Help before I give Up....Hair Algea BAD

[rthoman]

Its pretty dark in this room even when the lights are on....only one corner is recieving somedifused sunlight....The skimmer seems to be in high gear, lots of foam after only a few hours of putting it in. I'm gonna see how it goes after a few days with the skimmer and the phos-x in use. Thanks for all the help guys!

 

[rthoman]

bump.... Well the one LFS told me not to cut my lights back. My tanks not doing much better, is there anything that eats this stuff....they guy at the one LFS said nothing will...

 

[Fluff]

Lettuce nudibranches will eat it and emerald crabs are supposed to. If you get the nudi's though, be sure to put something over your intakes and powerheads. They are fragile and stupid and will get sucked up quick. I had one killed itself squeezing into the adjustment wheel on a powerhead. Good luck.

 

[seaham358]

You still have not posted any water readings.... PO4, NO3??? You need to start finding the problem before you can work on a cure. Also this is not going to go away over night or in a week it could take a month or 2 to get things in check.
One of the guys in my reef club tried this AZNO3 Nitrate & Dissolved Organics Exporter Additive/Supplement and he had great luck with it.

 

[rthoman]

I bought a Po4 test kit and checked it twice. Both times I got a reading of 0-0.25. I let my friend borrow my master kit...so when he gives it back I will post all readings.

 

[Serge]

So, any luck with your read hair algea battle? I am also having the same issue here in my QT. Please, comment on what worked or not since your last post.

Thanks! 8)

 

[Edmonton Eskimo]

hey serge, have you checked your nitrate and phosphates. What kind of lighting do you have and how old are your bulbs? I am at the tail end of a hair algae battle. What worked for me was a serious light cutback and a total starve of my tank so every crab and snail has to eat the stuff. I also scraped and cleaned as much of it out as I could as when it dies it just releases the nutrients back into the water causing the problem all over again.

 

[Serge]

Nitrate are around 10 ppm but I have to geta phosphate test kit this week-end. This QT is only 3 months old. It's a SW tank kit I got from Big Al's. I know it's not the greatest show on earth, but it should do until the main tank is ready. I tried feeding my 2 fishes only once a day and cut light to the max: about an hour in the morning while the fishes "wake up" before feeding, and then about 3 hours in the evening without food. Been doing this for about 2 weeks now, but it seems that this stuff is still growing. I also read info that turbo snails will eat this red hair algea, so I'm also planning to get a couple of those on the week-end. Thanks for your input, it's appreciated.

8)

 

[Edmonton Eskimo]

you say red hair algae. That might be cyano. Do you have a pic?

 

[rthoman]

I got the GREEN NASTY!!! HAIR.....Still battling.... I pulled a bunch out today, more tomorrow then a water change. I was thinking of getting some nudibranches, or maybe a kole tang. Think any of them will help??

 

[Edmonton Eskimo]

They could help get rid of it for now but you have to find out what is causing it. What is your waterflow,nitrates,phosphates check everything. Something is causing it. How long has it been?

 

[rthoman]

Been a while....got a PO4 kit, results normal....Nitrates are also low. new lighting(put in after problem). MAG350, 2 powerheads, and a skimmer. 55g.

 

[Edmonton Eskimo]

how bad is it? You might have to tear down and do a complete removal to get rid of it. I hear a uv sterilizer will kill the algae spores. Are you lessening your lighting period?

 

[varga1]

there is a fish that eats hair algea, i forgot the name but the guy at the store told me theres only one type of fish that will really eat the stuff

 

[rthoman]

how bad is it?

Its pretty bad....I already tore everything down once...Not fun.

 

[Edmonton Eskimo]

you already did a teardown? Have you looked into a uv sterilizer?

 

[rthoman]

UV is the only thing I have not tried, I would definitly get one if I was not a broke college student....

 

[Edmonton Eskimo]

if you check on ebay you can probably get one for under 100 bucks. Could end up being cheaper than having some things in your tank die. Do you have corals in your tank?

 

[rthoman]

Used to look like that...

I am embarrassed to post what it looks like now...

 

[Serge]

So, here is the scoop. I think it is red hair algea, not the red slime I have read about and seen pictures of. So, yesterday, there was a special at the LFS and purchased the following: 10 blue leg hermit crabs, 10 astrea snails and 3 turbo snails. I also got the phosphate 3/4 test kit, and it indicated a level of 1 ppm. So we will see what happens to this red hair algea with this increased cleaning crew. 8O

8)