taking out live rock..help

[queenbee]

well seems like ever since i got my new light 2*175 metal halides and 2*96 compact and led moon lights(on 55g) now i have hair algae everywhere!started growing 2 weeks after the new lighting.my old light was 260 watts pc.i tried to pluck some out but it is inbedded in my live rock.would this work....i take the live rock out put in rubber made with heater and powerhead let no light in and maybe it(h.algae) will die.now this is manily a tank with live rock,sand and fish,i do have some shrooms.this is my 1st saltwater tank that i have had running for a year and a month and now i get the hair algae.please don't throw rocks but this tank does get neglected,it's at my parents house .

[tims]

when you take the LR out and give it no light you will have it expell a lot of waste it has been taking in. often times you willhere the words "cooking" your LR.
if the Hair is hitting the tank hard you have excess nutrients in it.
is your skimmer full right?
how often do you feed the tank?

[queenbee]

the tank gets fed twice once with flake,pellets then with frozen.i have a blue jaw trigger.i have a great skimmer a tunze and yeah it does fill up fast.i know this algae is pretty bad stuff,do you think it exploded because the better lighting?And then my dirty water didn't help.i'll have to look into cooking my live rock.going do a 50% water change today and take out some of my sand,and take the hair algae rocks out and give them total darkness for now so it cant spred to the good pieces.

[ReefDave]

Couple ?'s...are you using RO/DI water, and if so, have you tried testing it for phosphates/silicates before topping off or adding salt? It's very possible that you "cook" your rock and have the exact same problem later, if you don't find the cause.

Suggestion...Frozen foods are REALLY high in nutrients. When feeding frozen foods, especially to a FOWLR tank, thaw the food in a container with RO/DI water, then filter out all the liquid. This will reduce the organics going into your tank by over 50% on the frozen foods. Lastly twice daily feeding is probably overkill even for a trigger.



EDIT: woot 700 posts, and it took just over 4.5 years!! hahaha

[Geoff]

it depends on the frozen food. some do not have any additives that could contain phosphates.

i would also get rid of all of your sand and get new. do not get live sand, just get the dry stuff.

the lighting is just now giving the algae the extra power to use the excess nutrients in the tank itself.

G~