does/will hair algae spread?

[thefatman]

i bought a few very small pieces of live rock yesterday to make a few structures/caves in the tank. one of the pieces is only about the size of a golf ball. but it has a two patches of hair algae on it.

the "hair" is about 1/4" long and the patches are roughly the diameter of a pencil eraser. will this stuff spread to other rocks that it's up against?

before you tell me all the ways i can get rid of it. i don't want to. i like it. i think it looks cool! and i caught a glimpse of both my emerald crab and my coral beauty nipping at it. so i'm thinking this could be another natural food source, as well as a tank beautifier.

so, will it spread?

of course, if this stuff is really BAD for my tank, please let me know, and i'll jsut pull that piece out! keep in mind this is not a reef setup, just a FOWLR. so if it's not dangerous to the fish, crab, or water quality, then i'd like to keep it and encourage it's spread.

also right now the tank is lighted only by NO flourescents.

[tdwyatt]

Originally posted by thefatman
i bought a few very small pieces of live rock ... it has a two patches of hair algae on it ... before you tell me all the ways i can get rid of it. i don't want to ... so, will it spread? ...of course, if this stuff is really BAD for my tank, please let me know

Always a part of every reef, although it may not be in visible portions. It is most often controlled by herbivores and omnivores that have a taste for algal items. Will it spread? Yes, and if uncontrolled will turn your coral reef into an algal reef (an anthropomorphic change to the Caribbean as we speak ) Many folks will use algal mats in separate subsystems of closed aquaria systems to "scrub" out the phosphate and excess nitrates from the water column, so no, it is not bad per se for your closed aquarium system. It is just that it can get out of control, and if it does, it is more agressive in seeking real estate than most corals can ever hope to be, and in doing so, will smother your corals and related desirable species in your tank.



(think Inspector Cleseau)"...Keel et, Keel et before et multeplies!!!"

[thefatman]

EXCELLANT!! that's exactly what i want to hear lol.. i'm not putting any corals or anemones etcc in this tank. it's strictly a fish only with live rock. so i'm not concerned about it spreading.

on the other hand. if it does get too out of control even for me, i could take some of the rock that it is growin on and put it into my sump on the new tank i'm setting up that WILL be a reef setup with reef friendly fish.

[Alice]

It is a pretty green color, isn't it? Unfortunately, it's one of the scourges of the marine hobby. People have been pushed over the brink battling hair algae and not a few have torn down their tanks and left the hobby all together because they just couldn't win the war against the stuff.

"I thought you said your dog does not bite."

"That is not my dog."

LOL...sorry; I love Inspector Cleseau

[tdwyatt]

If you do decide to keep if in the system, you'll need to use some carbon to keep down the yellow tinge that will creep into the water column. Skimming helps to remove this, but carbon isdefinitely the answer for the yellow. Take a piece of white pvc pipe and put it down in one end of the tank, and look through the length of the tank from the other side. You will be able to detect the yellowing by this method. BTW, I do not recommend keeping large quantities of hair algae in even FOWLR tanks, however, if you keep a foxface or tang of some sort, they will usually keep the levels down to acceptable amounts of growth. A parameter to follow will be the amount of dissolved oxygen in the tank after a lights out period, as these organisms will consume O2 during the night and can seriously affect your O2 levels by the morning. Once the lights are on, and during the photoperiod, this will not be an issue. You will also see a large swing in pH during the changes in lighting as CO2 is consumed by the algae during the day and produced during the night.

[Geoff]

Tom-gotta love your posts. there is always so much information within everyone, that regardless of the original question you are answering you answer many others. i was trying to figure out my PH at night problem, i was letting my hair grow in my sump, hoping that it will outcompete the little bit in the tank, but is the cause for the PH problem.

the TRT needs to have an archine setup for the the reefgods like you, mofo, and spanky. all those must read posts.

G~

[tdwyatt]

Originally posted by Geoff
...i was letting my hair grow in my sump, hoping that it will outcompete the little bit in the tank, but is the cause for the PH problem.

Heh! run the lights 24/7, or reverse photoperiod to resolve this. I dunno about the other stuff, I certainly don't think we need and MORE forums (hint hint Brooke), but they could put one up for the Spankster...

[thefatman]

thanks again! man you are a wealth of knowledge!

as for carbon, this particular tank does have carbon in it. being a freshwater vet i'm real anal about filtration and having carbon in the filter.

i'm planning on putting a layer of carbon in the new tank too, that will have a sump (the current tank has two hang on filters).

i've been reading a lot about sumps and skimmers the past two days so i can do this reef system right. i guess my layers would go as follows : carbon - filter media - bio balls - sponge - skimmer - return (more on this in another topic i'm about to post )

but now i understand how this stuff can be bad if it gets out of control. for now, it's jsut two small patches the size of pencil erasers, and the crab and coral beauty seem to like nipping at it. so perhaps they'll keep it under control.

alice: you're right the stuff does look pretty cool. i like the color and the way it sways in the water... at least in the SMALL patch that is in there now

[Alice]

i've been reading a lot about sumps and skimmers the past two days so i can do this reef system right. i guess my layers would go as follows : carbon - filter media - bio balls - sponge - skimmer - return (more on this in another topic i'm about to post

Me thinks your FW background is showing just a tad Not that that is a bad thing, just different. I came from a strictly FW background, too.

Corals and inverts do not handle nitrates well. You can use bioballs in a reef tank, just be aware that you will need to clean them often. They tend to be nitrate sinks as they don't fully process the nitrites into nitrates-your biological filter of rock/sand/rubble with do a much better job of that for the tank as long as you have enough rock/sand to handle the load. Ditto with filter media and sponge, most tanks do use a pre-filter of some kind before the water goes to the skimmer, just be aware that you will need to change those often as well. I change the pre-filter every other day. Carbon seems to exhaust its' capabilites faster in SW; I run carbon a couple of days a week to help "polish" the water, then I remove it, throw away the carbon and fill the bag with fresh for next weeks use.

Just food for thought...

Alice

[cath]

hehehe...take a look of the algae surronding this Ricordea in my tank. I think it's kinda funny in a sick way. It's a real challenge getting rid of that slippery stuff by hand.

[Geoff]

Cath-mines longer

G~

[Silas]

Since we are comparing.. I have more and they are closer pack.

[cath]

heheheh what an interesting thread this is! Good photos of hair algae though. Hey Silas...you want me to call on Bugs Bunny, the Barber of Seville to get rid of that? I can just hear that music...."Welcome to my shop..."

[Silas]

ya.. that is great idea but I think I need lawn-mowerman for the mess I have. The interesting thing was that at one time I thought this is neat to have because of the nice green colour until one day I found the baby mushroom has no place to go and I have to mow around the mama mushrooms. This and among a few other rock is in the sump with the rabbit fish.

s

[thefatman]

WOW! that is awesome looking!!! course i can imagine i wont like it so much once my reef is started. i'm almost embarrassed to post pics of mine since the patches are so small. but later when i get to my stand pics, i'll do one of the algae.