VHO = Hair Algae

Wanted alls opinion on this thought. VHO Actinic Light running (10-12 hours day) passed six months can change spectrum which feeds hair algae. My tank has a bad out break and can not find why, talking to my LFS he had the same problem. Both our lights were 8 months old when the problem was at it worst. He changed his lights and added SAT every Monday and his problem is almost gone. I just changed my lights and add first dosage of SAT. Reason for this thought, is I have read a lot on this forum where people could not find the cause of there Hair Algae out break. Will update if the problem goes away with this simple fix. I never had hair algae before until my VHO were 8 months old. I have only had my new light set up for 8 months.

 

I don't know about VHO, but I was told that with my PC's that they needed to be replaced every 6-7 months. I thought that it was more so because of insufficient lighting for the corals. I don't know about the algae. I would be interested in knowing.

Cindy

 

i just had a pretty bad outbreak myself. the guy at the lfs told me to try 8hrs max on the liberal side of light. and recommended a lawnmower blenny. at first he hid under a rock but after a couple of days hes eating like a king. i tried that sat for about two weeks now nothing so far.

 

What is SAT? A change in lighting spectrum will not cause a hair algae problem but it can help it along. At 8 months, I would go ahead and replace them. What are your alk/ca/mag at? Ammonia? Nitrate? Phosphates?

I had a similar problem last year when I went to Australia for 2 weeks and no supplements were added by my caretaker. I replaced the bulbs, increased water circulation, added a bunch of snails and hermits, did a water change, manually removed the algae daily and made sure to keep my calcium and alk levels up high. It took about 4 months but the hair algae went away completely. Bad things happen fast in this hobby and it usually takes a long time to right them

 

Nitrates and phosphates are generally the cause of algea in our tanks. Limit N and P and you limit A!