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Massive hair algae and drastic measures
- Thread starter beckbrass
- Start date
Yup,definitely hair algae.
Just on the rock,huh?The sand looks good,sometimes it will grow up the glass as well.
Looks like the rocks I had in my qt that were leaching phosphate.
Just on the rock,huh?The sand looks good,sometimes it will grow up the glass as well.
Looks like the rocks I had in my qt that were leaching phosphate.
Have you considered leaving everything in the tank and running a phosphate reactor?
My neighbor had a very bad HA problem in his 90 gallon and that solved it without pulling the tank apart.
My neighbor had a very bad HA problem in his 90 gallon and that solved it without pulling the tank apart.
+1 def hair algae I would consider what stingythingy said before getting to drastic.
delta
Impatient Reefer
Algae scrubbers are not an efficient means of removing nutrients they are only effective if they are very large. Even then there are much better ways
to export nutrients
Get your self a Seahare and get on a diligent maintenance schedule
BI-weekly 25% water changes for two weeks then weekly until the problem subsides
When changing the water take a power head and clean off the rocks before draining it. Siphon off any detritus
then change out the water rinse and repeat. run a filter sock for 24hrs after the water change.
Make sure your skimmer is working well.
Keep water flow high
Just when you think it won't go away poof it will be gone.
to export nutrients
Get your self a Seahare and get on a diligent maintenance schedule
BI-weekly 25% water changes for two weeks then weekly until the problem subsides
When changing the water take a power head and clean off the rocks before draining it. Siphon off any detritus
then change out the water rinse and repeat. run a filter sock for 24hrs after the water change.
Make sure your skimmer is working well.
Keep water flow high
Just when you think it won't go away poof it will be gone.
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dcforester1
Finally enjoying my tank
I did this and it took care of my HA problem. Granted it wasnt anything like that, but it wasnt fun. I would make sure you are not adding phosphates to your system. I was positive I wasnt adding any, until someone showed me I was, and where I was getting them from.
I have a Sea Hare that I can lend you, he was a God send for me.LMK, and GoodLuck Derek
OP
OP
beckbrass
Make it fun.
Delta it has been 4 months of exactly what you described and has only become worse and thus the reason for the switch. I have tried the sea hair route but it did not do much except eat a few small patches but thanks for the ofer Derek. I think this switch is the only option at this point.
delta
Impatient Reefer
You take the rock out, scrub it, and put it back in, you are throwing your tank into a tail spin by doing that. It took a year to get into the mess it will take a long time to reverse it.
This is why most reefers only stay in the hobby approx 1.5yrs and they are out. It gets real after a year no more relying on your sinks(i.e LR & sand) sucking up nutrients. Your sinks get full and you have to deal with it the honeymoon is over time to get to work.
Try seeding your tank with some sand and LR rubble from a well established tank. And stop throwing your tank into a cycle. You will never beat it that way.
It comes down to this if your tank looks like smacky it is because you didn't enough maintenance.
This is why most reefers only stay in the hobby approx 1.5yrs and they are out. It gets real after a year no more relying on your sinks(i.e LR & sand) sucking up nutrients. Your sinks get full and you have to deal with it the honeymoon is over time to get to work.
Try seeding your tank with some sand and LR rubble from a well established tank. And stop throwing your tank into a cycle. You will never beat it that way.
It comes down to this if your tank looks like smacky it is because you didn't enough maintenance.
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OP
OP
beckbrass
Make it fun.
I did not know taking the rock out scrubbing it and rinsing with salt water would start a new cycle. The rock was out for less then a minute. I don't know if you have read the whole thread but it describes what I did to get me into this, what I'm doing to fix it and why. I also posted a link to what I'm doing that some one else wrote and did and it worked.
delta
Impatient Reefer
Do what you feel will work. I have an opinion based on my experience, others have their own. I do not feel I have the corner on the market of how to run a reef tank. There are many way to get to where you want to go.
Im having a similar problem, though not as bad as yours. The HA is growing in a select few places but it annoys the crap out of me. I run RO/DI, have a GFO reactor, and it persists. I feed pretty lighly, and have a low bioload. The stuff isnt growing, or is growing terribly slowly. It WONT die off though. Ive resorted to trying a product called AlgaeFix Marine which seems to have good results with most people but not all. I am on my second dosing, and by around the 5th dos it should be gone I believe. Ill try to write back in this thread if I remember after the 5th dosing (9 more days)
dcforester1
Finally enjoying my tank
Are you sure about the sea hare? Mine was an eating machine and I am getting worried because i dont have anything for him. Unless you want to start a new tank to do something different I wouldnt start over. Good Luck and let me know if you want to take him for awhile. I also had good luck with my Tang, but I know you tried that.
LMK Derek
LMK Derek
OP
OP
beckbrass
Make it fun.
Thanks for the offer on the hare but I also want to switch to a reef ready tank as well so this hopefully will kill two birds with one stone. The hair I had died after a few weeks. I checked and the water quality was good so I don't know what did him in. I kind of wonder if it was the algae it's self that poisoned him or something.
+1 on all of these. I used all of these to get rid of mine. Large water changes are a must. Try not to over feed. Over feeding is the big problem.
