Ready for a cleaning crew!!

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Driller31

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
Feb 24, 2010
Messages
49
Location
Grand Junction, Colorado
My tank has cycled all tests are good. Now I am wanting to get a clean up crew. I probably will just get a 55gallon cleaner pack if those are sufficient. I have ALOT of hair algea, what Invert will take care of that??? As it is yucky, and want it gone. And are these huge cleaning crews needed?? Why so many snails, and crabs?? Please help!!Tell me what I need to keep my tank clean, and free of this hair algea!!!
 
To get rid of the hair algae completely and for good, you will need to find the source of the problem. There is no invert that will destroy your entire population of hair algae, only graze and take care of patches. But chances are since you have so much of it already, it will just grow back constantly once it's eaten. In order to get rid of it once and for all, you need to weed out the problem and fix it.

How long do you keep your lights on for? How old is your light fixture? And how old are the bulbs? If they are very old, it could be that the light spectrum has shifted, fueling algae growth. Are you using RO/DI water? I'm assuming you don't feed the tank since there's nothing in there. What are your nitrate and phosphate readings? And don't just say they're "OK", we need actual numbers please.

If you're having serious hair algae problems, you will definitely want to read this:

http://www.melevsreef.com/gha.html
 
As far as hair algae goes the way I got rid of all mine was to keep my rocks in the dark completely in a green plastic tub for six months just running an aquaclear and keeping water parameters in check. I ended up with NO nuisance algaes and grew TONS of sponges. Assuming you dont want to take such drastic measures and would like to enjoy your rock and tank now..... after waiting so long for it to cycle anyway, taking a toothbrush to your rocks twice a week or so and collecting the algae that comes off and getting it out of your tank seems to work well but the other posts are correct getting rid of it entirely will be lengthy and some hard work. Some species of tangs are very good for devouring copious amounts of algae but not all will eat it so do some research. Also propagating coralline algae by using Purple-Up is a good way to rid your tank of nuisances but it does take a long time to grow. Algae no matter what anyone says is going to be a constant part of reef keeping and the more money you throw at the problem the better results you'll have. to keep the algae from further spread you can use an UV sterilizer which will kill any algae that is floating around in your water column and does well at eliminating what you miss when toothbrushing your rocks. I would definitely recommend that you take care of as much of the problem as possible before adding ANYTHING as the extra nitrates introduced will only fuel the problem. Its a war worth winning and once its gone youll enjoy your tank more so GOOD LUCK!!
 
Actually, using the tooth brush on the rocks will only help the algae spread. The part that you don't want floating around are the filaments of the hair algae, and by scrubbing them off in the tank, you're basically making tiny little bits and pieces of hair algae that will start to form on other areas of your tank. Doing something like that will only be aiding to their multiplication process.
 
If you are talking only about scrubing the LR with a toothbrush that might spread but if you rubberband it to your siphon hose and draw it out as you do a PWC then you`ll be OK as the loose algea will go out with PWC water.
 
Yeah, that would be a great way to fix the issue, but oldsalty1 never said anything about siphoning what you scrubbed off the rock. Plus, even if you siphoned, you would get alot of the filaments.. but not all of it. I was just clarifying as i don't want people to get the wrong idea and start cleaning their rocks with a toothbrush and actually making the problem worse, rather than helping.
 
Good Point Zer0, but the point is to aggressively attack the problem by first finding the cause and then carefully removing the HA. Remember having some algae is a part of reefing. How much you can stand is the point we strive for!
 
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Yup, algae is part of reefing. But like i said in my first post, you need to find the cause of the problem and eliminate it, otherwise it will always keeping coming back. :)
 
I agree with thincat, How much you can stand is what we aim for. I've just got some hair algae on my back wall. Doesn't bother me. :)
I had some hair algae popping up just in the last month or so. I was hitting my head against the wall until I decided to break out the good old TDS meter and checked my solids coming out of my RO/DI unit. 50ppm and my mouth dropped. The new filters should arrive from BRS today.
:rolleyes:
 
I had some hair algae popping up just in the last month or so. I was hitting my head against the wall until I decided to break out the good old TDS meter and checked my solids coming out of my RO/DI unit. 50ppm and my mouth dropped. The new filters should arrive from BRS today.
:rolleyes:

Did you check the water in two places?
1. Coming out of the RO membrane
2. From the final stage of processed water coming out of the DI

I did not use to do this and I probably threw away a perfectly good RO memebrane when all I needed to change was DI resin. The RO membranes last awhile. Since then I switched to this: Dual inline TDS meter DM-1 HM Digital - English
so I know exactly what needs to be replaced, plus you never have to break out the old TDS meter because it is always hooked up.
 
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