Jonnypro
Aquarium Advice Freak
- Joined
- Mar 26, 2012
- Messages
- 388
yellow tang and a one spotted foxface love the algae. And I have a phosban 150 reactor.
Hair algae maintinence
- Thread starter JJ-MIK
- Start date
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ezy33
Aquarium Advice Addict
I have 4 tangs and 2 rabbit fish and still battle hair algae!
Well.. It's the end of a full 2 week blackout. And the hair algae I left in there.. Is still there.. Working on raising my mag.. But learned last night that dosing kalk at the same time depletes the mag.. Went from 1400 to 1100 in 2 days.. Looks like I might just have to hold out a few months until I can afford a full clean up crew.. Not sure what else to do
mr_X
Aquarium Advice Addict
A cleanup crew isn't going to do squat. Stop dosing the kalk.
Jonnypro
Aquarium Advice Freak
- Joined
- Mar 26, 2012
- Messages
- 388
you shouldn't have to dose to get rid of the hair algae. Find the source.
Sniperhank
Giant Clam Addict
If you want to get rid of phosphates, cut back the amount you feed, how many times a week you feed, use ro/di water. If they are still high then you may want to consider a media type that brings phosphates down, like GFO. There are several different types of reactor setups that can do this.
I feed once a week and only enough that they can consume.. I run 2-3 lbs of xtraxphos . Ro/di only. Brand new filters. 0 Tds.. Lights on for 8 hours. Water change 30 gallons a week. All params are 0... And alk calc mag and p.h in check. Hair algae was rooting over an inch below sand bed.. What else can be the source?
Sniperhank
Giant Clam Addict
Ok, so 20% water change weekly with 0tds ro/di water...small feedings...I would pull as much of that stuff out as possible during your next water change with the siphon right where you are pulling the algae out. Once algae gets set up, it takes a long time to solve the issue. It takes alot of patience, but if what you stated is true then you are on the right track.
Just follow mr-xs advice and all will be well trust me. He is correct about the algae being bryopsis which is one of the toughest algaes to get rid of. The reason being is it can survive in low to no nutrient environments and spreads anytime a piece breaks off so trying to battle it with low nutrient levels will be a constant losing battle. If you are starting over with this tank then I would ramp up the mag with Kent-m to around the 1800-1900 range and let it remain there for 4-6 weeks to guarantee all spores and roots are dead. This is the only cure to this algae which I have done this exact thing to rid my tank of it. If you have livestock in the tank then don't exceed a 100ppm daily increase. You will begin to see the bryopsis "melt" at the 1500-1800ppm range depending on your current mag levels.
I did a ill more than that.. I pulled out all the rock scrubbed it and blacked it out in a tote. Basically turned over the top 3" of the dsb. Scrubbed the tank clean and blacked out the tank . Going in week 3 of blackout. I left one rock in the tank with a ill hair algae on it.. It's still there. But my coralline is dying..
Kent-m contains a mineral of some kind which Kent will not release what it is that is what kills the algae. One of the guys that worked at Kent however did leave the company and made another mag supplement that'll do the same thing. You'll have to google it but I believe it was either seachems or brightwells that is the Kent-m alternative. That being said, until you dose your tank with one of the 2 products then you will always have byropsis.
Yeah, kalk should only be used after all levels have been brought to the levels you want to keep. It's made to sustain a constant level not increase levels like a 2 or 3 part. The ph swings would be to drastic for it to be used that way so once you are back to dealing with corals use a 2-3 part dosing kit to get your levels where you want them and then use Kalk to hold those levels.
Kalk itself does not deplete your magnesium levels, the calcification process is what depletes your magnesium which high Alk and calcium from the kalk means faster calcification. It's all a balancing act and once one thing gets out of wack everything falls apart. Just pick up a 2 part of Alk and calcium (since you already have the 3rd part with tech-m) and correct your levels before using kalk again.
I'm scientifically ... Dumb.... Haha. I have a hard time understanding all of this.. I've been dosing alk and calc keeping levels in the normal range. But with the tank being empty. There's nothing using calc except snails. It shouldn't be doing anything should it? I've been dosing a little of the 2 part once a week . I think I'm a good candidate for a electronic device to tell me what my params are at....
Dosing should only be needed if A.) You have a lot of hard corals (lps and sps) or B.) You go very long periods between water changes. Hannah checkers may be a good option for you then since they give you a straight forward digital read out on the levels. They are $50 per test which is a little expensive but when considering the price of others and ease of use they are worth it.
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