red hair algae!!!

[cjm033]

i have had a major break out of red hair algae in my 2.5 the cycle is about 2 weeks through what can i get that will eat this stuff? how do i get rid of it? it was small yesterday now its pretty long it like mintupled in size since last night i keep my lights on for about 14 hours a day its 1 13 watt 50/50 10k bulb i need help asap thanks ,Chris

[kimura]

What type of water are you using? RO/DI , From the Store ie albertsons.....

 

Circulation....what are you using for this? Ie..PH / Hang-on-the-back

 

I had are really bad outbreak a few months ago when I used some drinking water from a bottle. I had to use a phosphate pad to absorb any possible phosphate, which I assumed was the culpurit. And I added another PH to the area in which I noticed most of the cyano. Let us know....and trust me I know the feeling:(

[cjm033]

i use a whisper power filter 5-15 gal for circulation im pretty sure its enough because now since my water is kinda low like a cm down form where i usually keep it, it made a little pocket with the sand has dug in from current i use distilled water and red sea salt but salt is gonna change this week im switching to bio sea where can i get a phosphate pad and how much do they cost? im assuming thats probly the culprit but not positive the algae is on my sand bed so i dont think i can really pull it out r there any inverts that eat it? thanks ,Chris

[kimura]

Well it sounds as if current isn't to much of an issue, but where are you getting your DI water from? That I think was the source of my outbreak. I bought some from a grocery store and since then I had the out break. But as far as phosphate pads, I would probably use a poly filter. Check it out online, I get some of my stuff from http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod...d=6&pCatId=4335

That is also the link to the product. And as far as critters well try to do the PM first and if you're totally irritated with the cyano, then I'd try some queen conch ( it think that how you spell it) anyways, I've heard that they eat that stuff up. Good luck!

[cjm033]

last night i whiped alot of of the sand bed last night and it has grwn bak bu it is shorter and a little less amount my water is startng to fog not sur eif thats cuz my water is evaporated alot im gonna add some water tonight and see what happens and ill probly whiped the sand off again and if i can get a phosphate pad thanks for you help,Chris

[PFB]

Here is my experiences with Distilled and RO water with FO and high bio-loads:

 

If you can, purchase water out of the machine and make sure it says RO filtered. Also make sure there is a tag on the machine that shows when it was serviced.

Some of these machines use carbon and as you probably know carbon can leach phosphates.

I “think” most grocery store bought DI is carbon filtered – in my opinion use RO only.

 

Also, what temp is your lights, <= 5500K could be attributing to it.

 

I fought that battle with FO many times until I went complete RO and added a phosphate sponge to my power filter.

[Pikelet]

Reduce photoperiod to 8 hours, siphon what you can off the sand if its mainly cyano. Phosphate sponge might be helpful in the short term. Start some 15% WC's several days apart if you think it has stabilized after the first cycle.

 

Stirring the sand will make matters worse.

 

Incidentally ... A 2.5g tank is not a starter tank - it is for experts.

 

[PFB]

Sorry, you did indicate:

 

"1 13 watt 50/50 10k bulb "

[cjm033]

ive read up alot on salt aquariums i think ill do fine its just that its still in cycle and i wanna do as little water changes as possible during that period in time i am gonna go to a ro machine and chanage my water type today im also chnaging salts hopefully that help im gonna get the sponge and maby that will clear up the problem i dont really stir the sand i pad it off of the sand very gently and i see it got the algae off the sand bed but it grew back as i said before thanks for your help,Chris

[Dave ESPI]

I have faith in CJM..... while he may lack experience, he make up for it in enthuziazim.. and Chickens.

 

The species of red algae I "Believe" you are trying to fight is Wrangelia argus 1.4 inch - 1/2 inch tall. it grows as a Turf algae and is not a true hair. It often is in intertidal zomes and is strong

and has good firm ancorage in sand. ya need to siphon off the sand with the hair. if ya have inverts in the tank, do like 3 water changes of 1/3rd for 3 days straight.. then doa massive one right to the bottom and quickly refill it with new water. Add some seachem Phosguard in a floss bag in your HOB. it should take care of it. This is a pesky strain of algae.... be patient.

[cjm033]

kill go to the lfs as soon as possible and get the sea chem pohse guard i have some floss at home and as soon as i get my new salt in on monday ill do the water changes u described the algae exactly thanks for your help,Chris

[cjm033]

i was away this weekend for a day in a half so i decided just to leave the lights on my 2.5 off the wholee time when i came back i was surprised to see the algae almost dissaperaed so when i get my salt in im gonna do some w/c es and siphon out the rest of the algae and add the floss and phose guard thanks for your help,Chris

[Pikelet]

Interesting. I wonder if it burned itself out with the extra light over a long period. I've read of others doing this with success with some algae. Let us know whether it comes back.

[BCOrchidGuy]

My understanding is that DI is the abbreviation for De ionized water not Distilled water, De Ionized water is the purest form of water, RO (reverse osmosis) is next then Distilled. You said you used distilled so I would cut that out and go with a De Ionizing filter, NOT a Ion exchange water softener but a DI filter. I always recommend the aquarium pharmaceuticals one I have it and I love it, over the very long run it is expensive as the cartridges add up but the quality of the water is awesome.

[Bocephous]

Originally posted by BCOrchidGuy

De Ionized water is the purest form of water, RO (reverse osmosis) is next then Distilled. You said you used distilled so I would cut that out and go with a De Ionizing filter

 

Actually distilled is the purest form. Reverse Osmosis units with deionizing stages are pretty damn pure, and more than clean enough for reefs, but distilled is purer still. The place I get my distilled water from runs the water first through a RO/DI unit so that the glass distiler doesn't get nasty buildup as fast.

 

While Distilled is purer it's not really needed for reefs, it's more for car radiators(copper distilled) and labs (glass distilled). It's usually too expensive to be practicle. I wouldn't use the stuff if I didn't have a deal with the guy who makes it.

[cjm033]

ijust wanted to update everybody the hair algaehas been gone for 2 days so far after i added some floss and changed my salt to bio sea and doing a few water changes and leaving the lights off i didnt add ne thing besides that and it hasnt come back yet im gonna leave the floss in the filter fo a while too and now the tank is pretty stable from what i can see i still need to go to the lfs and get test kits lol but thanks for all your help,Chris