hair algea-Algae-3reef Forums

botie · 05-20-2008, 04:40 PM

i have been battling hair algea for the past 2 months all perams. are good put a phos reactor in didnt faze it put a fox face in wont touch it i dont know what to do im ready to give up please help

wildreef · 05-20-2008, 04:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by botie

i have been battling hair algea for the past 2 months all perams. are good put a phos reactor in didnt faze it put a fox face in wont touch it i dont know what to do im ready to give up please help

First off botie it's gonna take time and some work.
Its harder to rid your self of it than to aquire it.
phosphate reactor working right ?

1,If you would like to help it by taking rock out one at a time and scrub it with a stiff brush ( do your best to knock as much off ) then swish it round in a bucket of clean RO/DI water and repeat as needed and put it back in your main tank.
( do this quickly so as not to impact coraline as much )

2, Cut your lighting down to 7 hours "total time" and make sure your bulbs are up to date , replace old bulbs.
( bulbs older than 10/12 months WILL lose their spectrum over time and certain spectrums of light just make some algae's grow like wild fire )

3, cut down on feeding your fish and make sure you have a decent cleaner crew , such as a couple of turbo snails, some small red legs., etc. ( they also consume algae )
( I MY self have wittnessed my sally light foot eat bubble algae ), i'd had a few spots on the rock and i was amazed to see it eat it. ( cleaned the whole spot off ).

4, also if your skimmer is adjustible ( water flow from it ) you can "wet skim" you'd be amazed at it , IT WILL PULL OFF THE SLIGHTEST OF particles, including algae spores.

botie · 05-20-2008, 05:05 PM

wildreef what do you mean by wet skim i just whent to brand new mh 4 days ago so bulbs are good i was told fox face fish love hair algea so i got one and he hasnt touch it

wildreef · 05-20-2008, 05:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by botie

wildreef what do you mean by wet skim i just whent to brand new mh 4 days ago so bulbs are good i was told fox face fish love hair algea so i got one and he hasnt touch it

Do you have pics of your tank you can share ?
i could better undertand the sevarity of your problem.

what tpye of skimmer do you have , I can then tell ya what you can do to make it wet skim.

how big the tank ? how many corals you have ? ( you may not have to have your MH's on right now )

I run 1520 watts of light MH and double 6 foot actinics, and I dont have one bit of hair algae problems.

botie · 05-20-2008, 05:39 PM

i am running aCurrent 48" SunPod 2X150W 14K HQI Metal Halide it is on for 8 hours and for the skimmerits a Bermuda Aquatics BPS-3C i have a 75 gallon i have a frogspawn,umbrella coral, a torch coral' brain coral daisy poylps kenya tree star polyps and an sps

wildreef · 05-20-2008, 05:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by botie

i am running aCurrent 48" SunPod 2X150W 14K HQI Metal Halide it is on for 8 hours and for the skimmerits a Bermuda Aquatics BPS-3C i have a 75 gallon i have a frogspawn,umbrella coral, a torch coral' brain coral daisy poylps kenya tree star polyps and an sps

Ok it appears that you have an adjustment valve ,turn it down' ( restrict the water flow leaving the exit tube )
thereby causing water to "rise" in the first cylinder ,pushing the lighter foam
up closer to the collection cup.

what it does is, putting more water in the cylinder/mixing with air and is pushed further up the cylinder and held longer and it's able to collect the "lighter" particles.
( caution, lol , you should only do this at home cause it WILL fill your catch bucket/jug fairly quickly,adjust your skimmer so that the water level in the main cylinder in alomost to the 2nd cylinder ( right above that decal/sticker )
or just below it, you'll see what i mean once you get it just right'.
that collection cup will begin to fill with the lighter dirtier water.

And i do suggest the others in the first reply to knock this algae problem down.

omard · 05-20-2008, 05:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by botie

i have been battling hair algea for the past 2 months all perams. are good put a phos reactor in didnt faze it put a fox face in wont touch it i dont know what to do im ready to give up please help

Don't give up!!!

Many have faced this problem and beat it down.

First make sure water params are as near perfect as you can get them and keep them that way...even if you have to do a water change every few days. Replace light bulbs if anywhere near turn over time.

Get some more help...hermits and turbo's...

Then you have to get to work...

Start picking (pinching) out clumps by hand, rinsing off fingers in some clean water after each "pull", before reaching back in tank....to make sure no algae filaments are getting back in tank to prevent spread elsewhere.

Repeat, repeat, repeat...may take days to get algae down to level that your hired workers (crabs/snails) can manage full time for you.

Success will come.

wareagle35031 · 05-20-2008, 06:03 PM

mexican turbos eat the sh ** out of this stuff, I added 3 into my 65 gal and got phoshates down and it worked, just hang in a little longer

luvreefs23 · 05-20-2008, 06:05 PM

i added a emerald crab and trimmed mine while i siphoning and it was gone in a month. I did water changed as usual but that was it

Tangster · 05-20-2008, 06:09 PM

What do the Parameters of your water test out at ? Ca , Carbonates , Phosphates and Nitrates and Magnesium..