I need an attack plan for the H.A.

[mcbunnymama]

Need an attack plan for a hair algae problem
tank specs: 14g biocube, 2 false percs, 1 antenna goby, 1 purple firefish
5 astrea snails, 5 turbo snails, 6 hermit crabs, 1 peppermint
shrimp, some soft corals
water temp 79, water paramaters are good, lights are on 5
hours a day, tank up and running just over 2 months


have been over feeding, but have cut back to every other day
10% weekly water changes, but find it very hard to remove all the detritus(suggestions would be helpful) also running the oceanic protein skimmer
open to all suggestions at this time! and thanks in advance- I'm sure you guys get tired of all the newbie ???

[mcbunnymama]

forgot to mention the koralia power head too!

[biowheel]

Do you have any live rock in there ?

[crvz]

you're doing the right things, it just takes a lot longer than folks sometimes expect. How long have you been battling?

[mcbunnymama]

we have about 9 pounds LR, and the algae started off small and over the last week or so seems to have gone crazy
like I said we are having a hard time vacuuming up the detritus, we seem to get a ton of water out but no debris- any suggestions
I'm also wondering if the skimmer is working properly_what should we be getting in the collection cup, it just kind of looks like brownish yellow water, with maybe a very few small bits of debris
I just assumed it was running right, but now not sure!

[biowheel]

Bare bottom tank ? or sand bed .

[mcbunnymama]

sand(shallow on account of biocube) thought I included all the specs.

[biowheel]

The reason I ask is if it was a BB tank you can take a power head and force water under and around to stir up the detritus and siphon it out . With a SB it takes much more care to siphon it without sucking all the sand with the water.Taking a turkey baster and blasting the rock's helps break the HA free for siphoning too . Everyone has their issues with HA including myself .High nitrates and phosphates fuel HA growth . Your doing the right things as stated above . Continue with WC and siphoning and it will in time fade away . It's a tough battle though . Until the nitrates are 0 and the phosphates has leached out of the LR it's an ongoing battle. Old light bulbs can also cause algae growth but my money is on the Nitrates and phosphates
Good Luck and keep us posted . Pics of the tank would be great too !

[mcbunnymama]

was up cleaning the tank at 7 before the kids could distract us,will do that from now on
took the pump apart and scrubbed it good, same as the skimmer(the neck of the skimmer was full of black goop- but still not sure if it's working properly because only getting brownish water in the collection cup)
took out the remainder of bioballs and cleaned the back sump area of the tank really well
also filled the bioball chamber with water to an inch below the 1st chamber level
decided to leave polyfilter out for now
took a full 70 minutes to do the work- but seems well worth it

[biowheel]

Originally Posted by mcbunnymama

was up cleaning the tank at 7 before the kids could distract us,will do that from now on
took the pump apart and scrubbed it good, same as the skimmer(the neck of the skimmer was full of black goop- but still not sure if it's working properly because only getting brownish water in the collection cup)
took out the remainder of bioballs and cleaned the back sump area of the tank really well
also filled the bioball chamber with water to an inch below the 1st chamber level
decided to leave polyfilter out for now
took a full 70 minutes to do the work- but seems well worth it

That's a good plan .Maintenance is key to success. I think you have it covered now . Keep us posted and Have a nice weekend

[mcbunnymama]

the ? I need answered right now is: what does a skimmer look like when running properly and what should be in the cup
see my post above

[zero186]

Well it kinda depends on how your running it could be a brownish water if your running wet or brown bubbles if your running dry and depending on the tanks water it could vary in color somewhat but mine as almost always been a light brownish

[biowheel]

Originally Posted by mcbunnymama

the ? I need answered right now is: what does a skimmer look like when running properly and what should be in the cup
see my post above

I agree with above . That's a loaded question . If it's full of slime and muck it's working . Small tank skimmers are not the best . I have a 34g RSM and the skimmer has to be cleaned every week

[mcbunnymama]

Thank You, I Was About To Toss The Thing, Because I Didn't Think It Was Working, I Really Do Appreciate The Quick Responses From All Of You

[chrisd]

it sounds like the skimmer is working fine. i have the same one and i run it on the wet side works better. i dump the collection cup once a day some times twice. try feeding your fish twice a week after awhile the percs will start to feed off the algae at least mine did.