Understanding Nuisance Algae

[RayAllen]

Ive been batteling hair algae for a while now and while ive tested to make sure my water paremeters are in check, made water changes and cut down on light the only thing I have not done is remove certain things from the aquarium. What I find odd is that the only place the hair algae will grow is the sand and the foam structure in the tank. My live rock is for the most part algae free; why is it that the algae is growing everywhere else in the tank foam, sand and glass but not the live rock. Im seriously thinking of moving all the live stock into a temporoary holding tank with the live rock and removing the sand and foam and replacing with more suitable sand and more liverock.

On a side note ive never had algae problems this bad with any of my previous tanks and the only thing ive done diffrently with this tank is using a diffrent sand and the foam. All the corals and fish are doing awesome and look great.

[RayAllen]

To shorten whats above why does it grow on some things but not the live rock. What is making the live rock seem resistant (which is great)

[Bill S]

I'm also running into similar frustrations. Mine DOES grow just about everywhere. I've done the following:

Replaced RO/DI unit (just did)
Added Ozone
Raised Mg
Quit feeding nori, instead started feeding romaine
Quit feeding coral food except once per week
Added 1000 bluelegs
Added 2000 snails (mini ceriths)
Added a handful of tritons

If this doesn't work, I'm faced with tearing it down to remove the hair algae.

[RayAllen]

It is very frustrating especially when you have had other tanks where you have done practically the same thing in every way and not had the problem. Just so I dont have to look at it anymore I may get started on the tear down and rebuild as well sometime this week.

For example. My biocube with no skimmer and pcs was pristine with beautiful corals and not one algae problem the entire time I had it, and it was a all in one tank with nothing special about it.

[Ping]

I believe I am finally winning the algae battle. I have been running tremendous quantities of Phosphate removers. The color of my corals has dramatically improved, the hair algae, briopsys and asparagasum are receding.

[RayAllen]

Before I tear down i will try phosphate remover for a 2-3 weeks and see if it improves.

Peter is there a specific brand you are using?

[Zoofan]

I think the coralline algae resist growth of hair algae. I have always noticed that it didn't grow on patches of live rock. Probably the same reason it won't grow zooanthids, because it is alive and has a defense against it. Now I have had plenty of zooanthids that have had it grow in between them and choke them out but I think that is different.

Mike

[tony]

peter are you running the phosphate sponge in a reactor? if not how?

[RayAllen]

peter are you running the phosphate sponge in a reactor? if not how?

My question as well. From what ive read it just needs to be in a area with moderate to low flow.

[barderer]

Ray, My experience with algae is that you just need to let it run its course. There are some materials in your tank, probably the sand , possibly the foam??, that are leeching the nutrients that allow the hair to grow. Test your mixed saltwater preparation and make sure you are not adding any phosphates via your sea salt or your source water. So step one is to make sure you are not adding anymore. Step two is to soak up all the existing phosphate sources in your tank. I "super saturate" the water column with macro algae by growing it out in a separate tank using tap water as source water. Then constantly replenish the macro population in the main tank. Macro grows great with tap as the source water because of all the nitrate and phosphate. The idea is to let the macro out compete the hair for nutrients. eventually, usually a month or so you will start to see a decline in your hair population. Make use of a phosphate absorbing medium, you can boil the media between changes to get more life out of it. Then you can always add a sea hair to finish off the job.

Good luck, N

[tony]

My question as well. From what ive read it just needs to be in a area with moderate to low flow.

that has never worked for me in the past

[ErikH]

CUC, and an Ace made media (phosban) reactor would be good. You will have to check to see the flow rates for your sized tank. The excess nutrients are probably from feeding? Also, you have a halide over a small tank, so possibly shorten the light cycle...

[RayAllen]

Ive reduced the light down to only 6 hours a day and feed only once a day. So the cause is a mystery at the moment. I really dont want to run a reactor if I dont have to buy another peice of equipment, besides livestock im trying not to invest in anymore equioment. There has to be a way to run phosphate without a reactor id think.

[hobogato]

you can run it in the bag provided in the can, it just isnt as efficient and can clump if it is in too little flow or grind to dust if in too much.

[Texreefer]

$20 on line for a small reactor is a little price to pay for an efficient way to run Po4 remover.. also, for piece of mind. I have NEVER had anything but coralline and maybe some bubble algea grow on my foam.. In the few months I had my new tank set up the coralline had completely covered the foam

[RayAllen]

Good to know. I dont think the foam is causing it, but think it weird that it prefers to grow on it. I will search online and see what I find on small reactors.

[cpreefguy]

I have had some annoying hair algae for the past few months and I cant get rid of it either. I placed an order for Ultra Algae X today, we'll see if it works:
http://www.cherrycorals.com/product.php?productid=839&cat=130&page=1

[RayAllen]

Sean a couple of things I read that I didnt like about Algae X

Algae X works against every Algae ( not against bacterias !!! )
o Derbesia, and other feather algae
o Bubble and Goldalgeas, Halimeda calcerous algae's
o Caulerpa
o Bryopsis Algea need longer treatment
Dinoflagellates (brown pest )

and

Sea Urchin and Clams can be harmed after longer use or overdosing

Caulerpas in Mud Filter or Refugium can be harmed also. Remove it.

[RayAllen]

So basically the product would kill my macro and potentially my clam if used to long. LOl, sorta like todays prescription meds- they will fix what wrong but have a long list of bad side effects.

[cpreefguy]

Yeah, I dont have any macro, clams, or urchins so I figured Id give it a shot. If I had clams I probably wouldnt chance it...

[RayAllen]

Got cha. you got to get a clam; they are so cool! That is after you threat the tank.

[cpreefguy]

I had two, but they both died after years of having them...

[Dominican]

Wierd how that happens huh? I had a nice maxima just up and die, out of the blue and after over a year in my tank - no event, no nothing.. :( Sorry to get off topic, but Cpreefguy made me miss my clam *sigh*

[Submariner]

Make sure there are no "dead" areas in your tank deterius stuff can accumulate. I read a great idea somewhere that you should change the direction of your returns, powerheads, coralias etc. once a week. This prevents the slow release of nutrients into the water from areas you can't reach when cleaning your tank.

[Ping]

Increase of flow definitely helps, as well as taking a powerhead to your rock work prior to a water or filter pad change.

Moving the power heads sounds like a great idea. Or we should all buy Tunze Wave makers

I use Kent Marine Phosphate sponge and Phosban at separate times. Both in a Phosban reactor.

[bigmoe21]

does increased flow really help? doesnt the hair algae just thrive in areas of high turbelence? meaning highly oxygenated areas? think i read it in a book somewhere..

[RayAllen]

I have a lot of flow in the tank so thats not an issue. I belive i do have a lot of phosphates so the reactor is the way for me to go.

[Jamie]

In my experience, lots of phosphates equals lots of algae. I would consider running two media reactors...one with a phosphate remover and one with activated carbon (optional though). I use Drsfosterandsmith phospure...it is very cheap in comparison to other brands and really knocked my algae problems out cold. Don't expect it to go away overnight...mine took a few weeks.

Good luck...don't give up.

[RayAllen]

Ive run carbon from the beginning one of those things that I personally think should be in the filtration system at all times.

Not giving up by any meens at the beginning of the thread I mention a tear down simply to clean everything and replace the substrate. Aquarium water runs through my veins; ive gone through a breif time in the past without an aqurium due to selling a home and my wife thought I was going to loose it, lol.

[Bill S]

OK, here's what else I did tonight:

- Turned my VHOs back on. With the 20K lights (which bryopsis isn't supposed to like...), I didn't NEED my VHOs. So I had them turned off.

- Removed most of my Chaeto from the fuge. It wasn't growing well, and I USED to have a feather caulerpa fuge - which worked real well. For some reason, I wanted a chaeto fuge... Now I'm going to try and get the remaining caulerpa to re-grow.

- I've tried spot treating the bryopsis with kalk/vinegar & a syringe. Tried some "Joes Juice" last week, and it worked very well. We'll see how this goes.

[Bill S]

Ray, how are you sourcing your topoff water?

[Ping]

Bigmoe, the more and random the current, the less detritus settlement in our tanks.

[Mr_Cool]

Did someone say, "Nuisance Algae?"

Where's Gary when you need him?!? :bigsmile:

[RayAllen]

Ray, how are you sourcing your topoff water?

With RO water unit I have. I still do not have a RO/DI unit:thumbs_down: I know I need to get one...

[RayAllen]

Did someone say, "Nuisance Algae?"

Where's Gary when you need him?!? :bigsmile:

LOL

Dictionary: (http://www.answers.com/library/Dictionary-cid-56287) nuisance

(nū'səns, nyū'-)



n.

One that is inconvenient, annoying, or vexatious; a bother: Having to stand in line was a nuisance. The disruptive child was a nuisance to the class.
Law. A use of property or course of conduct that interferes with the legal rights of others by causing damage, annoyance, or inconvenience.

[Bill S]

Ray,

How is it hooked up? When I bought my new system from Buckeye, I noticed some strange goings-on. Some info I JUST got from Russ at Buckeye:

When your RO unit first kicks on, it takes a minute or so for TDS to drop down to the "normal" amount. Mine kicks on, and TDS = tapwater. Then quickly drops to about 30, then slooooowwwly goes down to 10.

Membranes have different rejections %. The 75s have a 96-98%, while 100s are only 90%. Mine's a 75. If you have a 100, that means your TDS out is still going to be beyond acceptable.

This also means that if you have your RO set up to kick on to top off, based on a float valve (many do), you will NEVER get decent TDS numbers out of your top off water. NEVER.

If you have a pressure tank, same thing. It will always top itself off on every use.

I have to tell you. The above was a REAL eyeopener for me! Fortunately, I have a topoff container that gets filled about once a week. I do believe I had a bad membrane.

And finally, without a DI canister, you're wasting your time. You HAVE to get that last bit of TDS out.

[RayAllen]

That is Weird and very good to know about the readings. I have a under the sink unit tied directly into my plumbing. I really need to get a DI canister. That and a phospahate reactor.

[Bill S]

Yeah, without a DI canister, you're probably making your life WAY harder than it should be. How is your RO unit tied into your tank?

[RayAllen]

It is not tied into the tank. My wife and I bought it for drinking and cooking orignally so the tank wasnt in the picture then. Before I had this I was doing the old go to walmart and purchase lots of jugs thing.

[Bill S]

I'm thinking that this may be a big part of your problem... You should be able to buy a DI canister for a decent price.

[RayAllen]

I agree that it is part of the problem the other I think is this being my first time with MH. I had 2 other tanks on the same water system and never had this algae problem but those tank has NO and PC lighting.

[Submariner]

Precision is great and they're manufactured locally!