hair algae, skimmer

[batfire]

hello, 55 gal. two clowns one blue tang and one gobie. Corals lots of live rock, doser for b-ionic, hang on back refugium, power heads. perfect water conditions, clear beautiful no nitrates. Fish are healthy, lots of hermit crabs, bristle worms etc. New bulbs after 8-9 months. Now lots and lots of ugly algae. I remove as much as possible, just grows and grows. Rocks and back of tank continue to grow this junk. Tank now looks terrible. HELP. Second, 20 gallon x-tra tall for a mantis shrimp. power filter just for water circulation, some live rock can this work without a skimmer ?? I thought it would, maybe just more water changes?? Thanks for any help, Blaine

 

[SkinnyPete]

What are perfect water conditions? What are your phosphates?

 

[batfire]

phosphate test done, 0. Alkalinity 160, calcium 400. nitrates 0.

 

[SkinnyPete]

Hmmm, phosphates and nitrates are usually the culprits when it comes to hair algae. You may want to check phosphates at a lfs just to make sure the test is correct. Even 0.5-0.8 can cause hair algae. Is the tank getting any direct sunlight? You may have gas exchange issues without much water movement. Adding a powerhead or two may help move things around.

 

[batfire]

Thanks, I do have some sunlight in the evenings. And that may be the culprit. Thanks again.

 

[Phyl]

100 turbos. Should solve your problem poste haste. I had HA & crud on the back glass of my 65 and a mountain of turbos has turned that into shimmering shining glass. I'm a strong advocate of them! Of course keeping your PO4 and NO3 in check is going to be critical as well, but sometimes even that needs a little help!

Our club recently did a group buy from both Keys Critters and Reeftopia, getting these and other snails at 20c per. The Reeftopia critters continue to be my favorite and the higher prices is well off set by the free shipping on orders over 120.

 

[steve-s]

FWIW, you can get a zero reading on the P test and still have it. The test kit will only tell you if inorganic P is present, not organic. There is no way for a hobbyist to test for it. The chances of it being bound up in the rock, sand and the algae itself is quite good and it will take time for it to work it's way out of your system. The most effective ways being water changes & heavy skimming. The use of iron based media can also help keep inorganic P down. Make sure you manually remove as much of the hair algae where possible and keep it short. With it's removal, the organic P goes with it.

Cheers
Steve