Help with hair algae

[celticstarb]

I recently had a huge infestation of flatworms that I successfully eradicated. The problem is all the dead bristle worms that show up every day. I've been doing roughly 50% water changes every other day. I also remove any dead worms I see throughout the day.

I also shorted out the power outlet by accidentally knocking off some salt creep into the outlet. Needless to say, I narrowly escaped an electrical fire. Actually there were small flames that flared up when I unplugged the power strip.

Because of the unusable outlet (I will replace it with a GFI outlet soon), I couldn't plug the fuge light back in. I do vodka dose, but didn't consider the fact that I would have to increase the dosage due to the fuge light being off and the dead bristle worms. Now I am fighting a huge hair algae and red bubble algae bloom.

The fuge light is back on and I am still dosing vodka.

I have 2 questions:

1. How do I get rid of the red bubble algae? I understand that if I accidentally pop the bubbles, it will cause the bubble algae to spread.

2. How long should I dip the frags in peroxide? I manually removed much of the hair algae from each frag and dipped them in a 50/50 mix of tank water and peroxide for 30 seconds. I decided to take a chance and dip some SPS I have. I know they don't handle peroxide well, but since they are all inexpensive frags, I felt it was worth the risk. Plus I still have the mother colonies of each frag.

Any help would be appreciated.

This is in my seahorse tank, so large fish and crabs (except scarlet leg hermits) are a big no no.

Tank parameters:

Amonia - 0ppm
Nitrites - 0ppm
Nitrites - through the roof. The test kit doesn't even go that high.
Ca - 425
Alkalinity - 8
Magnesium - 1350

I have considered blacking the tank, but the seahorses need light to eat. I can move the seahorses to the frag tank, but in the frag tank, I have some LPS that can sting them. If I can't get the hair and bubble algae under control, I will move the LPS to the QT and put the seahorses there.

Sorry for the long post, but I figure the more info I can give, the easier it will be to get help.

[alton]

There are several types of bubble algae, the very large which you remove and never see again. The smaller which you will hear Mithrax crabs help, but I have tried so many and nothing. Manual removal is your only bet, try tooth brush first, then sharp knife next. The extraction is best done out of the aquarium. If you cannot remove the rock remove the bubbles by vacuuming them during a routing water change. I tried one experiment where I used a ton of GFO to strip my tank of Phosphates, and I lost most of my coraline algae, but it did not affect the bubble. Typical hair algae is controlled by Florida Astrea snails.

[Justin]

I've been there myself and it sucks. First make sure you don't have bryopsis and just hair algae. Manual removal is the best step toward eradicating it in your tank. Use a toothbrush and a flex hose to help scrub and syphon the excess remnants. I would also with a flex tube attached to rigid tubing, vacuum any dead worms that you see. The dead will start to decay and spike your nutrients, which in turn feeds the algae. Algae normally needs two things to grow, nutrients and light. If you can't block the light, the next steps are the following:



Reduce your nutrient loads by getting rid of dead worms, vacuum the sand, rinse any frozen food you may use
You can introduce a faster growing algae to outcompete the hair algae. If you have space, I would create a fuge where you can add cheato and/or calerpa to absorb nutrients in the tank before the algae can. This will also be a haven for pods which in turn will help feed your seahorses
Finally, Astrea snails are great for cleaning algae. I got in on an order with Alton and each of us got about 50 snails each. It seems like a lot, but they made short work of the algae and constantly graze my rockwork eating any algae that tries to make an appearance.

[FarmerTy]

Addressing the nutrient issue is probably the first item you should tackle. The common routes of removal for nitrates are via water changes, macro algae uptake, denitrification, carbon dosing, or sulphur denitrator. I would employ one of those tactics. Just know that nitrate concentration is directly proportional to the amount of water removed. If you change 50% of your water, you will have a 50% reduction in nitrate levels. I'm not advocating such a large water change at once, that was more for illustrative purposes.

I can guarantee your phosphates aren't zero either but it's being uptaken via algae, hence the zero reading. I typically employ GFO for phosphate reduction.

Once you start eliminating excess nutrients, combine that with manual removal and you should tip the scales in your favor.

[alton]

All great suggestions. Just remember it will take time, getting in a hurry only creates more problems.

[celticstarb]

Thanks for all the advice. I'm planning a water change tomorrow, so I will fill a tote with tank water and get to scrubbing and rinsing. It will also give me a chance to remove any worms that may have died under the rocks. I will also bleach the pumps to kill the hair algae on them.

I do have a tiny patch of bryopsis, but it is confined to one small piece of rock rubble, so I can bleach it or even just throw it away.

I have my refugium back up and running, so that should help with some nutrient export. I my try upping the vodka dose a bit to see if it helps, too.

[FarmerTy]

Do yourself a favor and just throw that rock away with bryopsis on it. If it gets in the rest of the tank, it'll be a nightmare to remove.

[Justin]

That would be the easiest thing to do but it might have already sent out spores throughout the tank. Best to act quickly with something before it starts to get settled.

[leliataylor]

Be careful with increasing the vodka dosing. It can cause a massive bacterial bloom which would mean you have to stop dosing for a few days. When I get GHA I manually remove as much of it as I can and focus on nutrient reduction. At this point in time the GHA is there because it is utilizing the nutrients. It is tempting to try throwing everything at the tank and when you do you can create a even bigger problem. Take it slow, remove as much detritus (dead worms) as possible, do water changes to aid in nutrient reduction, manually remove the GHA, add macro to out compete the GHA and remind yourself it will take time for the tank to clean itself. Seahorse actually like hanging out in GHA and seem to enjoy swimming around trailing GHA off their spines.

Since this is a seahorse tank you need to be very careful what you add to the tank as many commercially available products are contraindicated with seahorses.

[celticstarb]

I think I am the unluckiest guy! Somehow, last night, the timer on the dosing pump stuck. I think it poured about 10 ml extra vodka in the tank. It hasn't hurt the coral or fish, but it did cause a large bacteria bloom. I pumped up the skimmer and am wet skimming to see if that will help. I would just do a water change, but I' out of salt until it gets here on Monday.

[Troy Valentine]

Sorry to hear about your problems.

IMHO- I would go back to basics. Discontinue dosing as well as all other forms of chemical filtration. Just do water 10% weekly RODI water changes, and instead of removing algae from the system entirely, just put it in the fuge. That includes all nuisance algae. I wouldn't worry about the bubble algae at this time. Once the system finds it equilibrium again the algae will exhaust its resources. That is the reason for putting it in your fuge. The algae is a natural equalizer. Just let it work its magic, and by removing from the system entirely, you are going against the will of your system. The tank will find balance on its own, we are the variable that usually screws things up. Be patient, and diligent on water changes and your luck will turn. From my 20+ years at doing this drastic moves almost never turn out well. Even when you are trying to correct a seemingly hopeless situation. You will create an impossible system to maintain long term. It will always be in a state of flux. Good luck!

[celticstarb]

I think you are right. I relocated all the coral to the frag tank and they opened up within an hour. I plan on doing a water change tomorrow since I was able to get some salt today. I will make sure to move the rocks and vacuum out any dead or dying worms I may have missed. In the last few days the refugium has become packed with calurpa, so it must be removing at least some of the nutrients.