Having a nasty hair algea problem.

[Devon93274]

50gallon. I've been running phosgaurd for 3 weeks, and this hair algae continues to dominate my tank. I do a 5 gallon water change every 1-2 weeks. I keep my salinity around .025 I don't know my parameters because I don't really test chemistry. I just wait for the coralline to dull out a bit, and do a water change with reef crystals. Any advice would be much appreciated. The hair algae has a strong grip. I cant seem to scrape it off.

 

[twilliard]

Are you running a skimmer for organic removal?
Also the buildup of Po4 and DOC'S should be removed by larger water changes.
50% or more

 

[TheEngineer]

Testing is how we can determine information about nutrients in our systems. The other ways include observation. We can observe that you have hair algae which is a sign of excess nutrients. The question still remains, what nutrients are in excess and where are they coming from.

Long way of saying, please test your water and give us the results

 

[sc50964]

Is this a reef or fish only tank?

 

[Devon93274]

Are you running a skimmer for organic removal?
Also the buildup of Po4 and DOC'S should be removed by larger water changes.
50% or more

What's p04 and Doc? I have no protein skimmer. Can't afford at the moment sadly. I run a dual bio wheel filter rated around 100 gallons. I have a sack of phosgaurd on one side and a carbon filter on the other.

 

[Devon93274]

Is this a reef or fish only tank?

It's mostly live rock and fish. Simone gave me some polyps and mushrooms so that's all I'm going to have for now.

 

[Devon93274]

 

[Devon93274]

The hair algae is taking my polyps out btw.

 

[Devon93274]

I don't add anything other than salt so everything is right around perfect. My calcium is around 400ppm. My alkalinity is a little high at 13, and I don't have a test for magnesium.

 

[TheEngineer]

What are your nitrate and phosphate levels?

 

[Devon93274]

Lights are on a 10 hour cycle

 

[sc50964]

You probably have had this tank with all these liverocks for a while. Phosphate or PO4 came from fish and fish food waste and it's in your water and has been absorbed by sand and rocks. Having a skimmer will reduce your NO3 level but will not be effective to reduce PO4. I've never used phosguard therefore I can't speak for its effectiveness. I use rowaphos GFO and it has worked wonders. You might want to give that a try. There are three other inexpensive things you can try. One is to reduce the light schedule or simply shut off the lights for 3 to 4 days. The other is to remove 1/4 of your liverocks along with a large water change, and the last suggestion is to use liquid PO4 remover, which can be about $20 or so from your LFS.

 

[Devon93274]

Ammonia, Nitrate and Nitrite are all close to 0. I don't have a phosphate test but I have been using phosgaurd guard for 3 weeks. I dose the phosgaurd at 100 gallons.

 

[ckozma]

With algae it's all about the N's and P's as icecool2 stated. You need to check those levels, I can guarauntee your PO4 is high and possibly your nitrate levels. The way to solve these issues permanently and not a quick fix would be to get a protein skimmer and a phosphate reactor with GFO or PO4x4.

 

[Devon93274]

Thanks, ill pick up some liquid phosphate remover today. If that doesn't work all give that other treatment a try. I appreciate all the golden advise I'm getting. The tank is almost a year old, and I'm still learning.

 

[sc50964]

With all the algae in your tank, they are actually helping to reduce your PO4 as it is nutrient for them.

 

[Devon93274]

So is the algae a bad thing for the biology of the tank? Not including my polyps problem.

 

[sc50964]

You want to be careful with the liquid remover tho. It's effective but will not fix the root cause of the phosphate issue. You may also need to use it for a while to completely rid of PO4 that's in your substrate and rocks, since they leach back to the water slowly. Many corals don't react too well to liquid PO4 remover as some of them will also alter oxygen level and Ph so you need look out for those parameters. Adding an air source will help to prevent sudden Ph and oxygen drop due to the usage of liquid remover.

 

[twilliard]

It's not bad if you are using it as nutrient export.
Just keep pulling the algae :)

 

[sc50964]

So is the algae a bad thing for the biology of the tank? Not including my polyps problem.

This is where having a refugium or using an algae scrubber in a sump are methods to utilize algae to reduce nutrient.