Questions about major algae problem

[Firereptile]

I have a six month old 55 gallon tank that is pretty much run over with hair algae. I don't have a sump or a protein skimmer and I know those would be the most obvious answers to the problem. However for various reasons these alternatives are not desirable. Does anyone have an idea of how I could solve this without those pieces of equipment?

Tank Specifics:
filtration: Eheim ecco pro 80 gallon canister, 65 pounds of live rock
Water flow: two medium power heads that alternate flow
lighting: aquatic lamp 4 bulb T5 hood
water changes: 10-20% per week of RODI water
fish: 6 fed once a day
Clean up crew: 15 astrea snails, 20 reef hermits, 4 peppermint shrimp, 2 emerald crabs, 2 turbo snails, and 10 nassarius snails

water specifics;
temp: 77 degrees
salinity: 1.025
ph: 8.3
ammonia: 0ppm
Nitrite: 0ppm
nitrate: 0ppm
phosphate: .25ppm
calcium: 420ppm
kh:10

 

[jackd625]

Your problem is phosphates. You're reading .25 and it could even be higher since the algae is using it to grow. The closer to 0 you can get the better. I'm pretty sure for the ideal level is around .03.

What are you using for water in the tank? RODI? If not that'll be your first step towards fixing it. If not, you need to figure out what it's coming from and work on that. You can use chemicals and stuff to get it lower, but without fixing the cause you're not doing yourself favors.

 

[Firereptile]

I use RODI water I have a spectrapure filter

 

[theone]

ditch the canister filter or clean it out weekly. as the sludge collects inside it, the filter turns into algae's best friend

for hair algae, turbos are best. its a delicate balance with a clean up crew. with an outbreak, there is plenty to eat, but once you've solved your problem, if you over stock,the snails will die off

 

[evan.lundberg4]

ditch the canister filter or clean it out weekly. as the sludge collects inside it, the filter turns into algae's best friend

for hair algae, turbos are best. its a delicate balance with a clean up crew. with an outbreak, there is plenty to eat, but once you've solved your problem, if you over stock,the snails will die off

I agree about the canister filter as well. Another thing is are you using a gravel vacuum to clean your sand during water changes? With no protein skimmer to actually remove detritus then it's all either collecting and breaking down in your canister or its just sitting in your sand feeding algae. Just my .02

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[Firereptile]

What kind of gravel vacuum would you recommend? Is it anything special or can I just get something at pet co?

 

[evan.lundberg4]

What kind of gravel vacuum would you recommend? Is it anything special or can I just get something at pet co?

Yeah any gravel vacuum will do. I have a cheap Wal-Mart version. I think it was like 6 bucks. There are nicer ones so it's a matter of preference. The longer ones are nice if you have a deeper tank. Up to you though. Gravel vacs are a necessary piece of equipment IMO

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[ro_nicu]

a skimmer would probably benefit you the most.

 

[mrimcoski]

Do you feed frozen cubes, like mysis or brine? The liquid from the cube is usually high in phosphates... My hair algae issue disappeared when I started straining the shrimp in a net before feeding (coupled with water changes).

And +1 about the protein skimmer

 

[ReefandClimb]

Do you feed frozen cubes, like mysis or brine? The liquid from the cube is usually high in phosphates... My hair algae issue disappeared when I started straining the shrimp in a net before feeding (coupled with water changes).

And +1 about the protein skimmer

+1 for skimming frozen food first. Great idea. Eliminates alot of the soupy gunk

 

[jason401]

Using a power head to blow detritus off rocks during water change helps too

 

[wrassefan]

I agree with cleaning out the canister. I would also manually pull out as much HA as you can. True mexican turbos are the best HA eaters. Try lights out for a week in combo with the turbos.

I would be careful with disturbing too much of the sand bed too quickly...depending on how deep your sand is. If you are going to siphon sand, I would do only a small area each water change. You will be releasing alot of bad trapped stuff and don't want to start a mini cycle...just go slow

 

[Firereptile]

How thoroughly would you recommend straining your frozen food, right now I just stick it in a net and pour a glass or two of tank water on it.

 

[mrimcoski]

I thaw my cubes in tank water then pour into a net and feed the tank Putting the net in front of a power head helps distribute through the tank.