Hair Algae is back? next idea

[Anonymous]

My hair algae that was alomst all gone is back. It was here for about 6 months and was receding nicely. This time there is a lighter shade of it growing on my plumbing. Also there appears to be some kind of cyano with it this time, like a dark maroon/black cyano that has to scrubbed off the roch it doesn't dome off easy but a toothbrush will get it loose.

58 Gallon tank with a 20 gallon (12 filled) sump.
Tank has been running for 15 months.

I use RO/DI/DI - 0 TDS
I use IO salt.
I have been dosing B-Ionic and Kent Tech-M.
I have been doing water cahnegs every 2 weeks.

Readings:
Temp 78-80
PH 8.1-8.32 (Pinpoint Montior)
Sal 1.024 (Refractometer)
Salifert kits.
Ammon = 0
Nitrate=0
Alk=9 DKH
CA=410
PO4=0 (Probably used in the algae thats why there is no reading).

MyReef MR-1 SKimmer running from a mag12.
Lights: 1x250W MH HQI 10k, 2x95W VHO Actinics (Bulbs were change 2 months ago).

Flow Mag 9 on return, Blueline 40HD (790GPH) on a SCWD for a closed loop and 2 maxijet power heads.

Inhabitants:
2 false percs, 1 Sixline wrasse
Frogspawn, hammer, wesophelia, few blue shrooms and a hydorphornia frag.

Feeding: 1/3 cube of frozen mysis every 3 days.

Notes:
I do not want to use kalk because it is a PITA to deal with.
Cant really run a refugium. No room and definetly not enough electricity to run anohter pump and light.

The tank has a 4 in DSB of southdown that was never really seeded. The sand is clumpy. Can the LR and sand be loaded with phosphates and causing the algae fuel source? How can I get rid of the fuel?
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[cdeakle]

For the hair algae get a tang then give him to a local friend in the hobby that has hair algae problems next

 

[DougBak]

It's always hit and miss using fish to control algae, but I got lucky with my kole tang. Grazes like a lawnmower and took out every bit of hair algae I had in my 90. But I have heard plenty of others say that they wouldn't touch the stuff.

Same goes with lawnmower blennies, which are also suggested for this.

You can try them, but be prepared for them to not do their job.

 

[Anonymous]

which is a bigger pain, hair algae or kalk?

 

[Anonymous]

Kalk ALWAYS clogged up my dripping hoses. I tried larger hoses and tried submerging the hose in the water with no luch, I would get about 1/2 gallon through and it would clog EVERY time.

I believe they say a 58 is too small for a tang.
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Ferrari F355

 

[Anonymous]

it's must be something in your technique, because the rest of us can do it.... i'm not being smart, just stating the facts.
maybe you aren't letting it sit for at least ten hours before dosing?

 

[Anonymous]

Here is the latest method I have tried.

I have a 5 gallon bucket with a valve about 1.5 inches above the bottom. I mix in 1 tsp per gallon and put in a powerhead for about an hour or so. I them remove the powerhead and close the bucket. I let it sit over night.

Then I have a 1 gallon container with 3/8 tubing in it about 1/2 from the bottom and a guest valve to adjust the flow at the end of the tube.

I add the mixed Kalk water to the gallon container and let it drip slowly into the sump.

I get home from work to find that the dripping has stopped and I have to open the valve and reset it. 2 hours later repeat.

Is there a gurantee that Kalk will even remove hair algae or it "Might" help?

Or would spending another $500 for a kalk reactor/pump setup be "Really" worth it?
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[Chooch]

You are certainly not feeding much so that does not appear to be a major source of nutrient import. Try scrubbing any areas where the hair algae is growing with a toothbrush. Also use a canister filter to vacuum the hair algae out. Once established hair algae seems to need very little to keep going and growing so it is important to mechanically remove as much as possible. Also blast your rocks with a power head to remove as much detritus as possible while simultaneously using a mechanical filter to remove the blasted detritus. I would also do a significant water change with water you know has no PO4. After doing the above, you might want to try Phosban or one of the other iron based phosphate removing media. Place it in a Corallife fluidized reactor and flow it so it "boils" very gently. I would use at least 50% more than recommended. Make sure you have strong circulation in the tank. I would also continue using kalkwasser. Your water parameters appear to be fine. IME the hobby test kits for PO4 are poor and you are getting a false low reading or you are correct that the algae assimilates it so quicly t can't be read. You could also have organic PO4 in the sytem. You may already know this stuff but if you follow it you should see results. Just be glad you have a relatively small tank which makes the above work much easier. Good luck.

 

[Anonymous]

I have scrubbed the LR in the past while doing a water chnage to siphon out the hair algae.

I have about 2000 GPH in the tank now that pretty much moves allot of the water around.

I have not used Kalk in a while to the above message that I cant get it into the tank.

I have done a 30 gallon WC 5 weeks ago and a 15 gallon WC last week. Before that it was 15 gallons every other week for about 2 months.

The fuel has to be my water or salt or the LR/Sand is loaded with it. The TDS meter (just calibrated) reads 0 TDS so what can I check the water source for? I have tried the phosphate kit on the RO/DI and I get no readings.
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Ferrari 328

 

[J.Howard]

You had mentioned a clumpy sand bed. Do you have critters living in there that move/sift the sand? I've heard about some small size sand (sugar) will clump even with correct parameters, but have also heard these areas can be nutrient magnets if bacteria (anaerobic) poor. If you believe that's whats happening, you may want to physically try to break up the clumps where possible and try some sand moving stars and clams available at many suppliers. In the past use of chemical removal media in a small canister filter has helped me along with physical removal.

 

[ScottbytheSea]

You mentioned frozen food.

I had alot of hair algae when I put blocks directly in tank , lots of nutrients melts in with food and not consumed by fishes. Started thawing out blocks slightly on small dish tipped a little for a min. or so to get brunt of oils/ water out (fish aren't eating that anyway). Get rid of bio load any way you can.

Also didn't have enough activity in my dsb......Had to recharge my sand to get more activity or you end up with lots of fertilizer down there...

Hope this helps a little.

ScottbytheSea

 

[Anonymous]

Got home today and the cyano (maroon/black algae) is covering allot more of the tank, even in a high flow area.

The LR has to be loaded with something, no?

I never really "seeded" the DSB either.
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[shellshocked]

Tough to say but is there a reason you are dosing the tech M? If you're doing water changes you should not need it. If I put additives in my tank other than kalk or calcium and buffer it does nothing but make the algae grow. The kalk is a pain in the butt but I do think it helps a little. With regards to the fish that consume all of the hair algae - I think they are like bigfoot people swear they exist but nobody has actually seen one! (Well actually I do have a tang and he nibbles but not enough to do anything.)

 

[Anonymous]

i believe the Kalk is a limiting factor in the spread and growth of nuisance algaes.
it is not as effective with hair algae as it is with dinoflagellate or cyanobacteria but i do think it impairs hair algae's ability to thrive... IMO that is.
i also have heard through many opinions more valuable than my own that Kalk limits phosphates/silicates within the system as well.

 

[billyzbear]

I had a major problem with hair algae. I had to clean the rock every 2 days. Phosphate was next to none after phosphate remover but it kept coming back. I put in a above tank refugium, 12 snails and 6 more crabs. I already had 12 crabs in my 32g. Cleaned the rock with a tooth brush and a week later it was almost gone, after two weeks it was gone. I still get diatoms(I believe, brown algae) on the back glass that is easy to clean but the LR is clean. If you don't want a refuguim how about snails?

 

[Anonymous]

Tech M is used because my Mag is too low. My freshly mixed IO has a mag of 800.

I got snails, crabs etc. Useless against the algae.

Kalk may help but I have to find a way to do where it will actually get into the tank. Maybe just dumping it in.

There has to be a source of the algae's fuel whick needs to be corrected first and I have no idea on where it is.

I have scrubbed the LR in the past but I think that did more damage to the corals with constanlty move them and removing the LR to scrub as well.
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Ferrari 612 Scaglietti

 

[Kevin1000]

Heres a link on DSB that might help you http://www.rshimek.com/reef/sediment.htm

 

[Anonymous]

Interesting article.

So since I never "Seeded" my DSB therefore it is possible it is not functioning correctly and becoming a nutrient source for the algae.

I had another post a few weeks ago about recharging LR because I have not seen any critters, worms, etc in a long time.

Are one of those sand bed charge kits really worth it? Or is it too late for the DSB since it is probably loaded up already?
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[Kevin1000]

I suspect your DSB has some problems. In my case I go to the beach periodically and get some "live sand" to help bio-diversity. If I lived away from the beach my first stop would be a LFS or Reef Society - last stop would be one of the products you are referring to.

Hope this helps.

 

[Meloco14]

If you decide to recharge your sand bed, check out IPSF. They have a live sand activator you can get, or wondermud, both of which have worms, copepods and amphipods, bristleworms, microhermits, strombus snails, etc. I got both of these as a part of a 9 for $99 a month or so back, and I can definitely see a lot of life in the sand now. I don't know if it helps with algae control or not, but the critters are very active. I also got sandbed clams, which supposedly filter feed and eat detritus. They are still alive so they must be doing something. They also have micro brittle stars for the sand, but they were not a part of the deal so I haven't tried them. Also if you havent tried nassarius snails, those guys are very active in/on the sand.