Impossible to rid Hair Algea, S.O.S

[Roatan Reef]

You don't need vibrant its not that bad just some persistence and it will be back to new

I agree, I struggled as we all probably have...but it took hard work and patience.

I scrubbed rocks, corals every other day with toothbrush, fine hair brush, turkey baster, ...my trick was leaving the flow pumps on, this way algae would just float circular in the tank, and not settle on the bottom or in live rock caves...I then would use a fine particulate micron net and scoop out as much as I could. Also had tons of CUCs too.

Then I did the water changes and would suck out pieces that I may have missed....it took a while, I almost quit...literally. But I knew my wife would kill me if I quit that far and that much $$$$$ in.

I literally had to do this 2 to 3 times a week, including water changes for about 2 months, it was not fun.

But you know what?

One day you wake up and BAM! It stops.

 

[ScubaSkeets]

I mean... I dont brush my teeth underwater, so...

Ha ha! Good point! I meant that I rinse (and wash) mine, getting the entire thing wet, and it doesn't hurt it.

 

[WhatCouldGoWrong71]

Bryopsis has a feathery type appearance up close.

Another method I use for manual removal of stubborn algae tufts is making a siphon tube with stainless steel straws as the tip. You can scrape all sorts of things off rocks with the straws.

That is a great idea. Do you just use natural syphoning? Or do you rig it to a pump for extra suction?

 

[WhatCouldGoWrong71]

Most algae can grow when parts float away and get attached to other things to start growing there. Algae can also send out spores and sexually reproduce - it all depends on the kind of algae and most people do not know what they have and people just kinda saw spawn as a catch-all. Some type of algae like caluerpa can crash your tank when they sexually spawn - it is awful.

This is why we all talk about why consumers are so important. Yes, algae from a scrubber can send out spores/sexual spawn/gametes into a display.

Could you attach 2 RODI type canisters to your exit of a scrubber with say a 1.0 and then a .5 filter to catch this type of stuff?

 

[VintageReefer]

Could you attach 2 RODI type canisters to your exit of a scrubber with say a 1.0 and then a .5 filter to catch this type of stuff?

The algae in my scrubber is unique to my scrubber, and in 10 years, it has never manifested itself into my display. A few times when harvesting I’ve dropped some algae from the scrubber into the sump, which pumps back into the display, never even seen this stuff growing in the display

The spores that become turf algae are present in everyone’s water. Your display simply lacks the conditions required to make them develop. Install a scrubber, and you will start with an empty screen And turf will grow out of nowhere

You can’t have an empty new refugium and one day chaeto is growing inside

You can have an empty new scrubber and one cay there’s turf starting to grow

 

[fish farmer]

That is a great idea. Do you just use natural syphoning? Or do you rig it to a pump for extra suction?

Natural siphon. Works really great with pulling zoas/palys/mushrooms. It would be nice to find a slightly bigger metal tube like 1/2 inch so it doesn't clog as fast.

 

[saltwaterpicaso]

same here have never had algea start in the display while the scrubber was active. i have had it pop up when i took it offline i tried a sulfer reactor what a mess that was. could never keep it consistent went back to the scrubber. just like roatan said keep at it then one day it will just be gone and will not come back

 

[ratzy82]

So now that I have my scrubber going my nitrates have zero'd out. Which is causing my sps to get ticked off and not extend. Should I feed the tank more nitrates? Overfeed? Reef Roids? I have a new walt disney frag and I don't want to loose him. Assuming upping my nitrates is only going to increase the hair algea growth.

 

[ratzy82]

I’ve actually used vibrant in the past with no issues. Years ago if you look on the forums there were tons and tons of people praising it.

I don’t care about the company shielding it’s formula or tweaking another companies product. I remember it took a few weeks but it did work and none of my corals / fish / inverts were affected

So all my rock is Carib Sea. And I just recently found out from my local lfs, is that it's man made and has issues with leeching silicate. So this seems to be the logical explanation on why i cannot rid myself of this stuff. Am I doomed to replacing all my rock?

 

[merkmerk73]

You're going to be fighting this for a while and going back and forth with these nutrient issues.

I don't know why your GHA came back.

So all my rock is Carib Sea. And I just recently found out from my local lfs, is that it's man made and has issues with leeching silicate. So this seems to be the logical explanation on why i cannot rid myself of this stuff. Am I doomed to replacing all my rock?

no, of course not

It will resolve in time

But that’s why I’d nuke it with vibrant now rather than deal with a hideous tank you hate

 

[VintageReefer]

So all my rock is Carib Sea. And I just recently found out from my local lfs, is that it's man made and has issues with leeching silicate. So this seems to be the logical explanation on why i cannot rid myself of this stuff. Am I doomed to replacing all my rock?

Scrubber and / or vibrant won’t help with silicates. Gfo will absorb it and need to be replaced often until they are all out of the rock. It’s fixable but will take time

If the scrubber is zeroing out nutrients then reduce the number of hours the scrubber leds are on each day. Most people use the scrubbers lights anywhere between 12-18 hours. Reduce a hour, Wait a few days and retest. Repeat if needed

 

[ratzy82]

You're going to be fighting this for a while and going back and forth with these nutrient issues.

I don't know why your GHA came back.

no, of course not

It will resolve in time

But that’s why I’d nuke it with vibrant now rather than deal with a hideous tank you hate

im most concerned about losing expensive coral

 

[VintageReefer]

im most concerned about losing expensive coral

Skip vibrant. It’s caused issues for sps for many people. Handle naturally. Gfo for silicates and scrubber for phosphates and nitrates. Reduce scrubber hours and get nutrients above zero

 

[merkmerk73]

Never had any coral issues with vibrant including acros

 

[devlinsreef]

Any updates on this battle, getting some small spots of hair algae in my tank!

 

[ratzy82]

Any updates on this battle, getting some small spots of hair algae in my tank!

I figured out that I have turf algae. I think the issue lies within the Carib sea life rock. I’m tearing it all out and going with new Marco rock. I’ve fluxed it. I don’t think any amount of cuc will
Best it. I don’t want to peroxide dose, so flux was the next best option.

 

[thedon986]

This is news to me that silica feeds green hair algae??

 

[devlinsreef]

I figured out that I have turf algae. I think the issue lies within the Carib sea life rock. I’m tearing it all out and going with new Marco rock. I’ve fluxed it. I don’t think any amount of cuc will
Best it. I don’t want to peroxide dose, so flux was the next best option.

Interesting to hear. Are you baking the new marco rock before placing it in the tank?

My fear would be starting the whole process all over again if you do not the rock cure before putting it into the display.

 

[ratzy82]

Interesting to hear. Are you baking the new marco rock before placing it in the tank?

My fear would be starting the whole process all over again if you do not the rock cure before putting it into the display.

My plan was to bleach it then cycle it. Replace it one structure at a time over a few months to avoid cycling my tank

 

[ratzy82]

This is news to me that silica feeds green hair algae??

I'm not sure exactly what it's leaching, but the turf algea is impossible to remove and none of my CUC is putting a dent in it. From what I read only Urchin's go for this stuff, and my 3 don't seem to be doing much. I've heard this rock is bad news. Also the previous owner of this setup cycled the rock so there's no telling how much the rock has taken in. I think it is either hydrogen peroxide or this, and at this point I'd rather not kill off my entire biom with hydrogen peroxide.