Hair algae yes?

Discussion in 'Algae' started by elweshomayor, Oct 12, 2016.

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  1. elweshomayor

    elweshomayor Giant Squid

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    These are my lights. I usually turn them on at 10am and turn them off at 9pm-ish.. I have them set so that the Blues are on Max 100% and the Whites are about 50%.
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    Last edited: Oct 18, 2016
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  3. elweshomayor

    elweshomayor Giant Squid

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    Funny thing you should ask. For the first 4 years, which is when my tank actually looked good. Never. I wasn't even using RO water. Straight up tap, No refugium, no skimmer. Just a simple mechanical filtration. Not a lick of cyano or hair algae. It seems the more expensive equipment people recommended I get, the worse it gets.. Which doesnt make sense because all of these things should have made it better not worse.

    Past couple of years I was doing 25% a month or so. Then last couple of months when everything went down hill I had to do 50% changes. Which may have saved the fish I have now. Idk.
    Im going to test my water in a minute.

    Usually tests come out like this. (recently anyway.. before it was all 0s where i needed it).
    ammonia 0
    Nitrites 0
    PH 8.0-8.3ish
    NItrates, the color shows up as red in the API test kit. Which means theyre pretty high up there. Forget the number associated with red.
    I dont have a phosphate and other things kit, but had the LFS test them and he says it was ok. Granted he also got low nitrates on his test, while I kept getting high on mine. I kinda trust mine a bit more but idk.. his tanks look amazing.
     
  4. Swisswiss

    Swisswiss Caribbean Reef Squid

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    light is only part of the problem, im with civic in that it must be water quality related. also those "batfish" are brackish water fish if im not mistaken.
     
  5. Swisswiss

    Swisswiss Caribbean Reef Squid

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    nitrates and phosphates are feeding your algae bloom that is enjoying your new, more powerful, lighting system. is the cheato lit in the sump? once you get your water in check you can manually remove what visible algae you have left, and if your cheato is a healthy, it should be able to out compete the algae in your DT
     
  6. elweshomayor

    elweshomayor Giant Squid

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    They've been on my 1.024 saltwater tank for a while and been ok? or what do you mean?
     
  7. elweshomayor

    elweshomayor Giant Squid

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    Yeah, I turn on the lights for the chaeto every night. I trim it every once in a while. Right now its the size of a basketball.
    Since I am feeding less, and my bioload is a lot less as well.. Shouldnt the algae run out of nutriets eventually and die off?
     
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  9. dienerman

    dienerman Corkscrew Tentacle Anemone

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    You made a comment about smaller systems holding more bioload. That may be a true statement, however each system is different. A big factor is the amount of rock in your system and if there is enough to hold the amount of bacteria that you need to break down the ammonia and other waste products that your fish put into your system. From looking at your pictures, that could be part of your issue. I would also look for areas in your tank that can build up detritus. Also, if your tank is that old, your sand could be completely filled with detritus and not able to absorb anything else. Could be time for a total sand change.
     
  10. civiccars2003

    civiccars2003 Great Blue Whale

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    Four years of using tap water is the reason you are having algae issues.
     
  11. elweshomayor

    elweshomayor Giant Squid

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    The algae would have been there if that was the issue. I had a good light system prior to these. (T5HO). However, I moved a few years back- literally only a few houses down the road- and emptied the tank. This is when I replenished it with RO DI water. Recently I've replaced the RODI with a new one too, so the water that goes in is clear.
     
  12. elweshomayor

    elweshomayor Giant Squid

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    You think I should have more rock? how much more?
    Also, the sand isnt as old as the tank. I moved a few years back so I replaced the sand. Since i've been doing water changes, I also stirr and siphon the sand. (also I added a bunch of new sand).

    This was my original thought as to what caused the algae bloom. I added 2 new bags of sand on top of the old one. I did a wate change and siphoned a lot of stuff from the old sand and then added the new one.