Brown hair algae impossible to beat!!

[Willbiker]

My tank is 7 months old and I've had an algae issue almost since the start. Its evolved from just diatoms on the sand to full on 2 inch long brown hair.

I had a very little bio load until the last 2 months. This didnt seam to make a difference. I even did 80 days fallow due to ich, the algae remained.

I first thought it was due to really high tds as a result of not changing ro membrane. I changed my carbon, prefilter, membrane and resin 2.5 months ago. Tds has since measured 0 but still the algae remains.

I do 15% water change per week. The algae remains

I introduced GFO and carbon reactors 3.5 months ago.. the algae remains.

I added chaeto to my sump and its been growing quite nicely for 4 months...the algae remains in the tank but nothing on my live rock in the sump. (Even though there is 24/7 grow light.

I had an all pond solutions skimmer which wasn't too good. I upgraded to a red sea c-skim 1800 2 weeks ago and it seems to be pulling out more junk. Too soon to know if this will help...

I added crabs and mexican turbo snails and they ate it all off the rock but remained on the sand. They then lost interest in it and it returned. I also added a yellow tang which doesn't touch it. Ive also got nas snails to turn the sand.....the algae remains. Ive added 30 more turbo snails 1 week ago...no sign of a reduction of algae yet.

I feed once per day and a small amount feed reef roids using a baster once per week. My lights are on 10 hours per day.

my phosphate po4 measures 0.08 and nitrate 0.

I cant remove my rocks easily but have scrubbed it off in the water. It comes off easily but returns almost overnight. Ive removed the top layer of sand and its returned almost overnight . The hair algae on the sand even catches the gas escaping!

I am at a dead end...what can I do? My fear is that my silica sand is releasing silicates. Is there a way to test this?

Any help would be greatly appreciated as im lost and at my whits end!!

Here are some pics

 

[Doctorgori]

Man I feel ya
Have you tried the suite of biologicals like Microbacter clean or Vibrant? You got a sump with chaeto?
There is a list of algae’s turbos won’t touch, urchins are less picky but have thier own irritating issues

 

[moz71]

That looks like Dino’s to me! If it is a certain type a UV would certainly help. If Nitrates at 0 probably also indicates Dino’s

 

[Doctorgori]

That looks like Dino’s to me! If it is a certain type a UV would certainly help. If Nitrates at 0 probably also indicates Dino’s

it does have that snotty look .... especially now that I noticed the trapped air floating blobs

 

[Willbiker]

Man I feel ya
Have you tried the suite of biologicals like Microbacter clean or Vibrant? You got a sump with chaeto?
There is a list of algae’s turbos won’t touch, urchins are less picky but have thier own irritating issues

I haven't heard of those! I shall look them up. Yep I have chaeto but its not too big yet. Probably a couple of hand fulls.. Thanks pall

 

[Willbiker]

That looks like Dino’s to me! If it is a certain type a UV would certainly help. If Nitrates at 0 probably also indicates Dino’s

Really?? I have a vecton 600 which I havent yet added to the system. Do you think this will help?

 

[Willbiker]

Is 0.08 too high for po4?

 

[Doctorgori]

Is 0.08 too high for po4?

no that PO4 is fine.....but on closer photo inspection and without anything else to go on my hunch is dinos also and a somewhat different remedy.
naturally there is a link somewhere on R2R about dinos and cyano and how to distinguish. I saw it somewhere or so I thought,,,, hmmmm

 

[moz71]

I think po 4 is fine. The only way to tell if it is the type I’ve would help would be under microscope. Even a cheap one will help but since you have a uv can only help. I would hook up and vacuum out sand as much as possible. And I’ve could actually get rid of it in a couple days. I just did it with a cheaper UV. Look at the Dino threads their are tons

 

[Willbiker]

Thanks! I will hook it up and cross my fingers. I will read into dinos. Many thanks!

 

[Willbiker]

I have a cheap digital microscope which I have used to disgnose parasites on my koi carp. I'll read up on what I need to look for in order to identify the algae. Thanks!

 

[Willbiker]

After lots of googling, i think you are right...its Dinos! And I have the following options:

-Install a UV
-decrease filter soc micron size to around 5 micron
-do a 3 day blackout
-dose nitrate and phosphate to raise the nutrient level
-add bacteria to fight the dino for space
-vacuum as much out as possible

Im going to go with a UV install, 3day blackout (not covered, just no LED lights), 5 micron sock and regular vacuuming...for now

Can anyone advise me on what flow rate / tank turnover I should go for with my UV? Its a Vectron 600 which has max flow speed of 1900lph but this seem ways to high. Maybe this is just for green water control. I was going to loop it into my skimmer feed which is 1200lph (probably less under load) and see how I get on. My tank is 700 litres so this will turn the tank over every 35-40 minutes...is this a good approach?

Thanks for the help. Much appreciated!

 

[Ludders]

my phosphate po4 measures 0.08 and nitrate 0.0

This is your problem

 

[Willbiker]

This is your problem

Too low? Dinos seem to thrive when values are low so in order to help get rid, you have to raise phosphate and nitrate. Are you saying my levels are too low?

 

[Ludders]

Yes indeed. I am guessing you have been battling with this and trying to keep your environment as clean as possible to get rid of it?

 

[Willbiker]

Yes indeed. I am guessing you have been battling with this and trying to keep your environment as clean as possible to get rid of it?

Yes correct. I assumed it was hair algae so I have been trying to export export export. Thanks for the confirmation. I suppose I could turn my skimmer and gfo off for a period of days? Would this help?

 

[Ludders]

Can anyone advise me on what flow rate / tank turnover I should go for with my UV? Its a Vectron 600 which has max flow speed of 1900lph but this seem ways to high. Maybe this is just for green water control. I was going to loop it into my skimmer feed which is 1200lph (probably less under load) and see how I get on. My tank is 700 litres so this will turn the tank over every 35-40 minutes...is this a good approach?

Thanks for the help. Much appreciated!

1900Lph is the maximum it can handle and still be effective, so a slower speed will just help and become more effective. I take it your return pump flow is higher than this? If so plumb it into a separate pump and point the outlet in the direction of the skimmer.

Someone recommended Brightwell's Microbacter, which I would also recommend. The Microbacter7 which is a dormant bacteria won't solve your problem on its own, but it will introduce a wide variety of biological elements (7), increasing the biodiversity of your overall system.

I would say you can beat this without doing a black out.

Stop your water changes and switch off your fuge lamp, removing your chaeto, you will want to raise your nitrate levels. You can try feeding more to achieve this little faster if you like.

Do you have a sand bed vacuum which recirculates your water?

 

[SMSREEF]

I don’t think it’s Dino’s. My guess on the rock is chrysophyte and on sandbed Cyanobacteria.
Lots of algaes create bubbles when they make a mat.

If the mat remains the same day and night, I am a little more confident that it is cyano on sand. Increase the flow, and get nitrate up to 10.
For algae on rocks you can just suction out into a filter sock. Keep NO3 5-10 and PO4 0.05-0.1 and you will start getting a green algae that the snails will eat.

A microscope will make identification of what you are dealing with much more certain. You can post pics on here and people will be able to help you ID it.

Dino’s, cyano, chrysophyte are all treated very differently. So actual microscope ID comes in really handy.

 

[Sallstrom]

Hi

I think you are on the right path. But usually doing 10 things at the time to solve a problem might be a little too much.
If I were you I would focus on finding a daily dose of nitrate to feed the tank. Try to find a dose so the nitrate stays around 2-5 ppm. Then keep track of the phosphate. Perhaps you need to add phosphate, but in some cases you don't need to. You phosphate level is fine for now. Be ready to add if it goes down when starting to add nitrate.

If you have some patience this might be enough for the dinoflagellats/Cyanobacteria to disapear. IMO you don't have to clean the sand or do any blackout. But that's my opinion

Good luck!

 

[Ludders]

After lots of googling, i think you are right...its Dinos!

I would agree just on the looks. Did you get a sample under the microscope?