Algae Question

[Boxster]

I had my LR cycling for about a week plus now and I start to see some Red hair coming out on some Rocks. Is this the bad Hair Algae? I have a 46 Gallon Oceanic tank and the light that come with it is a single tube 30W flourescent. I turned on the light for about 4-6 hrs a day. Is my lightning a problem? This tank is meant for FOWLR.

 

[bsheek]

Algae is always a problem with ant tank...caused by a build up of phosphates. Even if you keep phosphates very low you will still have some algae. The best way is to have natural algae eaters in your tank. Take the number of gallons your tank is multiply that number by 1.5, so you should have at a bare minimum a combination of 72 hermit crabs and snails. I know this sounds like a lot but look at any reef tank at your local store, no algae and a ton of snails and crabs. Check out this site and look at algae control on the left side. http://garf.org/

 

[snapcrackler]

If you pick up a reef janitor package from garf like bsheek was saying you could also consider buying a few pounds of garf's "grunge" to seed your substrate ... as long as you're paying for the shipping...

Plus make sure ya get the crabs/snails at a buck each, Leroy at Garf did that for me. Cheaper than $2.98 an invert hehe

My red leg hermits I got from there totally wiped out that brown hair algae I had when I was cycling and also the grunge has some pretty nice stuff in it IMO.

8)

 

[Michel]

If it's red , it could be cyano wich is a bacteria and not an algea ... Could you describe it a little bit more ?

 

[Boxster]

It is defintely red hair like about 2-4 mm long on the LR surface. The diameter is defintely like a hair.

 

[Michel]

Then I would think it's cyano ! Siphon it out and increase circulation in that area and maybe reduce nutrient a bit !
JMO