mboze45 Posted June 23, 2003 Share Posted June 23, 2003 I have been having a tremendous algae problem in my 29G For the last 2 months. I am blaming it on too much light. I used to have a piece of glass between my 2 55W PCs and 2 20W flourecents and algae wasn't a problem. I think th glass blocked some of the light. I have recently relocated the tank and the glass piece is no longer up. The algae has been bad ever since. I am buying a glass top tommorrow. I want to rid my tank of this green fine hair algae forever. ARE THERE ANY CREATURES THAT WILL EAT THIS ALGAE UP. WHAT HAVE OTHERS USED TO GET RID OF THIS CR*P? I'M OPEN TO ALL OPINIONS AND SUGGESTIONS, SO SHOOT! Link to comment
jdsabin1 Posted June 23, 2003 Share Posted June 23, 2003 What kind of algae, what kind of water have you been using, what kind of circulation and what does your readings say (phosphates, etc). We'll start with that.... oh and pics would be nice too. Link to comment
mboze45 Posted June 23, 2003 Author Share Posted June 23, 2003 I'm not sure what type of algae it is. It is a very fine haired dark green algae that apears brown in some areas and has grown up to 2-3in. I buy premix salt water from a local FS. I have only been checking the saltinity of my tank so as far as any other levels such as OH and NItrater ect, I am not sure of (which I should check) Here is an image of the algae which I have faught back to the point where it is pretty much only on my liverock. Thanks for your suggestions. Link to comment
fishbabies Posted June 23, 2003 Share Posted June 23, 2003 tap water can often cause algae blooms if it contains phosphates Link to comment
Dennis_said Posted June 24, 2003 Share Posted June 24, 2003 I don't know if it's the tap water, since you get premix from your petshop, unlesss they're EVIL! And used tap! Link to comment
Billdemart Posted June 24, 2003 Share Posted June 24, 2003 I have a bad hair algae problem too. I have a couple of hermits in there (2 red 2 blue) but I think I need a ton more. What else eats this stuff? Link to comment
caja Posted June 24, 2003 Share Posted June 24, 2003 I had a Sally Lightfoot crab once that plowed through the hair algae. Cleaned the tank entirely of it. After about three molts the crab got really mean and kept trying to catch my yellow watchman. Bye bye Sally. Link to comment
Crakeur Posted June 24, 2003 Share Posted June 24, 2003 I lost the battle against the hair but here is what I found most helpful. 1. test for phosphates. If they are high, get rowaphos or some other phosphate remover. Try and solve the problem of where the phosphates are coming from. 2. check salinity. get your water tested using something better than the salty, crusted hydrometer you currently use and you might find that the salinity is too high. Lower salinity and the algae should start to go away. 3. oral B. yup, a toothbrush. Take the rock out of the tank and scrub the algae off (in a bucket of tank water). Do not put the water back in the tank. 4. lower your photoperiod. Sometimes the algae will wane a bit if you cut back on the lights. Don't cut too far back or you will kill the other light lovers in the tank. 5. critters. Ok, here are some animals that helped, and others that were about as useful as a 3 fingered glove. a. Lettuce Nudibranch - they love hair algae. keep a close eye on them as they will find their way into a powerhead and they won't survive. b. Sea Hares - also an algae machine. If you can get a pair from ipsf.com, they will grow real big and multiply in the tank. THese guys leave a strip of algae free rock in there path. c. Hermits and Snails: mostly useless in my experience. They are best used to catch the algae before it becomes visible. d. exception to above. Stomatella Snails. These guys multiply like rabbits and love eating algae. e. Sally lightfoot, emerald and other crabs - great at picking at corals and clams but I'm never actually seen them eat algae. My algae problem was a combination hair and what I later identified as either bryopsis or a caulerpa strain. In any case, I ended up draining my tank and starting over so nip the problem in the bud. Link to comment
HogWinslow Posted June 24, 2003 Share Posted June 24, 2003 I had a hair problem once. I put 5 blue leg crabs in the 10 gallon, lowered the photo-period and put in one of those pads that removes phosphates and all kinds of other stuff. I was also topping off with tap water even thou water changes were always done with R/O water. Ended that also. Now I only top off with R/O water. In a week it was gone and hasn't come back yet. If you buy your water premixed what are you topping off with? If it's tap water stop. If it's premixed water stop. Maybe this is where the higher salinity or nutrients are coming from. Go to Wal-Mart and buy a gallon of R/O for 68 cents. ( Besides, my Wal-Mart stock needs a boost. ) Just my oppion. Hog Link to comment
NJLuke Posted June 24, 2003 Share Posted June 24, 2003 Yeah that's what I am doing, I had a very very bad experience with hair algae in my 10 gal with R/O water belive it or not. (I think I busted the membrane) and o after getting rid of that disaster I started my 2.5 gallon with the galloned water. Everythign seems fine so far, keep ya updated! -Luke Link to comment
nanoman Posted June 24, 2003 Share Posted June 24, 2003 I had a GHA problem until I added Macro algae, PhosBan, lowered my salinity, and added Kalk to my topoff. Now my snails have nothing to eat. I have 4 astrea's and a Trunchus(sp?) which have done a great job. Bottom line is algae needs nutrients to servive. Eliminate the food source or use other things to compete for the nutrients that the GHA uses. And skim baby skim. Link to comment
Yup Posted June 24, 2003 Share Posted June 24, 2003 I agree with the sally light foot. It will eat anything green in your tank, and pretty quickly too. I like to grab some caluerpa erevy once in awhile to throw in the tank for mine to eat. It never gets a chance to take hold and grow. Its gone within a week. Link to comment
Buzzfish Posted June 24, 2003 Share Posted June 24, 2003 I am currently on the tail end of a long, maybe 6 month battle with the stuff. I tried pretty much everything, but now it's nearly gone and there is no more growth at all. To kick it I: 1. lowered the salinity a little, but not much 2. Added 2 Algone packets to the filter 3. Bought a very diverse cleanup crew since most of mine had died off in a heater incident. I deceided on : 6 nassarius snails, 4 astrea snails, 2 margarita snails, a tropical Abalone, 2 blue legs and a red leg. I think my best move was the cleanup crew, I'm not sure what ended up eating what, but everything in that tank is vanishing, the green hair, brown hair, etc... The key is diversity of species i think, because every tank is different and different things are going to work for you. Once i noticed that the algae wasn't growing, that's when i hopped in with the toothbrush, otherwise it will just all grow back and make you even angrier. And trust me, when you finally kick this it will be worth it. I might end up running Algone all the time since i've always had algae issues up until now, but we'll see after a couple more months of running it in the filter if it will be safe to pull out. through this whole thing my nitrates and phosphates have read 0, i assume any nutrients in the system were getting absorbed by the algae immediately, but i don't knwo enough to explain that. Link to comment
floppyfish Posted June 24, 2003 Share Posted June 24, 2003 Man, reading this sure makes me feel good! I had a hair algae problem 5-6 months ago on a solitary rock, I pulled it out ounce picked it off(it wasn't even a inch in diameter) and it never came back. Diatom algae though, thats a on going problem but I just got some new bulbs so I hope that will solve the problem. I'm sure its got something to do with the old lights because it would only grow in the front of the tank where the daylight bulbs were. That and the bulbs were a year old, I think it had something to do with it. Atleast I hope, I mean is it so hard and so much to ask to keep your sand nice and white? I wouldn't think so /shrug Is it just me or does everyone have to clean the top of their sandbed to keep it white? Or does it naturally stay white and clean for most of you? Link to comment
Yup Posted June 24, 2003 Share Posted June 24, 2003 Mine stay white usually, if I start to see any red, I stir it a bit, and change my photo period. 3 months straight now with nice clean sand. Link to comment
mboze45 Posted June 26, 2003 Author Share Posted June 26, 2003 Thanks for all the advice, I have a lot of weapons to try out against this ugly looking stuff. One thing that I have tried that hasn't worked all that well is the Sally Lightfoot. I added him along with a sand sifting star about a month ago and not much has changed with the hair algae. My substrate is almost all the way clean from the algae that covered it, It was a different type of algae though. I am really excited about trying the "diverse cleanup crew", it sounds like a awesom idea, and it gives me an excuse to buy some creatures for my AQ. I have been interested in buying an abolone for a while. If anyone has anything to say about these things I'm going to start a new post. I am not liking the fact that I might have to take out my rock and scrub it with a toothbrush. I like my setup! Please feel free to leave more suggestions, they help a lot. Thanks, Matt "the Reefer" Link to comment
Toooloud Posted June 26, 2003 Share Posted June 26, 2003 So you guys want to see a losing Battle with Hair Algea.. lol Feast your eyes on this!.. somthing that im starting to clean up. Link to comment
Buzzfish Posted June 26, 2003 Share Posted June 26, 2003 yeah I've been there dude, get some Algone, turns those lights off, and start scrubbing. Do you have a cleanup crew in there? Link to comment
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