I Got Hair Alage! - and BAD

[dagreatbadfinger]

Need advice getting rid of bad hair algae! it started with red slime, i used the powder stuff to get rid of it - 2 days later, tank looked great again, left for a few days, came back....BAM! hair algae in full effect!

last i checked my stats were good and im running chemi-pure elite and purgien.

was debating on trying this
http://www.marinedepot.com/Chem_Mar...edications-Chem_Marin-CM1311-FIMERM-4-vi.html

Anyone have any idea what i can do to get it under controll?!

I read some where someone suggesting that u can get algae blooms on a dying MH bulb. Could this be the case?

 

[bigdog1428]

hows your phosphates????

 

[Sean]

Test for
nitrate
phosphate- you need a good test kit for this
Calcium
Alk
Magnesium

 

[dagreatbadfinger]

im currenlty using this
http://www.marinedepot.com/Aquarium...icals_API_MARS_Fishcare-AP3313-FITKMK-vi.html

last i tested (during my red algae the only thing i had was low phospates - everything else was pretty much 0 out)

 

[guarda]

how old is your tank?

 

[bigdog1428]

in that test kit,,there is no phosphates tester,,,,u need to test for phosphates

 

[Lionfish718]

I got that product. it works but try to pull most of it off. You have to shut your wave makers and have the water still. It try's to sell you an applicator to use it with. If you have a dropper or even a syringe you could use that. Just follow the directions according to your tank size. You have to repeat it

 

[kroman]

I dont mean to sound rude but ANY algae or cyano is the result of nutrient levels being too high it's as simple as that. There are several billion threads on it. There might be 5 more today.
Reefing is simple, read up on what tank parameters are normal to keep, change your water, dont dump stuff in your tank, keep your hand out of the tank,nothing happens by magic, either you did something or didnt do something. Also there really is no way for us to tell you what to do to fix it , we dont know what you did to cause it.

Read up as best you can try to compre what you read to what you did or did not do and the answer will show itself. I know this sounds mean but it really is not meant to.

 

[bethzb]

Need advice getting rid of bad hair algae! it started with red slime, i used the powder stuff to get rid of it - 2 days later, tank looked great again, left for a few days, came back....BAM! hair algae in full effect!

last i checked my stats were good and im running chemi-pure elite and purgien.

was debating on trying this
http://www.marinedepot.com/Chem_Mar...edications-Chem_Marin-CM1311-FIMERM-4-vi.html

Anyone have any idea what i can do to get it under controll?!

I read some where someone suggesting that u can get algae blooms on a dying MH bulb. Could this be the case?

I had a bad outbreak once. I let it grow for a couple of weeks so that it would use up all of the nutrients available (kept it off of coral manually). When new growth stopped appearing I syphoned it all out using a small straight syphon. It never came back.

I personally have never had any luck using products in any system since they only treat the symptom not the cause. Most algea blooms result from too much nutrient which can be related to too much feeding. Feed less, do more water changes, it will pass.

 

[dagreatbadfinger]

this weekend maybe i'll rip out all the big stuff then do a water change. see if that does the trick. Is there anything in particular i can get to help "manage" it? anything in particular that would feast on it?

 

[DJYoshi]

this weekend maybe i'll rip out all the big stuff then do a water change. see if that does the trick. Is there anything in particular i can get to help "manage" it? anything in particular that would feast on it?

you could get Blennies, Tangs, Angel or even Rabbit Fish. The only problem is if algae starts appearing on your coral...let's say close to your zoos or any of your other softies, they could tear them apart. Just ask Del. he had to get rid of his purple tang that kept on trying to get to the small algae specs on the rocks near some of his softies.....not a pretty look. imagine owning some of the more expensive zoos like PH's. it's like a $20 meal!

 

[blueink]

lights out for a month will remove all algea.

 

[Reef Reaper]

How about getting a sea hare?? They're great for hair algae.

 

[scapone]

man look at my post i had it bad this is what i did. I did 15-20 gallon water changes a week on my 150,I got two sea hares, and two tangs, I got gfo and charchol running in my sump, and pulled some out and in two weeks poof it was gone! This happened to me because i filled my tank with tap water like a idiot.:splitspin

 

[NJMcGruff]

If you are reading zero phos its because all the algae is using everything and your getting a false reading.
+1 on water change weekly. try some Rowa phos. I had good luck with this. in a week red slime, hair gone also just took a little longer.

scapone. nice job, I would have been crying if my tank turned into that

 

[Jzhou]

The phos might be trapped inside the rocks. I recently got an out break of hair algae from the calerpa that I bought for my tangs from icktown. You can starve it out of your tank by sucking up all phospates with a reactor. But that I've been doing that with about 2 pounds of ferric oxide in system and it still got me. Clean up crews only band aid the problem. The best solution is not only to remove all nutrients, but also to take out all the rock in your tank, scrub like hell, and throw everything into a large rubber bin with some snails and hermits from your tank and have water returning to you system. That and also to completely block out your tank from light for 4 days. When you do do return the light, i'd do it for 6 hrs a day for a week. If you create open space at the bottom of the rock container with pvc and a sheet of eggcrate, all the sludge from the dead algae will collect.

 

[Jzhou]

I used 3 large plastic trash cans. Each can had a bulk head put in. 1 can led into the other with the final leading into the sump.

 

[waynotcars]

Try adding a turf algae scrubber. google algae scrubbers. Easy to make and really work.

 

[jr973]

wow thats an amazing result a lil hardwork and time did the trick and thats what everytank need i say some tangs to take care of algae

 

[sig45]

Immediate solutions:
Reduce light interval & feedings, manual removal,heavy skimming, RO/DI water, GFO for PO4, Nitrate reduction via Instant Ocean nitrate reducer

Longterm solutions:
Regular maintenance with H2O changes weekly 10%, consider different filter options including biobeads, bacteria additives (eg Prodibio/ zeo/ neo-zeo), herbivores (blennies, sea hares, mex turbos)

Just some ideas

D