algae problems

[Texreefer]

The solutions is very simple: First you will need...
1. patience
2. Regular water changes and tank cleanings
3. Good clean up crew. various snails and maybe some hermits
4. Good mechanical filtration that is changed often.(Like Phosphate pad)
5. NOTHING will eat a Healthy thick mat of hair algae (Scrub your rocks so the snails can work on whats left)
6. See #'s 1-5
7. Not trying to be a smart ..... there is no magic involved. other things you can try are reducing light cycle some more( i didn't catch how old the system was so that may help), stop wasting perfectly good vodka,feed less for a while.. add skimmer in there is none.. if you can place some cheato or other macro somewhere in the system as a competing algae for nutrients.
one other question,, are you trying to grow SPS in your sump? why so much light there? I would remove that fixture altogether.. I have a simple 12" Lowes flourescent fixture over mine.. it is only 8 watts and my algae grows fine in the fuge...

[350gt]

use tank water to thaw it in a little cup, then rinse it through one of those little blue brine shrimp nets. The seahorse food is very greasy and gets an extra rinse with RO (I got an RO faucet at the sink so that's convenient)

thank you, I made my first batch tonight.Brine/mysis/plankton/a little squid/krill, hopefully they are pleased...LOL

[350gt]

are you trying to grow SPS in your sump? why so much light there? I would remove that fixture altogether.. I have a simple 12" Lowes flourescent fixture over mine.. it is only 8 watts and my algae grows fine in the fuge...

I have a feeling that might be it....... I had issues with my sons nano and it was the fuge light, removed it and all algae eventually cleared up.....

[alton]

Have your phosphates checked with a digital Hanna meter. NSW has <= .02ppm phosphates. High nitrates, phosphates, and light is all algae needs to become a problem. If you can control these three things you can defeat the algae.

Phosphate comes from fish food(preservatives), can be leached out of Liverock and sand beds, and can be found in tap water.

Using phosphate remover (GFO, phosguard, chemi-pure elite, phosban, etc) is a very effective way of lowering po4 to proper levels.

I use GFO HC from BRS along weekly water changes to control nitrate and phosphate.

HTH

Louis

X2 plus what Texreefer said it will take a while to fix itself. I do not know what types of coral you have but softies love pollution and help control phosphates, just be careful because they will take over a SPS tank. As far as testing for phosphates, algae is the best test. Gary Powell use to always say there are two types of phosphates the one that test kits are made for and the one that grows algae.

[FireWater]

Like others have said as well. The test kits could be showing false readings due to the algae in the tank.
I generally only test the water going in to the tank and look for any excess algae in the tank as my "test" kit.

[Kristy]

I am glad that I haven't had to deal with this stuff much, but when I have encountered it the solution was:
water changes
manual removal
repeat
maybe increase cleaunup crew

Good luck and keep us posted! (You could always send in a pic to the Ugly Tank Contest and maybe win a new cleanup crew!)

[rrasco]

You could also try an algae scrubber to compete for the nutrients. If you can't beat the algae, tell it where to grow.

[Sherita]

Carbon, phosban and religious large weekly water changes. Get rid of the pellets, cut down on feeding and shorten your light cycle. Pick out what you can, get some mexican turbos, a sea hare or a lot of trochus snails (or a combination of all three). I fought this battle in my 30g and I finally won. No algae in sight.

Are you sure it isn't bryopsis rather than hair algae? If it is, you are in for a fight.

Also, if you can tolerate the thievery, tuxedo urchins play the devil with hair algae. Mine doesn't allow even one speck to get started in my 72. However, be prepared, because they will steal anything that is not nailed down. If they can pick it up, they wear it as a hat.