help!!!!!!hair algea??????

[mell860930]

please help!!!i have a 75 gallon reef tank thats only a few years old.i bought some live rock off a horrible dealer that was covered in hair algea and he told me it would go away.it ended up taking over my aquarium..but i still have it...ive been trying to ue some diffrent "reef safe" hair algea remover but i want it out of my tank......and it seems like the dealers up here in mass.dont know what they are talking about one says one thing the other says another thing and neither make sense.please help!!!!

thanx

[kwjones]

Start here. It's going to take time.

[Little Luey]

Welcome to TRT!
as far as your rock it is probably loaded with phosphate and it is leaching out. Since you had your tank for a few years I assume you practice good maintenance routines on the tank like water changes, feeding habits and all that. Maybe you could try a PH remover.

[VWD]

That link for cooking rock is good, Also need to fill us in on your water changes , Do you use RO/DI water , whats your bio load, how often you feed and so on, The only way to have unwanted algae is for it to have a food source. So more info please


WELCOME TO TRT!!!!

[fjoseph72269]

where in mass. do you live. do not listen to the lfs guys, or at least understand that THEY JUST WANT YOUR MONEY. they will try to sell you everything under the sun. the people here at TRT will allways stear you in the right direction without taking your $$$$. good luck

[KG]

Before I'd go through all of that rock cooking, here's some things that will help with your algae problem:
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o feed less less often
o change more water more often
o be sure to use RO/DI or distilled water only with your SW mix
o remember most lights only last 6-12 months and then they start putting out only in the spectrum that algae likes.
o trun up your skimmer so it produces a wet skimmate instead of a dry foam
o think about adding a fuge where macro algaes and mangroves plants can outcompete nuisance algae for nutrients
o consider incorporating a DSB which will help natually lower your nitrates - another factor fueling algae
o ditch any flake or pellet food since they are loaded with phosphates
o rinse your frozen food well (unless it's a jel) with old SW to remove the "juices" which add to the algae growth
o you could add snails, lawnmower blenny, etc. to help get the algae under control but these do not address the root cause and unless that's done, you will not be successful at keeping a reef; and as a last resort
o add a phosphate binder
>>
Good luck!

KG

[Loverotties]

You have to take away the algea food and it wilkl go away.Phosfate is its food.