Any solutions to hair algae that won't go away?
- Thread starter Midasblen
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ScubaSkeets
Well-Known Member
Typical
By quoting the OP results,
Apparently you have selective reading too.
You did see that he used pom pom, right? You did see that it was suggested that pom pom may not be as effective as a mesh screen, right? You did see what his tank looked like before using the scrubber, right?
That is exactly what they have claimed. Ross, Dr. RHF and I think even Lasse tried to tell them that growing algae in one place does not keep it from growing in others. Both have algae in their tanks and skeets has angelfish and tangs. When people pointed out that there was algae all over the rocks in skeets tank and that the tangs were likely keeping it trimmed back, the tune changed for about 2 pages and then could not be possible and it was back to the scrubber keeping the algae low. The story has changed a bit here or there over time...
I could be confusing this with something else, but one of them would rather believe that tangs that were not eating algae before in no way could be eating it now. Just like mysis shrimp (which are freshwater), some of these fish do not know what some of this stuff is that we bring from all over the planet. It does take a while for fish to try new things just like not all Americans want to eat goat, lizard, gator, lamb, etc. when it is plenty good - and many like them once they try it... and all of them would eat it if they had to.
This is just somewhat astonishing to me, but they act like scrubbers have not been around since the 70s or 80s and they found something that nobody else knew about... or if somebody did, they kept it a secret from every other reefer as a solution to all of the algae problems in tanks.
Scrubbers can remove some nitrogen and phosphorous in many forms. Most of this can lead to less po4 and no3 on the back end. That is where it stops. Scrubber can be PART of a solution, but not THE solution - just like a fuge or algae reactor. You cannot grow algae in one place but not another if you have the same water and adequate lighting. You cannot limit nitrogen and phosphorous to stop algae growth without harming corals first. Since getting in front of algae is so important, I have no desire for people to believe them, shuck the experts mentioned above, and wait for a scrubber to come when they could have taken action sooner while a scrubber was on the way.
ShawnSaucier
Well-Known Member
I haven’t read this whole post, just 2-3 pages. And I don’t claim to be an expert in any means. I have a 150g display that was started with dry rock and had similar issues the first 1-1.5 of the tank. What I did to combat the algae issues was scheduled 3 day blackouts, skimmed a bit heavier and implemented an algae reactor ( chaeto) and some real live sand from TBS. This including more regimented fish feedings, I felt, helped me combat the different algae issues. I am not a huge fan of crabs but utilize some hermits with a mix of snails and tuxedo urchins. I also have three tangs in the tank, though in the first year they didn’t forage much off of the rocks. I also continually add micro fauna to the tank on a quarterly schedule.
Unfortunately the dry rock method does add quite a few months of cycle time to your tank even though you can be “ fish ready” within a week. With the leaching of phos and other bound compounds in the rock and the severe lack of bacterial slimes and diversity, the impatience of adding light to your system so quickly only helps compound the issues unfortunately. Unless you are spending $$$$ for real live rock, the days of an insta tank are gone and I believe that it is up to the LFS to help guide their clients in this knowledge.
As far as the OP and others that have chimed in with the similar issues. My recommendation would be to continue with you scheduled water changes. Make sure to keep up on your RODI maintenance, if you purchase from a store, invest in a TDS meter. If you purchase your salt water from a store, run a test or two before adding to the tank. Try a three day black out every couple of weeks, if you have corals they will survive. If your lights have a tuning (color temp) ability, reduce your red/green/white percentages and try to keep your photo period around 8 hrs. If you work out of the house, move your photo period to times that give you the most viewing pleasure (I.E. work 9-5pm, lights come on at 3pm and out at 11pm). Feed your fish frozen foods if you can and limit how much you put in at a time. Flakes and pellets can contain a lot of phos and left over foods just feed the issue. If you see clumps of GHA, manually remove it when you can, or any algae for that matter. Also don’t be afraid to use a toothbrush to scrub your rocks and a turkey baster to blow detritus build up out of the nooks and crannies on a weekly basis.
And most of all, just have some patience, let nature do its thing.
Unfortunately the dry rock method does add quite a few months of cycle time to your tank even though you can be “ fish ready” within a week. With the leaching of phos and other bound compounds in the rock and the severe lack of bacterial slimes and diversity, the impatience of adding light to your system so quickly only helps compound the issues unfortunately. Unless you are spending $$$$ for real live rock, the days of an insta tank are gone and I believe that it is up to the LFS to help guide their clients in this knowledge.
As far as the OP and others that have chimed in with the similar issues. My recommendation would be to continue with you scheduled water changes. Make sure to keep up on your RODI maintenance, if you purchase from a store, invest in a TDS meter. If you purchase your salt water from a store, run a test or two before adding to the tank. Try a three day black out every couple of weeks, if you have corals they will survive. If your lights have a tuning (color temp) ability, reduce your red/green/white percentages and try to keep your photo period around 8 hrs. If you work out of the house, move your photo period to times that give you the most viewing pleasure (I.E. work 9-5pm, lights come on at 3pm and out at 11pm). Feed your fish frozen foods if you can and limit how much you put in at a time. Flakes and pellets can contain a lot of phos and left over foods just feed the issue. If you see clumps of GHA, manually remove it when you can, or any algae for that matter. Also don’t be afraid to use a toothbrush to scrub your rocks and a turkey baster to blow detritus build up out of the nooks and crannies on a weekly basis.
And most of all, just have some patience, let nature do its thing.
OP
OP
Midasblen
Active Member
My current nutrients are a bit high as it has been 2 and a half weeks since I have done a water change, just busy schedule. But just did a 25% water change today and will do a 20% water change later this week. Scrubber has been doing good, but I noticed most of the algae to be more attached to the glass rather than the mesh net. I assume this is due to my diy setup rather than a legit ATS. Going to try and get a more consistent water change schedule now that I have more time. As of today before the water change my nitrates are at 17 ppm and phosphate at .18
VintageReefer
2500 Club Member
A scrubber will take a few weeks - months to have effect. The first 2 weeks are normally just the scrubber starting it’s own algae colony. You need to have a few harvests before results are noticed. Each harvest depending on scrubber size is typically 7-14 days. Depends on size of mesh and amount of growth
ScubaSkeets
Well-Known Member
I'm a big proponent of DIY.
However, if you happened to read any of my posts about my DIY "algae reducer", it worked great, but I wanted to experiment with one that had a larger screen. So I built another one. Same light, but otherwise, different setup. Perhaps I did not wait long enough, but It did not seem that it was growing algae. I changed back to my first DIY one, and it works fine.
I easily grew algae in my current tank in the beginning whilst N and P were undetectable. In fact I grew a "scrubber" tile in the sump, just to prove there was enough stuff for normal reef tank functioning. Its all in my build thread, warts and all.
I found the speaker to be tedious and hard to listen to for much of the video. However, he has given me enough perspective to see that controlling nutrient levels can be part of your algae control strategy, but can not be the only action.
I also agree with him where additives are concerned; that they interfere with system stability.
I feel additives are attractive to people who want a nice tank, but aren't interested in understanding the cause of their problems, just in something that they can throw in to the tank to "fix" it.
When looking up "Benthic Succession", search results only showed "Benthic Zone", which is defined as the critters who reside at the bottom of a body of water, such as an oven or lake (and tank bottoms).
So is "benthic succession" the process of benthic creatures populating an area that was previously unsettled?
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