Any help for a bad green hair alge outbreak

[beachbumin]

I've got a 26 gallon with a ton a green alge in it !!! Ive got about twenty blue legs and scarlets, a pencil urchin, and a ton of snails. Ive done constant water changes and monitored levels to no avail. Any help would be greatly helped!!!! Thanks guys

 

[scuba_steve]

are ya using ro water ?? how long are your lights on a day and what kind/how many watts??

 

[beachbumin]

Using RO even for top off I just have PC lighting I just reduced my lighting yesterday should have done it earlier The tank was looking beatiful went out town for four days had my boys caring for it and came back to a green tank and dying corals. It went from stress relief to stress. if you have any ideas they would be appreciated.

 

[scuba_steve]

well that explains all !! i bet the lights were on 24/7 due to most people dont care about other people property !! or to much food !! its happened to me as well !! timers are cheap and very helpfull!! id change the water and cut the light by and hour or two a day till ya clear up the mess !! pull out as much as ya can buy hand !!

 

[drinkingbird]

Watch out for those pencil urchins! Just found out on this site that they can attack fish.

Like Scuba Steve said, timers are cheap , not to mention convenient.

 

[mrrrkva]

I have found that RODI water helps much more, also I have timers on my lights. You can get them for like $5 at Lowes or HD. What kind of skimmer u running??

 

[beachbumin]

ive already got timers and a skimmer on the back, my tank is healthy and has a large amount of corals and others critters already. I just needed some ideas about how to get the alge back under control as i have exausted everything that has worked in the past. I would NEVER leave my lights on 24/7 for the simple fact of severe alge growth and no downtime for my tankmates, not even to mention the waste of power. In response to drinkingbird, i only have a arch eye hawkfish and a flame clown so i think they should be safe! Thanks for the info though i havent heard that the urchins would go after fish

 

[mrrrkva]

I would test your SOURCE water, the water coming out of the RO, I know that when I ran just RO I Couldnt get rid of my algae!!! When I went to RODI, and did partials it helped out. Also if you add a refugium and grow macro, it will help keep the "nutrients" down that is feeding the hair algea.
Somewhere in the tank you have nutrients and if you dont get rid of them, you will never get rid of the Hair

 

[beachbumin]

thanks for the advice, i have been thinking of adding a fug anyway, maybe this would be the best time. Im pretty sure the water is ok because I have three tanks all on the same water and this one is the only one with the problem. Ill get to some clean up and let you guys know how it works!