Hair Algae Please help

[molybdenumman]

My tank is increasingly with what I believe to be hair algae. Here is a pic:

http://www.canreef.com/photopost/data/508/752HAIRALGAE2.jpg?131

Can anyone tell me what kind of hair algae this is? If so, then how can I get rid of it. I have been doing water changes with DI water for weeks and I have been ripping as much out as I could. I even pulled the LR out and scubbed it down a couple of times, but still it came back.


I am about to lose it. If there is some critter that will eat it, please tell where to go and what to get.

Thanks for your time.

MoMan[/img]

[Quagmire]

Theres a few things you can try,but not knowing about your parameters and tank set up its hard to pin down the problem.
Ok, keep up the water changes,feed less,check your DI water for TDS your filter may be getting used up.(If you don't have a meter try your LFS they might do it for you)Check your bulbs they might be getting old.If you have a high bio load you may need a bigger skimmer or a planted refuge.Test your water and let us know what its at, and tell us what you have in the tank and the lighting, and someone will be able to help you out.

[molybdenumman]

Tank Parameters:

50gallon tank, 2X65W 10000K PC, 2X65w actinic. Prizm protein skimmer. 1 Maxi-Jet 900. Aquaclear 300. 40-50lbs LR. I use IO salt. Lights are on for 7-8 hrs per day. I have cut back my feeding considerably.

pH ~8.5, , Ca 350ppm, sg 1.023, PO4 ~1ppm, NO3 ~10ppm.

[psuedo]

I tried a long spine sea urchin for the heck of it, and he cleaned 90% of my hair algae within 5 days. However my corraline algae is taking a beating. Take the good with the bad I guess

[molybdenumman]

Just the regular black long spined urchin? Who can I order it from?

[molybdenumman]

The lighting I have in my tank is new, I got it from JL about 2 months agO. I would hope the lights are still good.

[DOO-E]

When a fellow reefer had an oput break of hair algea he cut back on the lighting and it went away. Either that or buy a urchin they eat it.

[reefhawk]

Hade the same problem a couple of months ago. It was brutal. physical removal helps, keep that up. Got a lawnmower gobie ( some people told me it is a lawnmower blennie) and then a fox face. Added a bunch more crabs and snails. Kept a close watch on my water quality and the algae all disappeared. Most of the organisms that I thought were being choked out recovered quite nicely and i learned two things. One- Don't panic. Two- there a lot of really great, knowledgable, helpful people here. Good luck it is ugly stuff.

[molybdenumman]

I tried a lawnmower blenny and he hasn't helped at all. In fact, he died within two weeks of arrival.


Has anyone been able to identify what type of hair algae i have?

[Quagmire]

Your lights skould be ok if they're only 2 months old.How bad is the out break, is it the whole tank or just the area in the pic.?Your PO4 and NO3
aren't off the scale,but if you have alot of algae it may be taking up the nutrients before it can be measured.I haven't had much luck with the prizm skimmer,mine is on a 30g with a low bio load so it does the job,but if you have alot of fish it may not be able to keep up.Phos.pads may work for now,but you need to find out where the nutrients are comming from.The two ways that I can think of that cause high nutrient are adding water and food.You have already cut back on feeding and you can only cut back so far. The DI water, is it bottled water,or do you use a tap water purifier(sp)or an RO/DI unit?Even if its store bought old filters can still be a problem,so its a good idea to have this tested for TDS.If you can't cut back what you put into your tank,then you have to look at ways to take nutrients out of the tank.The choices I can think of for this are water changes,better skimming,havesting(planted fuge)and animals.I find animals are better for matinance than for reducing algae.IE if you put in enough snails or other animals to reduce the algae,then when its gone you end up with a bunch of dead snails,because theres not enough food left.
Try the phos.pads for now.This is a bandaid approach it just covers up the real problem,but it may give you time to find the real problem.
Good luck
Greg

[Quagmire]

I just noticed the aqua clear.Are you using the foam,or is it empty and just used for water flow?The foam may be the culprit,it will trap food and detritus causing higher nutrients.
Greg

[molybdenumman]

I have the foam in right now. I'll take it out and see if that helps.

[DEAD_BY_DAWN]

Hi if your tank is checking out okyou might want to try this,what i did when i had a small problem was remove the lr like you did scrub it down with water from a water change,then rince with new made up water place back in the tank,then add a bunch of blue legg hermits and snails, go slow when putting the snails in the tank,this cleared up my problem and i havent had a speck on hair in four months

[Cap'n]

Watch your water quality and boost your clean-up crew. Add more snails and hermits. I also use a long-spined urchin and an emerald crab. They all have there merits and misgivings, you have to find what works for you. With the right balance of janitors the algae will disappear.

[EmptyMind]

I had my tank TOTALLY covered in hair algea.. long stringy stuff.. looked like a forest instead of a reef tank..

I tried snails.. LOTS of snails.. turbo, margerita, astrea, couple trochus.. they found their patches that they ate.. and kept clean.. but didn't really make any progress..

hermit crabs.. blue leggeed hermits, zebra hermits.. even got an emerald crab.. all seemed to be eating at the buffet.. but no real progress..

Bought a yellow tang.. man do they eat alot.. but still.. not enuf.. got the lawnmower blenny.. he tore up more than he ate i think.. but he did eat.. hehe..

got a diadema urchin.. he did some good work too.. (man i have alot of herbivores)

overall.. even with all the critters in there.. i still had algea up to my armpits.. :)

Myself and lostmind took a pair of toothbrushes and a combiniation of scrubbing the smaller rocks oin a bucket and scrubbing the larger one IN the tank..

week later.. algea...

SO.. we went for round 2.. and scrubbed it AGAIN.. and THEN keeping the lights out except for about 2 hours a day for 2 weeks...

perfection.. and its been great ever since. (cept the battle with nasty dino's, also fixed by lowering the lighting cycle away from 12 hours to 6 on 18 off) :) i must have spent like 300+$ on snails at JL.. oi..

my tank was 90Gallon, red sea berlin skimmer, RO/DI, 2x400W MH 10,000K Ushios + 2x96W PC actinic. all the readings on the tests were exactly where they were supposed to be.. The lights were on 12 hours on/off whcih is i think what really contributed to my outbreak.. lowering the lighting cycle to stop the algea from growing back and let the critters get a good foothold I think was why it worked for me..

[Namscam]

what bout a sea hare. they should do the trick

[jensen]

Try Seahare. They the best hair algae eater. How many depends on what size of tank you have. I guarantee you it will be gone in few days.

[Canadian Man]

Try Seahare. They the best hair algae eater. How many depends on what size of tank you have. I guarantee you it will be gone in few days.

Yes but keep in mind that so will the sea hare if all the algae (FOOD) dissapears.
:rolleyes:

[jensen]

Try Seahare. They the best hair algae eater. How many depends on what size of tank you have. I guarantee you it will be gone in few days.

Yes but keep in mind that so will the sea hare if all the algae (FOOD) dissapears.
:rolleyes:

This is so true....