Hair algae!!!!

How do I get rid of it? I've been picking it by hand for about 2 months, scrubbed it off the rocks with a toothbrush in a bucket and added some PhosGuard in my HOB 5 days ago. Nothing I've done has seemed to help. What else can I do?

 

You could be introducing phosphates and silicates via your source water. Check to make sure you are using DI water reading 0TDS on a TDS meter.
Once you have that in line, continued use of phosphate absorption media and regular water changes will work but you must keep at it aggressively. It could measure undetectable with testing, but will continue to leach out of the rock and substrate until equilibrium is reached.

FYI Phosguard is depleted rapidly, so consider some type of GFO.
If not employed in a fluidized reactor, make sure it's placed in a high flow area when using bags.

Shane,
SpectraPure, Inc.

 

I'm not sure what my LFS's RO/DI water's TDS level is at, but it's what I've been using. I do a water change every 2 weeks, is that enough? And I have the PhosGuard in a very high flow area. Should I change out what I have in there with more?

 

Bump

 

Ask the LFS to do a TDS check for you when you pick up your ro water just to be on the safe side. That shouldn't be a problem for them.

 

Either use a phosphate test like Red Sea or a checker preferably a Hanna to determine when you need to replace the media. When using fresh media you should see a drop in levels when they no longer begin to decline and are on the rise, it would be a good indicator it's time to change.
Weekly water changes are better when dealing with algae issues.

However! You must determine if and what is in your source water that could be causing a problem. And you should be using testing equipment to verify. Do this first! Adding to much AO (Phosguard) or GFO can negatively impact corals.

It could also be your feeding habits and the type of food you are feeding, bioload etc.
These are all things to consider.

Shane
SpectraPure, Inc.

 

Try getting some Emerald Crabs, Yellow Tang will eat it if you have a big enough tank, a good protein skimmer will help, a UV sterilizer helps alot too.

 

Had an emerald crab. It ate a chromis and peppermint shrimp (weird, I know). I have a 29 gallon tank, so no tank. I can't afford a protein skimmer or any good UV sterilizers. I'm going to try to save up for a UV sterilizer, though.

I'm going to check with my LFS tomorrow to get the water tested, then go from there. I'll let you guys know what they say.

 

If you've got corals (or clams) this isn't the best choice, but give your tank the "3 days of darkness" treatment. You may have your lights on too long, that's what brought it out in my tank when it happened to me.

 

When I started my tank I had a hair algae bloom and it grew like crazy to about 4 inches long all over the place... my phosphates were at 0 so I did a few things: seahare (he was the best thing I could've done because all he did was eat the algae- just be careful because if they die, they could produce a toxin in the tank and once your algae is gone, you have to get rid of him because he'll starve); marine SAT (this is a live bacteria solution so it's all natural, meant to control the string/hair algae); lawnmower blenny (which eats the hair algae- he was a little intimidated at the amount at first but he keeps it in check now that it's gone)... so all of these things combined- especially the seahare- got rid of it all in less than 2 weeks...