any ideas on getting rid of this? - Aquarium Advice

C4t4StRoPhIc · 09-09-2009, 12:14 AM

its annoying and unsightly. literally showed up overnight. help?

thominil · 09-09-2009, 12:25 AM

If it is the hairy green stuff, it is hair algae as my guess. Sign of excess nutrients. Do PWC's and remove as much as you can.

**melosu58** · 09-09-2009, 06:13 PM

Read this article about nuisance algea

http://www.fantasyreef.com/database....id=11&itemid=5

IMO one cube of mysis is too much for that tank every day. If it was me I would feed every other day about a cube or maybe for the time being till you get your hair algea under control just half a cube. I`ve been feeding every other day for 11+ yrs now. Your fish will be OK I promise you. Two things I would do is 1) Try feeding a variety of food. Frozen foods are loaded with phosphates which are a fuel for algea. Try feeding frozen, flakes and dried seaweed. Nothing wrong nutritionally with frozen only but it really loads the tank with phosphates so opt for a variety. 2) When you do your frequent PWC`s try to siphon out as much of the algea as possible. Manual removal is important in getting rid of this stuff. I`m hoping that you are using a RO/DI unit for your water as if you are using tap water that might be the problem there. You follow that plan and you`ll get rid of it just like a lot of had to.

headsonfire · 09-09-2009, 07:13 PM

WOW !!! that is some overnight outbreak !!!!!
I have had a small outbreak of hair algae and am acting on it, one thing i always do and suggest is to defrost your mysis block and strain it through a sieve or dry it out on kitchen roll before feeding. Alot of messing about i know but worth it as there is alot of bad stuff in that juicy liquid!!
I also only feed my fish every other day on flake and once a week on bloodworm or mysis, overfeeding is the most common problem of most fish keeping problems, love em but dont feed em to death!!
I also dose Vodka into my tank and that really does wonders for keeping Nitrates and Phosphates to zero!!
Lack of flow can also aid hair algae blooms, a friend of mine asked me to look at his tank and I found a major lack of flow, since its been rectifed the problem is going.
Good Luck!

Flake · 09-09-2009, 08:18 PM

dosing vodka? Like...the drink? How does that work?

**melosu58** · 09-09-2009, 08:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Flake

dosing vodka? Like...the drink? How does that work?

Vodka Dosing by 'Genetics' and 'Stony_Corals' - Reefkeeping.com

Flake · 09-09-2009, 08:25 PM

Thanks!

C4t4StRoPhIc · 09-10-2009, 01:11 AM

thats a terrible waste. i dissagree. how about, the drinking of vodka whilst working on controlling nitrates and phosphates, that make the process go faster! lol.