Best way to get rid of hair alga?

[austinsdad]

I haven't had a lot of time in the last couple of months. Death in the family, job issues, and the lawn season (P/T gig) all on me at once.

Got a lot of algae in my 40g breeder (3 or 4 months old now). Use nothing but RO/DI water, limit the lighting to 6 hrs daily, and only one fish lives there. Hoping to farm xenia in this tank. Got a 2" sand bed and a good HOB skimmer.

My rocks have tons of hair algea. The sand has lumps of it all over too.

No excuse for not having checked my phosphates in a couple of months, but assuming my RO/DI unit is working, why would I have phosphates anyway? Nitrates are almost zero. Do have one pc of xenia in there doing OK.

2 Qs --

1) Getting the phosphates to 5 (or .5, I forgot) or less will make it disappear right?

2) Assuming my tap water is properly filtered, how in the heck did I get this bunch of algae?

Any other suggestions?

 

[gooyferret]

Do you have any direct sunlight on the tank? That will make algae grow enormously. What are your water parameters at? IME i have found that the best way to get rid of hair algae is to take and pick out as much as you can, possible removing smaller rocks and scrub them down with a toothbrush. Get a really good cleanup crew in there. I would recommend getting 60-80 blueleg hermits, and about 30 snails in there along with some emerald crabs. After that do some water changes and wait a couple weeks, you should notice a good amount has been taking care of. I would recommend www.reeftopia.com for inverts. I have had very good luck with them....and their cheap. HTH

 

[austinsdad]

No light on the tank. Toothbrush cleaning rock in SW I presume in order not to kill any good stguff living on it? What about the sand. I thought i read that if you starved the algae of phosphates it'd disappear.

 

[gooyferret]

well algae has a weird way of growing in the aquarium from what i have learned. one time when i had no corals and just fish and tried to get rid of it, i had the lights off in the tank for a month and turned them back on it was still alive and grew so bad i couldnt get rid of it.....I shutdown the tank and setup a new one. :? I have heard that using a toothbrush will help taking the LR outta the tank and just lightly scrub where the algae is and rinse the toothbrush off once you get some algae build up on it. Hair algae will live off and excess nutrients that you will have in the tank. As for the sand i would just scoop it out. HTH

 

[Mrbill]

I just did the rock cleaning thing and my tank looks great now.

I took all rocks (about 65lbs) out of the tank and scrubbed them in buckets filled with tank water. I would not recommend a toothbrush. I purchased a new toilet scrubber and used that, and it worked wonderfully. A toothbrush would have taken FOREVER.

 

[grimlock3000]

What is currently in the tank for a cleanup crew and how long has the crew been established?

The most surefire way to get ride of hair algae is to siphon it out and do waterchanges. This can take a while, but the tank will clear up over time. I would not reccomend scrubbing the rocks if it is LR. Removing the rock from the water can be bad for good coraline growth and other life.

 

[lando]

Ray, I sent you a return PM. Good Luck

 

[Mrbill]

What is currently in the tank for a cleanup crew and how long has the crew been established?

The most surefire way to get ride of hair algae is to siphon it out and do waterchanges. This can take a while, but the tank will clear up over time. I would not reccomend scrubbing the rocks if it is LR. Removing the rock from the water can be bad for good coraline growth and other life.

Yes, I should mention that scrubbing my rocks was a last resort. I did the siphoning and water changes for months. I was at the point where it was scrub the rocks or just give up entirely.

That said, scrubbing the rocks did no harm to any of my tanks inhabitants. I have no corals.

 

[Phyl]

I've heard that adding some sugar to your system will kill it (I think it causes a bacteria bloom which smothers out the hair algae and causes it to die). I haven't had to use this but I've got it in the back of my head just in case the day ever comes.

 

[juskeepswiming]

I've heard that adding some sugar to your system will kill it (I think it causes a bacteria bloom which smothers out the hair algae and causes it to die). I haven't had to use this but I've got it in the back of my head just in case the day ever comes.

ive read something similiar on this thread http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=261404
sounds quite possible but there doesnt seem to be any info on anything long term.

Ill give it a try and post any results

 

[Phyl]

The guy that I know who did that (Malcolm) doesn't have GHA anymore and it only took a few treatments. Let us know!

 

[austinsdad]

Justkeepswimming, that was certainly some interesting reading. One guy said his xenias pulsed like crazy. Anothere said his corals browned up, zoos changed colors, but all returned to normal in weeks. The sugar treatment makes me nervous, as does adding anything else to my tank, but it seems to be a treatment more for nitrates. Mine are very low.

It is a new tank, and believe it or not, I still haven't taken time to test the phosphates, or even simply put a phosphate sponge in there. Also, siphoning doesn't work. The stuff is attached to the rocks, mixed into the sand. Gotta get busy. The old fashioned way.

Thanks for the input Lando!

 

[juskeepswiming]

still haven't taken time to test the phosphates,

If i were you I would as soon as possible. Its sounds very much likely thats your problem. my last algae bloom, i tested everything and my phosphates were off the charts. check the phosphates, buy some phos sponge or a phosban reactor if they are high...or just to be cautious.

but it seems to be a treatment more for nitrates. Mine are very low

how low are they?

 

[juskeepswiming]

day two...the hair algae is turning brown in spots and tested water perameters...nitrite,nitrate,phosphate,amonia and nothing has changed yet

so for so good

 

[lando]

Thanks for the input Lando!

No problem...keep me posted.