The algae battle continues

[SkinnyPete]

After months of doing 15% water changes weekly with RO/DI water, manual removal of hair algae, running phosban, and adding chaeto to a hob fuge - the battle rages on.

I just can't seem to get my phosphates under 0.1. They've been bouncing back and forth over the past month between .1 and .2. My Nitrates are between 5-10. No sunlight in this room for months - the shades have been pulled. I'm also down to only 7 hours of PC lighting a day.

I'm now wondering if my PC bulbs are possibly to blame. I'm about at 6 months with the bulbs. Anyway - should small readings of .1 or .2 PO4 be causing hair algae? It seems to be spreading to my sand bed so that can't be good. I've got 5 mj1200s running in this 110gal tank. Most of the hair algae seems to be on the rocks near the powerheads, if that makes any sense. The more waterflow, the worse the algae.

Also - anything bad about moving some of the chaeto into the main tank? I'm thinking I can place it under a rock on the bottom to weigh it down and hopefully compete with the hair algae.

Basically, my readings don't seem to be out of control, yet the hair algae continues. As I said, it's been months and I'm about ready to buy a sea hare against my better judgement.

 

[Fluff]

Algae can be a bugger. Any amount of PO4 will cause algae and not all of it will show up in a test. You could try bumping up your water changes to maybe 20-25% weekly and see if that helps.
But, let me throw this out there to you as well. I really don't like suggesting chemicles to fix things but....
While listening to Mike Paletta speak last weekend he talked about PO4 removers. Two in particular were Rowaphos and PhosBan. Rowaphos being the more expensive one. He swears by it. Maybe something to look into. Here is a review article on it.

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/june2004/review.htm

 

[Don424]

Did you cure your rock in your tank? Try caribe Sea PosBuster........works great!!!

 

[DragonForce]

You might as well change the bulbs as well. Many people would argue that the bulbs that fixtures come with are not as good as buying brand new good quality bulbs from a reputable company.

How often do you feed the tank skinny?

Every other day to every 3 days is what is recommended by most to keep water quality as high as possible.