/ Register

  1. Do you have an old account but can't access it?


    See Accessing your GIRS Account or Contact Us - We are here to help!

Hair Algae

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by Mary, Aug 19, 2009.

  1. Aug 19, 2009 #1
    Mary

    Mary Inactive User

    222
    Ratings:
    +0 / 0 / -0
    Hi Guys
    I seem to have a severe Hair Algae breakout.  Any suggestions?  Water parameters are fine.  Skimmer isn't working the best though...   I have replaced air stone and line to skimmer but still isnt skimming
    I have a 29 Ga.  jbj nano.
    What i have done so far....
    Less food
    scrubbed rocks with toothbrush
    Purchased 4 hermit crabs..
    For cleanup:  1 astro, 3 astrea, 4 hermit crabs, 1 nasarrius, 2 ceriths...
    Tank stock:  2 fish  1 small 6 line wrasse, 1 med pj cardinal
    Thanks for any help
    Mary
     
  2. Aug 19, 2009 #2
    JB Marion

    JB Veteran Reefkeeper

    5,146
    Marion
    Ratings:
    +3 / 0 / -0
    Hello Mary,

    How long are your lights on during the day? You might want to consider scaling back a bit.

    Also how often are you doing water changes?

    To help control the hair algae, I'd recommend either an emerald crab or a small lawnmower blenny, but either one can be hit or miss when it comes to eating the stuff.

    Hope that helps.

    -JB
     
  3. Aug 19, 2009 #3
    xroads La Porte City, IA

    xroads Veteran Reefkeeper Vendor

    8,015
    La Porte City, IA
    Ratings:
    +1,014 / 6 / -0
    Hey Mary,

    HA can be a real pain to get rid of. I am assuming you are using RO water. If not that is the first thing you should do.

    Here are a few things I did to help get rid of it.

    Purchased a phosban reactor.
    Lawnmower blenny helped
    Yellow tang (they are hit or miss).
    Emerald crabs.

    I also manually picked off what I could so the others had less to eat.

    Good luck
    Craig
     
  4. Aug 19, 2009 #4
    Mary

    Mary Inactive User

    222
    Ratings:
    +0 / 0 / -0
    Thanks Guys, i am running phosban and carbon .
    I would love to get a tang  but what happens when it gets too big?  :)  Hmm i guess one of you would take it off my hands? 
    My lights are on about 9 hrs a day.
    Are emerald crabs reef safe?
    And yes I am using RO water...  Even installed the system myself    :)  not that it was that difficult  lol
    My problem is when i moved the tank i stupidly didn't put all the coraline rock in my tank so pieces i have in the tank don't have much coraline on them...  sigh... how dumb was that?  lol
    Oh i do water changes once a week.  Do you think i should do small ones daily?
    Mary
     
  5. Aug 19, 2009 #5
    xroads La Porte City, IA

    xroads Veteran Reefkeeper Vendor

    8,015
    La Porte City, IA
    Ratings:
    +1,014 / 6 / -0
    Daily water changes are great if you can, but I dont think it will help your situation much.

    I didnt see your tank was that small so a tang might not be a good idea. (However they are very easy to get rid of on here so if you did get a small one, I am sure someone would trade it out when it got too big) By then you will be ready for a bigger tank anyway right?

    Emerald crabs are reef safe & help alot.
     
  6. Aug 19, 2009 #6
    Mary

    Mary Inactive User

    222
    Ratings:
    +0 / 0 / -0
    Thanks for the suggestions. I'll run down to Davenport to the fish store and see if they have any emerald crabs. I know they have tangs just not sure they will have small ones. good time to go down anyway they get their shipments on tuesdays. lol

    Mary
     
  7. Aug 19, 2009 #7
    xmasia

    xmasia Well-Known ReefKeeper

    376
    Ratings:
    +0 / 0 / -0
    how old are the filters on the ro also is it a ro/di what are the tds,are you taking  the rock out of your tank before you scrub and use a wire brush.
     
  8. Aug 19, 2009 #8
    Mary

    Mary Inactive User

    222
    Ratings:
    +0 / 0 / -0
    the ro/di system is brand new. and tds is zero.

    Yes i am taking the rock out and scrubbing although i am not using a wire brush. i am using a tooth brush.

    Mary
     
  9. Aug 19, 2009 #9
    Troy

    Troy Experienced Reefkeeper

    1,025
    Ratings:
    +0 / 0 / -0
    You got alot of good info here. One thing I can think of, is how old is the lighting. i know once the bulbs get old, that could be contributing to the problem.
     
  10. Aug 19, 2009 #10
    xmasia

    xmasia Well-Known ReefKeeper

    376
    Ratings:
    +0 / 0 / -0
    use a wire brush if you need to scrub again then rinse in a seperate bucket save water from your change to do this. how often do you feed? lights could be a problem but ive heard mixed arguements on this, aslo if you can add a hangon fuge it will help. just keep after the scrubbing with wire brush.
     
  11. Aug 19, 2009 #11
    Eric West Des Moines, IA

    Eric Experienced Reefkeeper

    1,170
    West Des Moines, IA
    Ratings:
    +33 / 0 / -0

    Let me ask some different questions:

    How old is the tank?

    How long have the fish been in it...i.e. was something just added?
    Having rock without corraline won't contribute to hair algae.  The jury is still out on whether old lighting will contibute...theory is that there's a shift to the red spectrum, but if there weren't excess nutrients it wouldn't matter.
    You mentioned moving the tank?  How long ago and to what extent (across the room or a complete teardown)?
    Anything missing?  Decay could fuel algae with excess nutrients.
    Any new rock added?  Possibly decay again.
    Water changes and time!
    Yellow tang...tank is certainly too small...emerald crabs have a tendency to knock things over.
    -Eric

     
     
  12. Aug 19, 2009 #12
    Mary

    Mary Inactive User

    222
    Ratings:
    +0 / 0 / -0
    hey Eric,

    The tank is 18 months old. I moved from Milwaukee to QCA so yes it was a total teardown. Fish were moved as well. I have done 2 water changes. ie one each week as i moved the tank on august 1st. i only used partial water when moving so we are looking at probably a 50% water change during tank move.

    I agree there is excess nutrients. My son also has a reef tank (we got into this hobby together) :) and he suggested getting some macro algae to help with the problem. His thinking is that the macro algae will suck up the excess nutrients. He also suggested doing 1 gallon water changes daily. I have been pulling the hair algae thats long enough and disposing of it as well as scrubbing rocks with a toothbrush. I have not yet tried a wire brush

    No new rock added, as a matter of fact i removed rock because i felt there was too much in there initially. The old rock is sitting in the bottom of my mixing tank. :=-) i'll save it for when i get a bigger tank (right Craig?) :)

    And yes a tang will be too big for my tank unless i get a small one and it doesn't grow fast.. but then i will have the "tang police" after me! Son has a 75 gallon tank and is willing to take tang... but i guess im of the opinion that a tang is a last resort.... much as i think they are beautiful and would love to have one... they need lots of swimming room.

    Mary
     
  13. Aug 19, 2009 #13
    Mary

    Mary Inactive User

    222
    Ratings:
    +0 / 0 / -0
    hey Eric,

    The tank is 18 months old. I moved from Milwaukee to QCA so yes it was a total teardown. Fish were moved as well. I have done 2 water changes. ie one each week as i moved the tank on august 1st. i only used partial water when moving so we are looking at probably a 50% water change during tank move.

    I agree there is excess nutrients. My son also has a reef tank (we got into this hobby together) :) and he suggested getting some macro algae to help with the problem. His thinking is that the macro algae will suck up the excess nutrients. He also suggested doing 1 gallon water changes daily. I have been pulling the hair algae thats long enough and disposing of it as well as scrubbing rocks with a toothbrush. I have not yet tried a wire brush

    No new rock added, as a matter of fact i removed rock because i felt there was too much in there initially. The old rock is sitting in the bottom of my mixing tank. :=-) i'll save it for when i get a bigger tank (right Craig?) :)

    And yes a tang will be too big for my tank unless i get a small one and it doesn't grow fast.. but then i will have the "tang police" after me! Son has a 75 gallon tank and is willing to take tang... but i guess im of the opinion that a tang is a last resort.... much as i think they are beautiful and would love to have one... they need lots of swimming room.

    Mary
     
  14. Aug 19, 2009 #14
    adampottebaum

    adampottebaum Experienced Reefkeeper GIRS Member

    2,329
    Ratings:
    +19 / 0 / -0
    Also, you said you moved your tank recently? Did you disturb the sand bed? If a send bed has been settled and established for a while it will hold in phosphates and nitrates and then when it gets disturbed it will release all that stuff into the water and cause hair algae and increased nitrates.
     
  15. Aug 19, 2009 #15
    Box

    Box

    27
    Ratings:
    +0 / 0 / -0
    Just an update on your mention to stop in at AE (I'm assuming your going to AE in davenport and not teskes), if you truly wanted there are 3-4" yellow tangs in though I would suggest against them due to the size of your tank. Also emeralds are in stock all the time and bring in a sample of water. Old test kits could test bad and it never hurts to get a second look at your parameters(its free).


    Box
     
  16. Aug 19, 2009 #16
    Mary

    Mary Inactive User

    222
    Ratings:
    +0 / 0 / -0
    I put in new sand and only used a sandwich baggie of old sand. If i got a tang i really would want a small one say 1-2".. you are right the 3-4" would be too big really. My test kits are new.


    Good idea on having someone else look at my parameters. I did call AE and they do have the emerald crabs in stock. How many would you suggest I get? 3 or 4? And should i add more blue legs as well?

    Mary
     
  17. Aug 20, 2009 #17
    B-Rad

    B-Rad Inactive User

    999
    Ratings:
    +0 / 0 / -0
    Mary I would get just one emerald crab, yes get a few small hermits and if you don't have any I would recommend a few small turbos, just ask the guys at A/E as to how many they think you need!
    If you don't have a lot of corals in there yet, I would work on cutting the light cycle back by a few hours.
     
  18. Aug 21, 2009 #18
    Mary

    Mary Inactive User

    222
    Ratings:
    +0 / 0 / -0
    Hi Guys,
    Just wanted to say thank you for all the suggestions. :)

    I ran down to AE yesterday and purchased a couple of emerald crabs , 10 more blue legs and a yellow tang. The crabs started to work right away. The tang is picking at it but i did buy nori just in case. Should i put the nori out for the tang or wait a day or so?

    Mary
     

Share This Page

  1. This site uses cookies to help personalise content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register.
    By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our use of cookies.
    Accept Learn More...