Hair algae problem

[PicassoTrigger]

My live rock(chai pet rock ;-) ) has been overtaken by green hair. The algae is hair like in appearance and grows in tufts clinginng to both rock and sand bed. Water parameters are as follows:

SG 1.024
Ammonia=0
Nitrite=0
Nitrate=30-40ppm
Ph=8.2

I am running a fluval 404 cannister filter with foam, biochem stars, bio balls, activate carbon, and ammonia sponge. Also a cpr bakpak 2 skimmer, 2 fluval 802 powerheads, and approx 60 lbs live rock. The tank is 70gallons tank has been established 2.5 years now.

Last month the nitrate registered at around 10ppm since i've removed some of the algae by hand. Can this cause a fluctuation in Nitrate? From my understanding hair algae like most other types of algae consume nitrate, would attempting to mitigate the halr algae problem introduce a new nitrate problem?? What is the prognosis? Would it be best to do large water changes PRIOR to removing (manually) the aglae?


Perhaps I should remove all bio media from my fluval and simply use it as mechanical filtration??

My sandbed is a little shallow at 1.5inch so i plan on increasing it at least another 2 inches, would this help nitrate breakdown to nitrogen?

 

[EmilyB]

yes.

 

[Jimbo3006]

get some culerpa

 

[robbinson]

Yes - remove the bio balls - you don't need them if you have live rock in the system (a natural biological filter bed) and they tend to increase phosphate levels. I note you did not test for phosphate which is the most likely culprit contributing to a hair algae out break. I've been there - there is a solution.

1. Do 10% water changes every day for about 10 days. 2. You didn't mention what types of light you are using, but cut it down for the next few weeks - corals will do fine on 3 hours of MH per day for a few weeks. 3. Mannually remove as much of the hair algae as possible. 4. Add about 100 mixed hermit crabs and turbo snails; 5. Add a phoshpate filter or sponge (Mark Weiss makes a good one). 6. Cut feeding down a bit till things get under control. 7 (least important) - consider adding, if you don't have it already, an algae eating fish - kole tangs and purple tangs love hair algae (particularly kole tang). Your tank is a bit small for a tang - but a small tang would be fine.


Good luck.

 

[Casey1]

I think we've all gone through this at one time or another. The questions that I think are important are:
1)What type of whater are you using? RO-DI or tap..
if tap STOP most city water has high levels of phosphates and that is a major contributer an algae problem. Get a phosphate remover. Kent makes a good one. and a little bag to put it in. place it where there is good water flow and change it once a day.

2) How old are you lights if older that 6-8 mo.. Flor. lights then they need to be changed.

This should get you on your way .. good luck

 

[AnotherGoldenTeapot]

Phospahte is the likely cause.

The various phospahte removers (granular type rather than liquid) are very efficient. They can exhaust surprisingly quickly, so change the media once yout test kits shows there's been no further reducion after a day or two.

Once you're into maintenance mode these products are cost effective at keeping phosphate low.

Use a good phospahte test kit. The Salifert kit is a good one, and the Hagen kit is not. The problem with the latter test is that it is not calibrated into the low ranges you're interested in. Aim to get your phosphate below 0.03mg/l - what ever kit you buy, make sure it is calibrated to read this low (many are not).

Nutrient export via macro algae cultivation is a viable alternative - there's plenty of threads on this if you're interested in a more natural approach to the problem.

Bio-balls are really a waste of time since the live-rock provides the same function. If you are going to remove the bio-balls then do this progressively so that you don't have your tank go through a mini-cycle (the bacterial colonies on your live rock will take a few weeks to adjust to the higher demands being placed on them).

 

[smokin reefer]

Don't forget your carbon filtration. I think this was the most help in ridding me of mine. But remember to change about every 3 weeks.