how to combat hair algae?

[the raz]

how do i get rid of hair algae ? my tank is fairly new and in the last two days ive had a green hair algae break out and it looks like its starting to take over my live rock. all my parameters are in check amm. 0 , nitrite 0 , nitrate 0 , ph 8.2 in the day time , calc 420 , hardness in meq/l 3.5 , phos last time i tested was 0 , and my grav. 1.024. my water parameters have been stable for weeks and the tank really started to come to life in the last week or so were my die off was coming back to life i have pods all over my tank , feather dusters o some of my rock , all my crabs and snails are doing good . what do i do about this hair algae im very scared about it taking over and ruining my tank ? is this normal ?

[tdwyatt]

Normal activity for a new tank, you may want to let the algae grow for a week, then harvest it outside the tank (by light scrubbing with a nylon-bristled brush), and thoroughly removing all detrital accumulations by the serial rinsing process just prior to replacing the rock in your display. As the tank matures, more competition for the nutrients in the water, along with good herbivor activity, will set a balance in your tank to quell the bloom process for the nuisance algae.


What fishes are in the system, and how much do you feed?

[DebsSisterFlo]

my 20g is 3 months old and I have hair algae... I find that blasting it with a turkey baster and then siphoning during a water change seems to keep it in line but I've still got a good crop growing. Hope it dies back with time... I'm afraid to put those hairy rocks into my 38g??? Should I just put them in after the 38g cycles, or will they cause more harm than good?

[tdwyatt]

Originally Posted by DebsSisterFlo

...I'm afraid to put those hairy rocks into my 38g??? Should I just put them in after the 38g cycles, or will they cause more harm than good?

Once the algae grows some biomass, harvesting the algae will remove the nutrients trapped in the algal biomass. This will give you a means of removing it from the system. Once you've exported a bit of the nutrient load, the algal growth will subside, allowinug herbivores to graze the algae down to controllable levels.

I would put it in and utilized this exort method to your advantage.

[Crabman]

I agree with tdwyatt. When my 75gal was cycling I got a bad hair algae out break. I waited for about 10 days, and them pulled each rock out and did a light scrub in a tub of saltwater and have never had another problem again.

[the raz]

tdwyatt when you say harvest do you mean i should mix a batch of water and scrub the rock in that ? and as far as fish i have a small false perc. clown , a small yellow watchman goby , and i just added a small lawnmower blenny . i spot feed the goby with a small piece of fresh shrimp 1 time a day and i spot feed the clown a small dose of brine shrimp 1 time a day and what ever brine shrimp he doesnt eat the crabs and snails are all over . and i stocked my tank with a week or more in between fish after my cycle . i kind of noticed the out break after i started using the 10k light on my orbit fixture ( i was only using the 420 actinic and my 110 allglass fixture that has 2x 50/50 reef lamps

[tdwyatt]

Originally Posted by the raz

...when you say harvest do you mean i should mix a batch of water and scrub the rock in that ?

Yes on mixing the water, but rather than using it as the wash for your rock, siphon as much algae off the rock as possible and any detrital mulm in the rock, catch this water in a barrel, then scrub your rock in this water and rinse the rock well in a small bucket of clean water. Use the rest of the water you make to refill the tank after performing the cleaning. This is how many folks perform their water changes: they siphon the rock, remove any detrital windfalls in the tank, then use the water for whatever cleaning that might be needed that requires tank water just prior to its discard. Use a little of the clean water for a final rinse prior to returning the rock to the tank and the rest of it to replace the water you've siphoned out of the tank.

Originally Posted by the raz

...and as far as fish i have a small false perc. clown , a small yellow watchman goby , and i just added a small lawnmower blenny . i spot feed the goby with a small piece of fresh shrimp 1 time a day and i spot feed the clown a small dose of brine shrimp 1 time a day and what ever brine shrimp he doesnt eat the crabs and snails are all over . and i stocked my tank with a week or more in between fish after my cycle . i kind of noticed the out break after i started using the 10k light...

That is actually close to the max bioload for a reef tank at 20G, something you could do that will help you in the long run would be to reduce your number of fishes or increase your total volume (t.vol) by adding a sump of equal volume. Feeding everyday for these fishes is not a requirement either, try cutting back to every other day with the same amount of food (don't cheat!) and make sure to thaw any frozen food items in RO/DI and discard the thaw juice (to remove phosphates). Although you did not ask directly about this, consider the use of brine shrimp as both a source of phosphates and nutritional popcorn for your specimens, they do get some energy from the brine shrimp, but the true nutritioinal content is pretty much like you trying to live off of popcorn, as you may like the taste, and it will make you feel full, and it will keep you alive for a bit, but there is little in the way of protein or other nutritional needs to keep you healthy and alive longterm...

Buy some frozen Formula 1 or similar frozen mix based on your fishes nutritional needs, or make your own blender mush (plenty of recipies for this posted on TRT).

So long as your lights are fairly new (less than 6 to 8 months old on tar ballasts), then the outbreak of algal growth is most likely due to the combination of available nutrients in the water and the increase in the STRENGTH of the lighting or the duration of the photoperiod than due to the change in lighting in and of itself. Although you can cut down the time period for the lights to be on (the length of the photoperiod) to help the issue temporarily, resolving both the import issues for nutrients and maximizing your exports will be needed to resolve the nuisance algal growth and still keep coral specimens. Increase in herbivory wil help, but for now, I see the issue and one based on nutrient balance for the algae in question.


I don't remember seeing any mention of your water sources for making seawater and providing your top off, are you using RO/DI???


HTH

[Casey]

Tom what critters do you recommend for a tank his size of 20 gals?

[tdwyatt]

Whatever you want to put in, so long as the total is bout 2" if the tvol is 20 gal, and the fish do not grow up to be larger than 2" (within reason, of course). 20 gal is a nice specimen size tank for little thin reef fishes, although with the right set up, something more exotic could be housed in such a tank.


I don't like to make blanket statements for fish recommendations, especially since that so often is such a personal decision, as well as considering what the space restrictions would be.

[Casey]

Tom on algae clean up crew what critters and how many 20 gal?

[the raz]

tom my tank is 65GAL. and i only plan on adding about 2 more fish in a couple of months. as far as water changes i use a tap water DI unit and i get 0 nitrates out of it and 0 phosphate . i just made 2 buckets of SW one for rinsing and 1 for a water change and ill use the water i take out of the tank to wash the rocks . how many more snails (turbo) should i add

[tdwyatt]

Originally Posted by the raz

tom my tank is 65GAL. and i only plan on adding about 2 more fish in a couple of months. as far as water changes i use a tap water DI unit and i get 0 nitrates out of it and 0 phosphate . i just made 2 buckets of SW one for rinsing and 1 for a water change and ill use the water i take out of the tank to wash the rocks . how many more snails (turbo) should i add

I see that I had mentally combined your original thread with Deb'ssisterFlo's post, sorry for the confusion.

If you want to continue using the tapwater DI column, I would suggest that you buy a portable TDS meter, you might be surprised how short the useful lifespan of the tapwater filter column actually is. For the cost of 3 columns, you could own a RO/DI that should give you at least 9 to 12 months of use (unless you run it non stop...), and then replacing the cartridges in the filter will give you another year or so. If you're using the water from the cartridges and you're in a part of the country where mains water has a very high TDS to start with, then these cartridges for the tapwater purifier may only last less than 100 gallons total... This can be a serius source of nutrient load for closed systems, you need to evalute the water's TDS going into the tank.

As far as the snails go, in smaller systems (and I should take this to heart for larger systems as well... ) it is better to go with an assortment of snails (and leave out the crabs), and what and how many you get will depend on how your system is set up. If bare bottomed, then Turbos and Astreas are all you really need, as they will be able to right themselves when they fall off the walls or rock (this doesn't happen on fine sand) and they are good on most green algae. In a 65 G tank, maybe 20 to 25 of each type, and maybe a few Trochus as well. This combination will be a good group FOR BARE BOTTOMED TANKS to consume filamentious and fleshy algae and cyano blooms as well as any diatom blooms that occur. If you have a tough type of filmentious algae, albalones are good choice, as are some of the reef safe limpets. In a 65 gallon tank, you should be able to control most algae with somewhere between 40 to 50 snails, more or less, I don't go with the 1 snail per gallon R-O-T unless you're using only small species of snails. If you're having dificulty controlling the algal growths of filamentious algae, consider a sea hare, but if this doesn't work, then go ahead and add the small species of hermit crabs, but keep in mind that eventually they may prey on your snails either for food or their shells. It may help to add a pile of shells in a back corner of the tank for them to "try on" for special occasions... .


In tanks with DSB, I prefer to have several Strombus spp. specimens in the sand (number depends on the actual amount of surface area of sand you have, ~ 1 of the fighting conchs per 2 sq ft of open substrate, or 1 queen per 10 to 12 sq feet, especiay as they grow), along with small spp. hermits at about 1 per 2 gal tank vol;n You will need plenty of Cerithium spp. at about 1 (or more) per gallon (they are quite smal creatures), as they are omnivores, they can handle the sand when they fall, and are quite good at eating large volumes of algae, although they are small specimens. They will eat cyano and diatoms as well, and also clean up detrital accumulations in sand (but this may actually be a problem, as their down side is that the detirtus then ends up as snail poop in the sand bed...). DSB tanks can also benefit from Pusiostoma spp. and Nassiarius spp. as they spend lots of time burrowing through the sand and will clean up surface growths of a multitude of different algae and cyanobacteria as well.

One of the biggest drawbacks to having snails and crabs in the same tank is that the snails then become sources of nutrient for algal growth over time. If the crabs are eating them or killing them for their shells (and still eating them), and you're replacing them on a regular basis, it is the same as dumping live food or frozen meats into the tank. Keeping in mind this potential, it is a good idea to consider whether or not you want all snails or all crabs, as inevitably, even the small species of non-aggressive hermits will eventually become a fairly good size, and I cannot tell you how many times I have seen them tumbling over each other to either eat or take the shell of a snail that has fallen on its back in the sand...


Just idle rambling. With a DSB there are other creatures to consider to maintain nutrient balance as well to maintin the DSB in the long run.