Cant stop it...

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reddevil24

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
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Dec 24, 2015
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38
I got this tank complete set up fish and all. I set it up, everything was good for about a month and I had 70 lbs of LR covered in "grass". My clowns loved it, I hated it. I've tried algae killer, destroyer,you name it. Now about twice a month I am manually cleaning my rocks. 12 days has pasted since last cleaning and the red cyanobacteria is starting to cover everything, algae is coming soon. PLEASE HELP!!!!

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This is going to sound absolutely crazy, but let the cyanobacteria come in and cover the hair algae. This will take a little while and your tank will look absolutely terrible. Eventually the cyanobacteria will cover the hair algae and kill it by starving it of the light. It may take a few weeks of just leaving the tank to look worse than it ever has. Then siphon out the cyanobacteria and dead hair algae and treat the tank with ChemiClean to kill the cyanobacteria. Obviously before you can say your tank is cured, you have to make sure you removed whatever caused the algae bloom to begin with.

I had a 30 gallon reef and I had the wrong lighting in the sump so the chaeto died and released all the nutrients in the water. I had hair algae covering everything. I eventually had cyano come in and when I had pretty much thrown the towel in, I just let the cyano take over. Then I got sick of it and decided to give it one last try. When I siphoned out the cyano I realized it had killed all the hair algae and then when I used Chemiclean the cyano was done. I don't know if I got lucky, but if you've tried everything else it might be worth a shot. Best of luck!

EDIT: Looking at your picture, your hair algae problem is minor compared to what mine was, so you might be able to still salvage the tank by just doing water changes with ro/di water. You should make a batch of salt water and test the new water before doing the water change to make sure that isn't contributing nitrates or phosphates to your tank.
 
This is going to sound absolutely crazy, but let the cyanobacteria come in and cover the hair algae. This will take a little while and your tank will look absolutely terrible. Eventually the cyanobacteria will cover the hair algae and kill it by starving it of the light. It may take a few weeks of just leaving the tank to look worse than it ever has. Then siphon out the cyanobacteria and dead hair algae and treat the tank with ChemiClean to kill the cyanobacteria. Obviously before you can say your tank is cured, you have to make sure you removed whatever caused the algae bloom to begin with.

I had a 30 gallon reef and I had the wrong lighting in the sump so the chaeto died and released all the nutrients in the water. I had hair algae covering everything. I eventually had cyano come in and when I had pretty much thrown the towel in, I just let the cyano take over. Then I got sick of it and decided to give it one last try. When I siphoned out the cyano I realized it had killed all the hair algae and then when I used Chemiclean the cyano was done. I don't know if I got lucky, but if you've tried everything else it might be worth a shot. Best of luck!

EDIT: Looking at your picture, your hair algae problem is minor compared to what mine was, so you might be able to still salvage the tank by just doing water changes with ro/di water. You should make a batch of salt water and test the new water before doing the water change to make sure that isn't contributing nitrates or phosphates to your tank.
I have let it get to looking like an underwater jungle. It seems the red comes first then the hair. Ill see if I still have the pic from before the last clesning

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I have a full SW test kit, no phosphate test though. O do also have dip strips. Is carbonate hardness phosphate? I've only been doing this for a few months.

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I wouldn't even bother using a phosphate test. You're gonna get a false reading with all that algae. Is their any stock in the tank? How olds the sand? Did you use the previous owners old sand bed? Tap or rodi water?


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2 clowns
1 chocolate star
Few snails and hermit crabs
1 peppermint shrimp (somewhere)
Used the original sand, believe it's a year old

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2 clowns
1 chocolate star
Few snails and hermit crabs
1 peppermint shrimp (somewhere)
Used the original sand, believe it's a year old

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And tap water for now, I use start rite when mixing and I let it mix for at least 24 hrs

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The very top pic is what it looks like now...for now

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Tap water could be the major issue... I started my first tank with tap water and battled hair algae fer days...actually the entire time it was setup. As one of the previous posts mentioned lighting also can be a cause for cyano... What kind of lighting do you have and how long do you leave it on?


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How much are you feeding? Only real way to battle this big of an outbreak is lots of big wcs (using ro/do, or at least distilled) and manual removal. Basically your putting to many nutrients into the system and not exporting near enough, which is why I asked about your feeding schedule.


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I did a lengthy post about nutrient removal last night and my phone crashed. I'll sum it up and there are two articles in my signature about battling algae.
Tap and even distilled are bringing in the nutrients that aren't helping things. As a reefer currently stuck using distilled water, you will have algae in your tank.
When it comes to tap, primes and dechlorinators aren't changing what is in the water to make it ok for the fish. What we put in to be good for us isn't always good for fish. That doesn't even talk about the nitrates and phosphates that are a main cause of algae. That and your tap water can change! Back in 96 we had a flood and our water hasn't been the same since. Same can go for even a heavy rain.


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How much are you feeding? Only real way to battle this big of an outbreak is lots of big wcs (using ro/do, or at least distilled) and manual removal. Basically your putting to many nutrients into the system and not exporting near enough, which is why I asked about your feeding schedule.


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I feed 2 little pintches a day and frozen brine shrimp 2-3 times per week (apx. 12-15) my lighting is 2 T8 one "white" one "blue"

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Get that Phosphate test kit. I don't care if your using tap water, running carbon and GFO or Lanthamum on the system can remove the nasty crap from the water.
T8 lamps makes me curious. how old is the lighting? Whats the Kelvin range on the lamps?
How big is your skimmer?
 
I am using a aqua something canister filter with built in uv sterilizer and Skimmer attachment. Bulbs are maybe 8 months old. My tank is a 55 gal, I was told Skimmer wasn't really necessary. Was I misinformed?

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I will check kelvins when I get home.

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Skimmer isn't 100% necessary no.... However as Big Red said WC... Which will then be even more crucial.


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