realhiphop Posted March 27, 2003 Share Posted March 27, 2003 My tank has been set up since september. I currently have no fish and only a clean up crew in my tank, yet still have hair algae growing on the sand of my tank. I tested for phosphates with my salifert test kit and they were almost zero. Obviously, high phosphates are out of the question. Hopefully someone can help me solve this problem. In addition to the equipment in my profile , I also run an aquaclear mini with no filtration. Thanks Link to comment
Mnesarchus Posted March 27, 2003 Share Posted March 27, 2003 Worry not, friend. Get a nice razorblade (I 'borrow' mine from the skin doctor when in the 2nd waiting room), and cut the algae off carefully, not to scrape anything. It will go away with patience and effort. HTH Link to comment
shalegac Posted March 27, 2003 Share Posted March 27, 2003 what is good at eating it. I tryed a nudibranch and have a algae blenny but it seems to grow faster than I can rid it. I have a ten gallon so it could be worse I could have the prblem in a 100+ Link to comment
Acoustic Posted March 27, 2003 Share Posted March 27, 2003 Scarlet red reef hermits, Margarita snail, or Arrow crab. I have had all three in my tank at one point and time and they performed like champs. Link to comment
realhiphop Posted March 27, 2003 Author Share Posted March 27, 2003 I have plenty of hermits and snails in my tank. Why would I still have hair algae growing in the sand if I barely have any nutrients or waste going into my system? Link to comment
Acoustic Posted March 27, 2003 Share Posted March 27, 2003 My tank is going through the exact same thing. I think we are at the breaking point into coraline algae growth. Link to comment
chufa Posted March 27, 2003 Share Posted March 27, 2003 How long are your lights on? my problem got reduced somewhat by reducing the light period from 12 to 10 hours. Link to comment
Xwhite Posted March 28, 2003 Share Posted March 28, 2003 See, you say you have no nutrients in your tank. However, test kits can be misleading. You may have no nutrients in your aquarium water because all of the hair algae is consuming it. John Link to comment
realhiphop Posted March 28, 2003 Author Share Posted March 28, 2003 so what do I do to get rid of it? I basically have nothing in my tank except the clean up crew. I'm pretty much clueless as to what would be fueling this hair algae. Link to comment
Masoch Posted March 28, 2003 Share Posted March 28, 2003 Lots and lots of stuff can be fuelling algae growth. Die-off from LR. Minerals coming from the LR + substrate + salt mix. Light. Your clean-up crew poops out what isn't immediately used .... roughly 80% of what goes in. And, of course, poops turn into fertilizer. Your test kits can show 0 nutrients ... but they're only showing what's in the water, not what's already bound into the plants. Snail eats algae, snail poops, poop turns into nutrients, nutrients get sucked back into algae almost immediately. You can break the cycle (somewhat) by adding macro algae and pruning it (much easier than pruning hair algae), protein skimming, water changes, and so forth. Link to comment
Xwhite Posted March 29, 2003 Share Posted March 29, 2003 My first approach to the problem would be adding a protein skimmer. No, a protein skimmer doesn't solve all problems. But, it will help you to eliminate any DOCs in your water before they are consumed by the hair algae. Which should help to reduce your hair algae problem. Introduction of some prettier macro algae will help as well. John Link to comment
realhiphop Posted March 30, 2003 Author Share Posted March 30, 2003 What kind of protein skimmer would you recommend? any other suggestions for solving this? Link to comment
realhiphop Posted March 30, 2003 Author Share Posted March 30, 2003 I hope someone can give me a little more advice as I prepare to combat and rid this problem. I have salifert test kits and assume the readings are close to zero since the phosphate is being used by the algae. The hair algae I have is a reddish color and is on the sand where the light is able to reach it and on the rocks. I've begun to dose with b-ionic since my calcium and alk levels were really low. Here are my test readings I have as of today. Calcium- 320 KH- 12.2 Phos- .05 or close to unnoticable PH- looks a little higher than 8.6 Nitrate- 10 or less Nitrite-0 I'm currently running an Aquaclear Mini with no foam and just carbon. I also have 5 blue legs, 2 astrea, 1 baha, and 1 margarita snail. For the most part, I see the clean up crew eating the algae, but it just won't seem to go away. Right now in order to fix this I'm considering 3 things. I hope you guys can give me some advice or point me in the right direction. 1. Add a detrivore kit from IA. I think that I might not have that many in my tank. For the most part I don't see and worms, etc. when I look at night 2. Maybe adding a phosphate sponge. Just not sure which one 3. Adding a skimmer. Just not sure if I want to go with a piccolo skimmer. I really hope you guys can steer me in the right direction. Link to comment
duckhuntboy Posted March 31, 2003 Share Posted March 31, 2003 if you're a poor boy like me, hold off on the protein skimmer, and give it more time before you spend the cash. After hair algae problems are taken care off, protein skimmers are no longer a necessity if you're on a budget. in my opinion, cut back on your lighting, take what you can out by hand, and wait a while until your tank is completely stable. Then wait some more. Then buy a protein skimmer, or macro algae. What type of lighting do you use (power compacts, etc)? Link to comment
realhiphop Posted March 31, 2003 Author Share Posted March 31, 2003 2x36 Watt PC Lighting The bulbs are 2 months old Link to comment
freakaccident Posted March 31, 2003 Share Posted March 31, 2003 Where is your water coming from? Tap water? Distilled? RO? RO/DI? Its all about water quality. I would not use anything but RO or RO/DI water from a reliable source. Not the grocery store dispenser that never gets maintained! If you get it from the LFS make sure you have them fill the same jugs everytime. Do not exchange them for different jugs. I have never seen the rinse them after people exchange them. I tote 10gs a week from the LFS and I use the empty for water changes. I rinse it with a little clean RO before having it refilled but its my water to begin with. I know if someone else does the same thing I do I don't want there nasty water change grunge in my tank. I keep the same jugs. One place I was going actually makes you use your own jugs and doesn't offer exchanges. This was great but I am lazy and don't mix my own saltwater. They use Tropic Marin salt which made my corals close up. I go to the other LFS that uses IO. Even though your Phosphates are low Phosguard kicks butt and surely can't hurt anything. Throw a bag of Phosguard in the HOB. Stop dosing DTs or other algae fueling additives until you get it under control. I don't know if you even use those things but I thought would mention it. If you had fish then you would want to feed only as much as they need to survive. Watch them eat there food and only give enough for them to eat in a couple of bites. Basically you would want to see it all get eaten. Just as a note on the Scarlet red reef hermits. These things will eat the crap out of almost any algae. They totally got rid of a cyano outbreak I had in about three days. I think blue legs are wothless. My opinion of course. I wouldn't cut your lighting time back. I thought this made some difference at one point but I think it's all BS. I have had some nasty algae problems in the last 6 months and have been algae free for two months. Honestly I think its all in the phosphates. This is from my own experience and others may disagree with me but it worked for me. Link to comment
palaegic Posted March 31, 2003 Share Posted March 31, 2003 You can purchase a Poly-Filter and cut it into sections and pop them into your AC-mini. You could also use this in combination with a small amount of phosphate sponge in a mesh filter bag. As recommended - test your water, then test it with salt. Try small freq water changes - or if the tests above indicate an organics issue (phosphates or nitrates) consider changing salts. However, when all is said and done - a little algae means things are going right - don't forget that. We just don't want to overdo it on the green stuff. Continue efforts to raise your calcium levels. As for lighting, if one of your bulbs is actinic only, run just this bulb for the last few hours of lighting. Link to comment
realhiphop Posted March 31, 2003 Author Share Posted March 31, 2003 Thanks for the advice everyone. The main reason I've been asking so many questions is due to previous advice to find the source otherwise the problem will never go away. In trying to find the source, I ran through a checklist by reading prior threads. My hypothesis is that there are phosphates in my system regardless of a close to zero reading on them with my salifert kit. I plan on buying phosguard and running it in my AC mini. I also might invest in a skimmer in the long run. I have 2 questions regarding the phosguard. Does it come in separate bags, or do I have to buy filter bags and place a certain amount in. Does it kill or rid the hair algae I already have, if so how do I know when to manually remove the algae from the sandbed, or does it just disappear? As always, input is wanted! Thanks once again, and I hope to conquer this problem and post some pictures of my tank in the near future. Link to comment
palaegic Posted April 1, 2003 Share Posted April 1, 2003 You will need mesh filter bags if you go with one of the phosphate adsorbants. Phosguard (or product of your choice) acts like a sponge - it soaks up and binds the phosphate. Follow the directions carefully on the product you choose - some of them generate a great deal of heat (temporarily) when contacting water. Follow directions - do not fill a bag and toss it in your mini. A few tablespoons should suffice for your 10 gal. It will not kill your existing algae directly. However, if it does its job, it is preventing access to the nutrients that the algae is utilizing to grow and spread. Keep removing as much of the algae manually as you can - and be prepared to eventually settle for the fact that algae (cells, spores) will always be present in your system - it is simply a matter of maintaining an environment that is more favorable for the desired coralline algaes, or macroalgaes. Link to comment
freakaccident Posted April 1, 2003 Share Posted April 1, 2003 I have 2 questions regarding the phosguard. Does it come in separate bags, or do I have to buy filter bags and place a certain amount in. Does it kill or rid the hair algae I already have, if so how do I know when to manually remove the algae from the sandbed, or does it just disappear? The stuff I use comes in a plastic jar. I pour a little into a filter bag and stick it in my sump. You could use an empty aqua clear filter bag. Stick a couple tbs. in there like Palaegic suggested and stick it in the AC. Here is what I use: http://www.premiumaquatics.com/Merchant2/m...ry_Code=Seachem Like palaegic said it removes the stuff that makes the algae grow. Does it kill or rid the hair algae I already have, if so how do I know when to manually remove the algae from the sandbed, or does it just disappear? The lack of nutrients will cause the algae to slowly disappear. Just be patient. Link to comment
realhiphop Posted April 2, 2003 Author Share Posted April 2, 2003 I just wanted to say thanks to everyone who gave me answers and took the time to respond to my question. Right now I'm thinking of adding a skimmer. I'm looking at either the bakpak or the prizm. Do you think it pays to just spend the extra money and get the bakpak? Link to comment
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