Hair Algae is So Bad

roadkeel

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Our tank is so over run with hair algae I am ready to break the who tank down and start over. We have a 90 gallon display with a 55 gallon sump. Phosphates and nitrates are 0. RODI was is free of phosphates and nitrates. Feeding the fish twice per week. We do 10 gallon water change every week. And it is over grown with hair algae. Nothing we do has helped. I will get some pictures up when I get home but we are at our wits end..
 

tonymission

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What are you feeding? What rock are you using? Running GFO?
Hair algae is pretty easy to get rid of unless you actually have bryopsis.
 

tyler1503

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What are your magnesium levels?
I found raising mag was the only way I could kill off hair algae along with a larger CUC. I tried everything I could and got nowhere till I raised mag and adds extra snails.
 

Reefing Madness

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What are you taking your phosphate readings with?
Also keep in mind, that number will be completely incorrect, as your HA is eating up a bunch of it. I'd go with a liquid Lanthanum product, as this stuff will eliminate phosphates completely in just a couple of days, then you can just dose smaller amounts or switch to GFO. But, you have phosphates if you have HA.
 
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roadkeel

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IMG951431.jpg
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Here are a couple of pictures. It is much worse in other places in the tank, I was just ashamed to post pictures of those areas.

We are feeding Ocean Nutrition flakes twice per week.

No GFO, but we are using a bag of Chemi Pure Elite. Also running a HOB filter with Phosguard. We are using a Red Sea test kit.

Magnesium level is around 1,600. We raised it up to that because I read that Magnesium would help kill off the HA.

Our RODI water is stored when it comes out of the RODI unit in a large Brute garbage can. Storing RODI water is all that the can has ever been used for. Could the water being getting contaminated with phosphates from the rubber can?

Also is there HA spores, sprouts, roots, seeds, whatever you call them down in the holes of the live rock? A couple of times we have removed every piece of HA we can see and in 2 weeks it is back in full force. Also, if we start over or move the tank will boiling the live rock kill the HA?
 

Windy

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Install an algae scrubber and you can feed what you want, when you
want.
 

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