Bad Hair Algae

[jasond]

Without making some changes, it is not going to get better or go away. Try to make the phosban work, it is a cheap fix. My rock was totally covered, I thought no way am I going to get rid of this stuff, and there isnt a "hair" left.

[midgetwaiter]

This is almost always a phosphate issue but other things come into play. Ultimately you have a lot of bio load for a small tank and things like this can be difficult to solve. Up the water changes to 2g a week and see what happens.

If you want to use something like Rowaphos you really need a fluidized reactor, you don't get near the effect out of the media in a bag. Is the sponge you are using an HBH cut to fit? If so this is an aluminum based product and not a great idea for tanks with soft corals. The easiest way to deal with phosphate is using a chemical that binds and precipitates it like Blue Life Phosphate Control or Carib Phosbuster.

Making this tricky is the fact that low price phosphate kits are all sucky. You need to use something like a Merc kit to get a good idea what is really going on there as organic phosphate is harder to detect. At minimum make sure that the reagents in the kit you are using are as fresh as possible. I use a cheap one myself but I you need to keep in mind you may not have a good picture from it. Also if the source water the company uses has phosphate in it RO won't remove it. You need a DI resin to get it so don't assume it's good just because it is RO.

Alkalinity also plays a part in this. You said your pH is 7.8 which seems low for a tank with a skimmer. Do you test for this? Try and keep it at the high end of the safe range (200ppm / 7dkh / 4meg/l) hair algae hates that.

Another thing that would help are getting a bit more flow in there. Swap the power sweep for a Korallia 1 or Sieo 620.

I also noticed from your FTS that your open brain isn't showing much polyp extension. If it's usually like this try putting it on the sand, the rock rubbing on the polyp may be bothering it.

[likwid]

Originally Posted by midgetwaiter

This is almost always a phosphate issue but other things come into play. Ultimately you have a lot of bio load for a small tank and things like this can be difficult to solve. Up the water changes to 2g a week and see what happens.

If you want to use something like Rowaphos you really need a fluidized reactor, you don't get near the effect out of the media in a bag. Is the sponge you are using an HBH cut to fit? If so this is an aluminum based product and not a great idea for tanks with soft corals. The easiest way to deal with phosphate is using a chemical that binds and precipitates it like Blue Life Phosphate Control or Carib Phosbuster.

Making this tricky is the fact that low price phosphate kits are all sucky. You need to use something like a Merc kit to get a good idea what is really going on there as organic phosphate is harder to detect. At minimum make sure that the reagents in the kit you are using are as fresh as possible. I use a cheap one myself but I you need to keep in mind you may not have a good picture from it. Also if the source water the company uses has phosphate in it RO won't remove it. You need a DI resin to get it so don't assume it's good just because it is RO.

Alkalinity also plays a part in this. You said your pH is 7.8 which seems low for a tank with a skimmer. Do you test for this? Try and keep it at the high end of the safe range (200ppm / 7dkh / 4meg/l) hair algae hates that.

Another thing that would help are getting a bit more flow in there. Swap the power sweep for a Korallia 1 or Sieo 620.

I also noticed from your FTS that your open brain isn't showing much polyp extension. If it's usually like this try putting it on the sand, the rock rubbing on the polyp may be bothering it.

A small clownfish and BTA is too much bioload for for a 10g tank? I dont think that is the problem.

The RO water is guaranteed < 5 ppm. It is pre-bottled from the manufacturer, so I'm not too worried about the water supply.

I will try raising my ALK, and see what happens. And I guess I will try to cram a phosban reactor in there.

I dont know if I need to change my flow, the powersweep is rated 160 gph, and the aquaclear 500 on the back produces too much flow that it blows sand around.

Ill put the brain on the sand and see if that helps it as well.

Thanks for the tips.

[Myka]

Originally Posted by likwid

I do not add any additives to my tank. I do a 15% waterchange every week using instant ocean salt and RO water. Feed hikari mysis shrimp twice a week, presoaked in water. PH: 7.8, ammonia: 0, nitrite: 0, nitrate: 10, phosphate: 0, Salinity: 0.023, temperature: 78 degrees. Photo period is 7 hours actinic, 5.5 hours actinic+daylights. Bulbs are each 36w coralifes, changed in october.

What brand test kits are you using?

Do you not test for Calcium, alkalinity, and magnesium? These are very important for the health of your corals, and is used by them on a daily basis. Calcium and Alkalinity usually have the be supplemented. Hair algae LOVES low Calcium, Alkalinity, and magnesium. Considering you are using IO salt, and not supplementing, then it is very possible that your Cal/Alk levels are low. Calcium should be 400-425 ppm, and Alkalinity should be 8-10 dkh (err on the high side). Magnesium should be 1350-1400 ppm. Your low pH leads me to believe that your Alk may be low as well (see below).

When you do waterchanges do you siphon off as much detritus from the rocks and sandbed as possible? This can definately help lower the waste in the tank. Hair algae traps detritus in it (which is how it helps itself to grow), and using a turkey baster daily to blow any detritus out of the hair algae may help as well.

When you say you "presoak" your food, do you pour the water off, or do you just soak it in water and dump the whole thing in the tank? I would suggest you feed your fish at least once every second day. Twice a week is pretty tough on a digestive system (smaller fish) that is designed to constantly be eating.

How often do you clean your skimmer? How much skimmate do you get in the cup each week?

That's all I see provided the information you gave.

Originally Posted by midgetwaiter

Alkalinity also plays a part in this. You said your pH is 7.8 which seems low for a tank with a skimmer. Do you test for this? Try and keep it at the high end of the safe range (200ppm / 7dkh / 4meg/l) hair algae hates that.

This is exactly what I was thinking. Low pH is often related (although not necessarily directly) to your Alkalinity level, so your low pH makes me suspect low Alkalinity. 7 dkh is not the high end - that is in fact the low end. Alk should be 6-12 dkh, with 8-10 dkh considered "normal". I keep my Alk as close to 10 dkh as I can. Many people who run ZEOvit keep their Alk in the 12-14 dkh range.