READ THIS IF ALGAE HAS MADE YOU WANT TO QUIT THE HOBBY!!!

[thenanoreef]

Thanks santa monica!

I just built a diy up flow scrubber last night. Already seeing growth just in the past 12 hours. Very exiting!

thenanoreef

 

[thenanoreef]

Based on the information gathered so far, I am writing up causes and solutions for green hair algae. Feel free to add stuff. I will work on expanding the list.

Green Hair algae
Causes

• High PO4 (see list below)
• Intense lighting
• Lack of flow
• Lack of nutrient export
• Others (chemical imbalances, etc.)

Solutions

• Control PO4 (see list below)
• Cut back lighting schedule. IMO no more than 10 hours a day, even 8 is pushing it. (I run 6 hours for noon until 6pm)
• Increase flow. Add another power head to get strong flow throughout the tank, to just ramp up an existing one.
• Make an algae turf scrubber. You will find that there is quite a bit of information on these things and that they are increasing in popularity. An ATS will give GHA an alternative place to grow and compete with the algae in the display tank for PO4.
• Watch what chemicals you but into your aquarium. Some will raise unwanted levels of PO4.

On controlling Po4
Po4 is phosphate, something that algae thrives on. Here is a list of contributing factor for high PO4 and how to cut it back.

Causes

• Over feeding
• water top off source
• other chemical additives you might use

Solutions

• Obviously cut back on feeding, or the amount of food you feed at one time. Uneaten food with contribute to high phosphates
• Use RODI water. DO NOT USE THE SPRING WATER GROCERY STORES SELL. That is no RODI water. Even shy away from distilled water. RODI is the way to go.
• Preform scheduled water changes. The best way to remove PO4 is to take it out all together
• Set up a nutrient export, for the PO4 to be eaten up. An ATS and cheato will work really great.

Hopefully this will help some of you over come your battle with GHA. Again, feel free to add suggestions.

thenanoreef

 

[SantaMonicaHelp]

Thanks santa monica!

I just built a diy up flow scrubber last night. Already seeing growth just in the past 12 hours. Very exiting!

thenanoreef

You're welcome!! Happy to hear it's working so great for you!

~SF

 

[Stubaca]

I had similar problems in my 80 gallon. I first started by doing some vodka dosing followed by adding 2 yellow tangs. I then ended up purchasing a bio-pellet reactor and haven't had any problems with it! I def feel as though the vodka dosing did most of the work! I tore out all I could get my hands on then started with a large water change! At least half the water! I then started the dosing and even went a little extra over suggested amounts for the first week. I was amazed at the process I went through with it but it did achieve my goal after about 2-3 months! Spotless!!! So believe me after I was thinking of just selling it all and giving up I read and did my research! You can get through it as well!! Hang in there... You can also dose with vinegar instead of vodka! Although having the bottle of vodka to dose yourself might help too! Lol... Good luck! Cheers!

 

[Reef2zach]

If you don't have enough space for a separate refugium you can put in an "in tank fuge" in. Basically an acrylic box with holes in it for water to run through. That's what I'm running in my tank right now for my lack of space outside the tank. I had some macro algea in the tank for about 5 months with no visible hair algea.
About 2 weeks after removing the macro algea the hair algea exploded.

 

[Taylor Anderson]

Hang in there! You will get through this!
In my experience REDUCE water changes. Clean all filters proactively and limit feeding to spot feeding and schedule it to every other day at most. I know crazy! Then watch water parameters (if and only if parameter start to go up do a water change). Actively remove the algae as it's consuming the source of the problem. Then determine the source. Impure water is likely your source. RO/DI is the only way and Bulk Reef Supply has some great options. With that even though space is limited think of adding GFO. Mix it 50/50 with Carbon in a mesh bag to prevent it from forming into a rock and place into a high flow area.
If your are sure it's not your water then it is likely that your tank is going through yet another Cycle (Still add GFO/Carbon mix)---It truly works wonders . Nothing appears to be dying your tank just an imbalance somewhere!
If you are really fed up. Turn the lights off for like three days and cover the tank with a sheet. Your corals and fish should be fine the algae will die off. However, this is only a band-aid.

Other things to consider and possible sources:
-Vacuum the sand
-Change foods - Also be sure to thaw and rinse food before adding to the tank.
- Siphon any build up in filtration unit
-Add more surface area in the form of bio-balls like bulk reef supply ceramic balls for a more natural break down of the nutrients- requires patients to cycle.
- Change Salt??
- Consider buying a bio additive like Microbacter7 to reintroduce biological filtration
-Patients!!! Sometimes the being patient and just wait and watch closely is the best aid you can provide.
-Lastly I notice that you have very little coralline algae build up for a two year old tank make me wonder if you have been overly proactive in care for the tank. Too many water changes is hard on a system it creates an imbalance in salinity fluctuation, temp fluctuation, and much more, this causes things even in the smallest scale to die. Things dying would be the biological filtration inside your rock and sand resulting excess organics decaying adding to your unwanted nutrients!
I hope this helps.

 

[hejjo]

Distilled can be loaded with po4. I had that issue when i was using one of thoes 5g refill machines

Knowing your top off water tds is half the battle.

I use gfo and always have with great results which is why I recommend it.

I also have 2 tangs that never take a day off.

Macro handles the rest of it.

 

[d_adler]

Based on the information gathered so far, I am writing up causes and solutions for green hair algae. Feel free to add stuff. I will work on expanding the list.

Green Hair algae
Causes

• High PO4 (see list below)
• Intense lighting
• Lack of flow
• Lack of nutrient export
• Others (chemical imbalances, etc.)

Solutions

• Control PO4 (see list below)
• Cut back lighting schedule. IMO no more than 10 hours a day, even 8 is pushing it. (I run 6 hours for noon until 6pm)
• Increase flow. Add another power head to get strong flow throughout the tank, to just ramp up an existing one.
• Make an algae turf scrubber. You will find that there is quite a bit of information on these things and that they are increasing in popularity. An ATS will give GHA an alternative place to grow and compete with the algae in the display tank for PO4.
• Watch what chemicals you but into your aquarium. Some will raise unwanted levels of PO4.

On controlling Po4
Po4 is phosphate, something that algae thrives on. Here is a list of contributing factor for high PO4 and how to cut it back.

Causes

• Over feeding
• water top off source
• other chemical additives you might use

Solutions

• Obviously cut back on feeding, or the amount of food you feed at one time. Uneaten food with contribute to high phosphates
• Use RODI water. DO NOT USE THE SPRING WATER GROCERY STORES SELL. That is no RODI water. Even shy away from distilled water. RODI is the way to go.
• Preform scheduled water changes. The best way to remove PO4 is to take it out all together
• Set up a nutrient export, for the PO4 to be eaten up. An ATS and cheato will work really great.

Hopefully this will help some of you over come your battle with GHA. Again, feel free to add suggestions.

thenanoreef

Any good sources on how to make a algae turf scrubber?

 

[Reflective]

Water changes is the only way I can have a day without Cyano. I feed very minimal and only once a day. I do either a brine 3/4 cube or a mysis 3/4 cube. Oh and I give seaweed daily.

PO4 is and always is down. If I spike past .02 I run a small amount of GFO to get it back to undetectable ranges.

Yep, water filters in my RODI unit are brand new. I even stopped making water in my Brutes to prevent the water heating up in my garage. I literally make 5g jugs and bring them immediately in the house.

Oh, and I just spend $200 bucks on a massive clean up crew from ReefTopia. I have two sand sifting stars, purple pin cushion urchin, 5 Conch snails, tons of hermits and snails...nothing.



Sorry I used to think this way. My PO4 has always been lower than my NO3. My PO4 have remained undetectable from the Hanna Checker, and Salifert tests. My NO3 has been increasing and I let it get to around 10ppm to see if the higher NO3 would kill off the Cyano. Nope.

I also had a cyano problem. Tried everything you were trying. Even my clean up crew would clear the cyano and it seemed it would just grow back right behind them. Was trying to stir the sand every day, leaving the lights off for 3 days, etc. Nothing really worked so I was going to try Chemiclean.
I ended up upgrading the light in my refugium over my ball of chaeto while waiting for the Chemiclean to arrive. I stopped stirring the sand and doing water changes and within a week the chaeto had tripled in size and the cyano started turning brown. Now 3 weeks later the cyano is completely gone.

 

[yellojello]

Bubble algae is more evil

More water changes making sure fresh water has 0 TDS before mixing with salt. Same for the fresh water that you top off with.
Turkey baste rocks frequently to get the crud out.

 

[thenanoreef]

Any good sources on how to make a algae turf scrubber?

youtube and https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/lo...urf-and-slime-algae-from-your-aquarium.86207/

thats how I made mine

thenanaoreef

 

[Rob's Reef]

You need more flow. I had a very bad case of it and I added A Gyre 150 to replace my MP40's. It went away in two days.

I had two mp40's on my tank and always had Cyano on my sandbed and rocks... I added a gyre 150 and poof! It's gone! Tank just needed more flow. Although I do have some sand dunes here and there from the gyre now. ;p I still get a few spots I hit with a turkey baster but nothing like before. Made reefing enjoyable again. Good luck

 

[Chris Aldrich]

Battling hair algae, like many other things in this hobby, requires a good bit of patience. I suggest a solid "multi-pronged" approach to rid your aquarium of it. It's best to attack it on all fronts, then you just need to keep up your efforts and give them time to work. Here's a breakdown of what you can do: http://www.saltwatersmarts.com/rid-green-hair-algae-remove-stop-growth-2507/

 

[Taylor Anderson]

back again! As long as your water parameters are in check and not in the lethal level minimize water changes. I agree with Hajjo with top off water. But this goes along with knowing your fresh water chemistry as it may be feeding your symptoms... that was something i didnt consider. If your corals are healthy and hair algae is your only problem consider yourself lucky. It truly doesn't constitute a break down. In fact it's only a nuisance. It's something apart of having a tank not an infested tank. You are lucky that your situation is curable! Only with time and PATIENTS nothing in this hobby got done overnight. Your tank needs to cycle. Hindering this cycle will untimely result in issues--- not failure. Tanks no matter how you start will go through 6 cycles... refer to other forums. and this cycle takes months. That being said if you were patient enough to wait for your tank to fully cycle then there are other issue. However, with your sudden plea for help and having not seen this issue before then you never truly allowed your tank to cycle. An algae outbreak is nearly guaranteed with a new tank.
Given conditions:
Examples (both new tanks);
Ex: 1.. Started with Dry sand Dry rock

No living matter present in the tank.
One must seed the tank.
-One piece of live rock
-artificially/online options
-Fish
-decaying matter
-LFS or Friend sand
No matter an ecosystem doesn' t form over night rather months if not years ( months part is what gets us by)

Ex 2: Live rock, Live sand
Living matter present right away.

-Small organisms die easily but also reproduce easily
* -No live rock or sand requires set parameters ( salinity, temp, light...ect.)... Survival of the fittest baby
-As insignificant as it may be to you. Things dying off in an enclosed aquarium has a large affect.
-It takes months for water to truly reach the inner pores of wet or dry sand and rock due to air lock- resulting in a slow timed release of organic materials that may be present

Both result in slow Cycle to allow for the natural biological filtration to establish itself.
Example one may take longer for the biological filtration to set, however, example two takes time to re-balance after organisms die..
Undoubtedly example 2 take far less time for a tank to cycle.
But, what truly happens in many cases is that people convince themselves that their tank is ready to go right away.
Resulting in regular water changes (proactively caring for their new tank). And not allowing for the anaerobic and aerobic organisms essential for the de-nitrification cycle to establish.
As time goes by one feeds fish and continues water changes. Preventing the tank from ever truly establishing its essential and natural filtration process. Meanwhile things go hectic and algae grows rampant because nothings breaking down nutrients quick enough.
As time progresses things will finally balance its self. But, what have could have been avoided with patients has been prolonged by inpatients. Your tanks 6 cycles (i invite you to look into other forums for the 6 cycles of establishing a tank) has taken much much longer.


-this returns me to my original argument. reduce water changes. watch parameters. ( only changing when things get lethal) and add GFO. Your natural filtration can't filter Phosphates. But a slight increase in ammonia will allow for anaerobic and aerobic bacteria/organisms to flourish and balance out your system among other things.

In conclusions allow your tank balance itself out. It's unfortunate that this is happening with coral and fish in the tank as they are in jeopardy. But, with a close eye you can prevent any fatalities while your tank establishes itself or re-establishes an imbalance currently going on.

 

[Reefdiculous22]

back again! As long as your water parameters are in check and not in the lethal level minimize water changes. I agree with Hajjo with top off water. But this goes along with knowing your fresh water chemistry as it may be feeding your symptoms... that was something i didnt consider. If your corals are healthy and hair algae is your only problem consider yourself lucky. It truly doesn't constitute a break down. In fact it's only a nuisance. It's something apart of having a tank not an infested tank. You are lucky that your situation is curable! Only with time and PATIENTS nothing in this hobby got done overnight. Your tank needs to cycle. Hindering this cycle will untimely result in issues--- not failure. Tanks no matter how you start will go through 6 cycles... refer to other forums. and this cycle takes months. That being said if you were patient enough to wait for your tank to fully cycle then there are other issue. However, with your sudden plea for help and having not seen this issue before then you never truly allowed your tank to cycle. An algae outbreak is nearly guaranteed with a new tank.
Given conditions:
Examples (both new tanks);
Ex: 1.. Started with Dry sand Dry rock

No living matter present in the tank.
One must seed the tank.
-One piece of live rock
-artificially/online options
-Fish
-decaying matter
-LFS or Friend sand
No matter an ecosystem doesn' t form over night rather months if not years ( months part is what gets us by)

Ex 2: Live rock, Live sand
Living matter present right away.

-Small organisms die easily but also reproduce easily
* -No live rock or sand requires set parameters ( salinity, temp, light...ect.)... Survival of the fittest baby
-As insignificant as it may be to you. Things dying off in an enclosed aquarium has a large affect.
-It takes months for water to truly reach the inner pores of wet or dry sand and rock due to air lock- resulting in a slow timed release of organic materials that may be present

Both result in slow Cycle to allow for the natural biological filtration to establish itself.
Example one may take longer for the biological filtration to set, however, example two takes time to re-balance after organisms die..
Undoubtedly example 2 take far less time for a tank to cycle.
But, what truly happens in many cases is that people convince themselves that their tank is ready to go right away.
Resulting in regular water changes (proactively caring for their new tank). And not allowing for the anaerobic and aerobic organisms essential for the de-nitrification cycle to establish.
As time goes by one feeds fish and continues water changes. Preventing the tank from ever truly establishing its essential and natural filtration process. Meanwhile things go hectic and algae grows rampant because nothings breaking down nutrients quick enough.
As time progresses things will finally balance its self. But, what have could have been avoided with patients has been prolonged by inpatients. Your tanks 6 cycles (i invite you to look into other forums for the 6 cycles of establishing a tank) has taken much much longer.


-this returns me to my original argument. reduce water changes. watch parameters. ( only changing when things get lethal) and add GFO. Your natural filtration can't filter Phosphates. But a slight increase in ammonia will allow for anaerobic and aerobic bacteria/organisms to flourish and balance out your system among other things.

In conclusions allow your tank balance itself out. It's unfortunate that this is happening with coral and fish in the tank as they are in jeopardy. But, with a close eye you can prevent any fatalities while your tank establishes itself or re-establishes an imbalance currently going on.

Thank you sooo much. This actually makes since to me. My tank is only 2 mo old and I was under the impression I was to do water changes every week and I bought fish and corals and now my tank has so much algae. I have brown algae, red,green, slime, and it’s so confusing because there are so many different things that people say to do. But I cleaned my rock and tank the other day and did a water change, it was nice for 2 days now it is back even worse than it was before. Sorry to interrupt the post but I was ready to quit and this gave me inspiration to try and keep going. This is weak compared to what the rest of the tank looks like. The whole thing is covered in some sort of algae.

back again! As long as your water parameters are in check and not in the lethal level minimize water changes. I agree with Hajjo with top off water. But this goes along with knowing your fresh water chemistry as it may be feeding your symptoms... that was something i didnt consider. If your corals are healthy and hair algae is your only problem consider yourself lucky. It truly doesn't constitute a break down. In fact it's only a nuisance. It's something apart of having a tank not an infested tank. You are lucky that your situation is curable! Only with time and PATIENTS nothing in this hobby got done overnight. Your tank needs to cycle. Hindering this cycle will untimely result in issues--- not failure. Tanks no matter how you start will go through 6 cycles... refer to other forums. and this cycle takes months. That being said if you were patient enough to wait for your tank to fully cycle then there are other issue. However, with your sudden plea for help and having not seen this issue before then you never truly allowed your tank to cycle. An algae outbreak is nearly guaranteed with a new tank.
Given conditions:
Examples (both new tanks);
Ex: 1.. Started with Dry sand Dry rock

No living matter present in the tank.
One must seed the tank.
-One piece of live rock
-artificially/online options
-Fish
-decaying matter
-LFS or Friend sand
No matter an ecosystem doesn' t form over night rather months if not years ( months part is what gets us by)

Ex 2: Live rock, Live sand
Living matter present right away.

-Small organisms die easily but also reproduce easily
* -No live rock or sand requires set parameters ( salinity, temp, light...ect.)... Survival of the fittest baby
-As insignificant as it may be to you. Things dying off in an enclosed aquarium has a large affect.
-It takes months for water to truly reach the inner pores of wet or dry sand and rock due to air lock- resulting in a slow timed release of organic materials that may be present

Both result in slow Cycle to allow for the natural biological filtration to establish itself.
Example one may take longer for the biological filtration to set, however, example two takes time to re-balance after organisms die..
Undoubtedly example 2 take far less time for a tank to cycle.
But, what truly happens in many cases is that people convince themselves that their tank is ready to go right away.
Resulting in regular water changes (proactively caring for their new tank). And not allowing for the anaerobic and aerobic organisms essential for the de-nitrification cycle to establish.
As time goes by one feeds fish and continues water changes. Preventing the tank from ever truly establishing its essential and natural filtration process. Meanwhile things go hectic and algae grows rampant because nothings breaking down nutrients quick enough.
As time progresses things will finally balance its self. But, what have could have been avoided with patients has been prolonged by inpatients. Your tanks 6 cycles (i invite you to look into other forums for the 6 cycles of establishing a tank) has taken much much longer.


-this returns me to my original argument. reduce water changes. watch parameters. ( only changing when things get lethal) and add GFO. Your natural filtration can't filter Phosphates. But a slight increase in ammonia will allow for anaerobic and aerobic bacteria/organisms to flourish and balance out your system among other things.

In conclusions allow your tank balance itself out. It's unfortunate that this is happening with coral and fish in the tank as they are in jeopardy. But, with a close eye you can prevent any fatalities while your tank establishes itself or re-establishes an imbalance currently going on.