northstar1357 Posted December 28, 2009 Share Posted December 28, 2009 Since i started feeeding my anemone, purple hair algae started to grow out of my rocks. Last week i just added chemipure elite. Questions: how to get rid of the hair aglae? looks ulgy and i tried removing it but it's stuck to my rocks really hard. Link to comment
HumblePie Posted December 28, 2009 Share Posted December 28, 2009 Does it look anything like this nightmare I had? Link to comment
Warehouse41Ant Posted December 28, 2009 Share Posted December 28, 2009 You sure it's not cyanobacteria? Might want to post a pic. Either way, check this link out http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=186736 Link to comment
northstar1357 Posted December 28, 2009 Author Share Posted December 28, 2009 Does it look anything like this nightmare I had? No it doesnt look anything like that, i attached pic What is this? Link to comment
HumblePie Posted December 28, 2009 Share Posted December 28, 2009 That is EXACTLY what I had in my tank. It is a nightmare! It is pretty brittle and will break off and re-colonize other areas. The roots are embedded in the rocks (much like Caulerpa Taxifolia) so scrubbing them will only temporarily get rid of it. I struggled with this beast for almost a full year. After about a year the stuff started dying back. Not sure why but it did and I was happy. I haven't seen this stuff in in a while now. The draw back was that by that time it had choked out my corals so I had to transfer them and most of my livestock to another tank. T As a quick reference here is what did not work: - Massive water changes - Phosphate reactor/major phosphate removal techniques - Cleaner crews (nothing ate it) - Scrubbing the rock/hand picking the stuff off - No lights for extended periods of time (once longer than two weeks) You name it I tried it. I ask "the experts" on other forums and online sites but they were unable to assist in resolving the matter. Most pointed to phosphate removal. While that helped it did not solve the problem. It just slowed the spread. I went through three different test kits to ensure that my reading was actually 0 and it wasn't an expired kit. If I can think of anything "solid" that I did that changed this tank around I'll let you know. Link to comment
Weetabix7 Posted December 28, 2009 Share Posted December 28, 2009 I have heard that Tuxedo Urchins may help with this. Check with johmaloney. Link to comment
HumblePie Posted December 28, 2009 Share Posted December 28, 2009 I should have added that the shots in the link were toward the end of my fight. You can see how much it had spread. Originally it was really small and low like your pick but over time it grew much taller and more bushy. Let me track down some of the other threads on this and I'll post them in case they help. Here's one of my final posts that outlined pretty much what I mentioned above. Hope this helps. Link to comment
northstar1357 Posted December 28, 2009 Author Share Posted December 28, 2009 I should have added that the shots in the link were toward the end of my fight. You can see how much it had spread. Originally it was really small and low like your pick but over time it grew much taller and more bushy. Let me track down some of the other threads on this and I'll post them in case they help. Here's one of my final posts that outlined pretty much what I mentioned above. Hope this helps. Can i boil my rocks? will that help? ther are two rocks that are affected Link to comment
HumblePie Posted December 28, 2009 Share Posted December 28, 2009 Boiling should definitely do it. It'll pretty much kill everything in them. Link to comment
northstar1357 Posted December 28, 2009 Author Share Posted December 28, 2009 Boiling should definitely do it. It'll pretty much kill everything in them. would you recommend boiling the rock? i have some sea sluge on my rocks and its hard to find them, i dont want to kill them. if i leave these hair aglaes untreated, will they be a problem to my tank? i know they will block some lights from the corals at most right? Link to comment
HumblePie Posted December 28, 2009 Share Posted December 28, 2009 I think if falls to a matter of preference. Boiling your rock is like calling in nukes to destroy a house... It'll do the job but the collateral damage is extensive. Personally, I have never don it because I like the little macro algae and other stuff that grows from the rocks. However, with that said, do not do what I did. I thought it looked pretty cool and let it grow. Once it started to get a big foothold in the tank it was too late for me. I lost about half of my corals as they were encrusted in place and the algae overtook them. I would definitely start by checking your parameters. Make sure your Phosphates are at 0. that is the big one. If not, go buy some Poly-Filters. they really helped me along with water changes. When you do your water changes, take the rock out and put it in the bucket with the siphoned water. Use a took brush to scrub the rock good. Rinse the water in fresh saltwater mix so you get any other algae particles off. then place it back in the tank and add fresh saltwater mix. When I think back, I believe this had the most dramatic effect. The other important item I left out was that I boosted my cleaner crew. With a higher concentration of cleaner critters, once the rock was "clean", they kept it clean before the algae could grow back. Link to comment
Nano sapiens Posted December 28, 2009 Share Posted December 28, 2009 I had a rock with frag from the LFS that I purchased recently with this attractive purple algae. I was going to leave it, but luckily stumbled onto your thread, so I tossed the rock. Couple weeks later and no sign of this menace. Over the years I've dealt with a number of these types of algae. Usually, after as much manual removal as possible the hermit crabs and amphipods can keep this stuff under control. Currently, I have so many amphipods in my 12g that I don't have or need hermits as there is no longer any macro algae showing anywhere in the tank. Link to comment
Rocket Posted December 28, 2009 Share Posted December 28, 2009 I have had these exact Purple hair things in my tank. I believe they are some sort of macro algae. I like how fast they grow and make the tank look filled in. Not anymore though... My Yellow Tang has devoured all but the tiniest hairs of them. Before I had the Tang, nothing I did would get rid of them. Before Tang.... Link to comment
r3dph03n1x Posted December 28, 2009 Share Posted December 28, 2009 I have heard that Tuxedo Urchins may help with this.Check with johmaloney. +1 They burn trough it like spagetti. Can't get the roots though, so you have to keep the Urchin for it to have any long term effect. Link to comment
northstar1357 Posted December 28, 2009 Author Share Posted December 28, 2009 I just boiled the rocks. and placed it back to my tank. After boiling, the hair aglae turned red!! bloodly red! i'll post another picture to see if boiling works in a week Link to comment
cheryl jordan Posted December 29, 2009 Share Posted December 29, 2009 I just boiled the rocks. and placed it back to my tank. After boiling, the hair aglae turned red!! bloodly red! i'll post another picture to see if boiling works in a week Just for future reference you should only boil a rock when left with no other options, not for algae control. Do not be suprised if you have a ammonia spike. Link to comment
yardboy Posted December 29, 2009 Share Posted December 29, 2009 mexicanturbo snails Ditto. They worked very well for me on it. I called it brittle hair algae. Link to comment
northstar1357 Posted December 29, 2009 Author Share Posted December 29, 2009 Just for future reference you should only boil a rock when left with no other options, not for algae control. Do not be suprised if you have a ammonia spike. Will ammonia affect corals badly? i dont have fishes in there Link to comment
thermosts Posted December 29, 2009 Share Posted December 29, 2009 Wait, this thread was started today and you said you already boiled it? This is why they shouldn't call it boiling a rock... Link to comment
bluefunelement Posted December 29, 2009 Share Posted December 29, 2009 + turbos mine ate all the red algae first Link to comment
lakshwadeep Posted December 29, 2009 Share Posted December 29, 2009 Will ammonia affect corals badly? i dont have fishes in there yes. You should never have any detectable ammonia with livestock in the tank. Link to comment
northstar1357 Posted December 29, 2009 Author Share Posted December 29, 2009 Just for future reference you should only boil a rock when left with no other options, not for algae control. Do not be suprised if you have a ammonia spike. I tested the water this morning and ammonia reading for API test kit is 0. a relieve. After taking my rocks apart, i cant get rock formation i had . ARGH Link to comment
D3monic Posted December 29, 2009 Share Posted December 29, 2009 I have mini tufts of that in my reef but I cannot get it to take off. I would LOVE to have some of that growing in my Macro tank. Link to comment
northstar1357 Posted December 29, 2009 Author Share Posted December 29, 2009 I have mini tufts of that in my reef but I cannot get it to take off. I would LOVE to have some of that growing in my Macro tank. i Still have some of those on one of my rocks, wanna buy my rock? LOLZ Link to comment
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