Hair Algae (Again)

[Mr_Cool]

O'kay. I've been battling a hair algae problem for a while now. I've set up a small fuge that I've loaded with some live rock rubble, a layer of sand and some macro algae (Chaeto and some Red Grassillaria, sometimes called "Tang Heaven".) The macro algae is growing just fine, and I'm starting to get a nice population of Pods in there, too.

I have some snails and crabs in there (at least 15 hermits and about a dozen snails: Nassarius, Cerith and Turbos.) I just don't see much of a difference in the amount of hair algae in the tank, though.

I'm guessing I should manually remove the hair algae and then see if it grows back. Any ideas?

BTW, I use RO/DI water, and skim 24/7. The light for the fuge is also on 24/7. I think I'm taking the right steps. I know it's all about nutirent export. (I've seen Gary's presentation and read his many posts on the topic, too.) But, to I have to get rid of the problem spots first?

[GaryP]

I would suggest addressing phosphates first. The fuge should help, but it may not be the total answer. The grazers should help the problem, but only if the growth of the algae is less then how much they graze.

By that I mean, if the hair algae is growing by 1/4 lb. per day and the grazers are eating 1/4 lb. per day, then you aren't making much head way. I'm sure the fuge is helping, but perhaps not enough to see an immediate impact. The fuge is good for long term maintenance of phosphate levels, but you may need to look at using a phosphate scavenger to help with the "chronic" problem you are now experiencing.

By bringing your phosphates down, it will stop the growth of the algae and allow your clean up crew time to catch up and eliminate the existing algal bloom. Then you can start to evaluate how well your fuge is doing in managing your phosphates on a day in, day out basis. It may need some additional help from time to time with other export techniques, such as a scavenger.

If you recall, I said in my talk that phosphate control often requires a multi-pronged strategy. The fuge is definitely a good idea, but no single technique may be what you need. I think your long term strategy is good. Maybe you just to re-evaluate your short term strategy a little to address your current hair algae issues.

If it helps any, I'm going through the same thing right now. I ran out of phosphate absorber a while ago and just simply failed to get some more and my clean up crew population declined. I have addressed both issues and am now starting to see some progress.

[Mr_Cool]

Would you suggest Phosban or Phosguard? I remember reading something here about how Phosgaurd caused lots of problems in someone's tank. (or was it Phosban that caused the problems?) Either way, how do you feel about these products? Anyone can chime in here.

[GaryP]

I have used Phosguard and other then causing some diatom issues I didn't have any problems. I just started using a product based on the same chemistry as Phosban, but at almost 1/3 the cost called PhosLock. The only place I know of that carries it is Pets R Us.

[Mr_Cool]

Good deal! I like Justin, and I also like 1/3 the cost! ;) I'll give it a try.

[matt]

Back to your original question, yes you should pull out as much as you can. There are a couple of other animals you could try as well, a diadema urchin and a sea hare. They're pretty good with filamentous algae.

Try dripping KW right into your skimmer intake. That's pretty good at binding phosphates in the skimmate, according to Ron Shimek anyhow. The only tank I've ever had any problem with hair algae in was the one tank I had running without dripping KW.

I've had mixed results with the phosphate removers. The best one I know about is called rowa-phos and it's very pricey. Plus you need a "fluidized reactor" which is just a fancy name for a small canister with the flow from the bottom up; not too much flow.

[GaryP]

Just to clarify, Rowaphos, Phosban, and PhosLock are basically the same thing. They are all Iron Oxide Hydroxide. As I mentioned, PhosLock is a lot cheaper.

I'm running it in my carbon unit, mixed with carbon. I will probably switch to a fluidized bed as soon as I can get around to hooking one up.

[sharkboy]

I have been running the Rowaphos and carbon via the "fluidized reactor" for about 3 weeks and have seen that the hair algae decreased. It is a good idea to remove as much of it as you can manually. I guess the process is slow.