. SLOWLY!! Cuz if you have no phosphates and Sullica, your algee will have no food. And get yourself a sea hair! He will eat up what's left on your rock.. Before u do anything else.. Check your phosphates.

reefwars
12-05-2011, 03:32 AM
Yep you are. Are you running gfo and carbon?? Cuz there could be phosphates and Sullicas building up... Well if u have hair algee.. U have phosphates. Check them and do something to control them. SLOWLY!! Cuz if you have no phosphates and Sullica, your algee will have no food. And get yourself a sea hair! He will eat up what's left on your rock.. Before u do anything else.. Check your phosphates.



+1 its the phos, gfo or " phosdown" and get strict on what hits your tank...sea hares are great but be sure to pass him on to another reefer once your algae is gone as he will starve without gha.

dc4
12-05-2011, 05:14 AM
Keep in mind though, even if you dont get a reading for phosphate, doesnt mean that you dont have any as the algae is probably absorbing it all and would cause a false reading. I know that is what happened to my smaller tank that had hair algae, I didnt have any phosphate readings at all but algar was growing everywhere. I got a seahare and it did a great job on it but unless you fix the cause, it will never go away, my issue was overfeeding. :redface:

beginnersluckpg
12-05-2011, 08:10 AM
had a horrible experience with hair algae just recently

+ 1 on overfeeding I know I was I also reduced my lights To 5 hrs from 10 on the mh and went from 12 to 7 on my pcs.....

i also found that without an auto top off my skimmer was way underperforming due to the fluctuating water level. as soon as I added the auto top off it leveled out and pulled way more I'm sure this was the icing on the cake.

Not an expert by any means.........Just 2 cents

isaac1
12-05-2011, 12:23 PM
Sea hares are an alright idea but they die after there's no algie left and there usally dead by the time they get to the lfs I do run carbon in my system what would be the best way to trim down the phosphates.

gregzz4
12-05-2011, 01:32 PM
+1 to Ryanj's recommendations.
Try testing for phosphates in the morning while the room is still dark. I understand this is the best time as the algae should be more at rest.
And if you have a few bucks, or know someone with one, get your hands on a Silicate test kit.
I bought one for $14 to rule it out.
If the your phosphates are really hi, maybe cut down on your food some.
This is an example of a good way to deal with phos
http://www.jlaquatics.com/phpstore/store_pages/product-info.php?product_ID=tf-reactor
I've been told the best media to use in it is HC (hi capacity) GFO (granulated ferric oxide).
2 places I know to get it from are CACO3REEF and Bulkreefsupply.
Not the crappy pellets, but this stuff
http://caco3reef.com/gfo/gfo

RyanJ
12-05-2011, 02:09 PM
+1 to overfeeding! I bet if your read the label to your food, It contains Phosphates! Expecailly New life spectrum!