tank overrun with hair algae

[mjwku2]

Tank specs:
100 gallon custom tank, 20 gallon sump
Seaclone skimmer
1 400 watt 10K metal halide
2 55 watt actinic pcs, (dont' run often)
Lots of live rock lbs???
some button pollups and mushrooms had some star pollups but they died.
Tomato clown, engineering goby, lawnmower goby, yellow tang, bangai cardinal, a few snails and scarlet crabs, most of them died.
TONS!! of caulerpa and another kind of macro algae the feather lookin one.
Iodine, coral vital, coral vite, B Ionic

The tank is covered with hair algae.

I got the rock and some of the fish and the sand etc about 6 months ago from a guy at the lfs that I used to work at. He hadn't done a water change since he owned it. Don't know how long that was but judging by the amount of hair algae on the rock it was a while. I transferred it all and went through all the of the chemical swings after a 50% water change and got things back on track. Things were going ok i thought... This is my first salt tank and so i started out dosing a bunch with PURPLE UP in the beginning, before I got a calcium test kit. My calcium and ph was off the chart when i tested and I used CO2 to get the ph under control. I did a couple of small water changes to help with the calcium to try to keep the ph down but to this day it is still high and I am still injecting CO2 to keep the ph down. The calcim has been around 500 and the alkalinity equally high forever despite the fact that I'm not dosing. I JUST NOW got some coraline algae growth on the glass. I am not real sure why it has taken so long but I am guessing it is because of the water conditions. I never checked the phosphates until about 3 weeks ago and they were off the chart... btw for the past couple of months all the other water specs were perfect... What prompted me to check or phosphates was a big decline in the quality of all the corals in my tank, the pollups and the mushrooms were shrinking. I put a bunch of stuff in there to get rid of the phosphates... slowly, and now things are looking better and like I said the coraline is starting to grow a little. I don't know what I am doing wrong now but I would like some help. All of the caulerpa and stuff is in the main tank and blowing up, the sump is pretty much just being used as an overflow. I have a small amount of mechanical filtration but other than that and the skimmer there's nothing filtering the water. Don't know if i need to change this. I want to get rid of the hair algae it is growing growing growing. I was hoping that the coraline would start growing and then I could scrape off the hair algae or turn the lights off and the coraline would help keep it away but I am starting to think that this is unrealistic. I don't know if the conditions of the previous tank that the rock was in ... the no water changes... lead to the rock and sand soaking up phospates etc and they are just leeching out now or what.
HELP!!!

[ski1297]

I would try to use RO/DI water with your WC. Try to stay away from tap water. Tap water might have things in it that could feed your algae. Seaclone is not the best skimmer. You might want to look at getting a new skimmer. You might want to "cook" the live rock that will help get the phospates and bad things out of it. WC are a must and thats good that you are doing them. Try not to add any chemical to the water for right now. We will help you get the tank back on track. Welcome to TRT!!

[ski1297]

Do you test your nitrite and nitrate? Its ok to run your actinic pcs with the MH. The actinic will not feed the algae. You might want to look at getting a clean up crew to eat some of the algae.

[binylee]

Scrub the rocks with hairy algea off as much as you can. Then get some emeral crabs and rainford goby. Rainford gobies are good hairy algea eater. They are great little guy too.

[Brent Cone]

Welcome to T.R.T. Water change! RO/DI Water change RO/DI! Better skimmer!! if your hard for cash!!! check this out!

Dual Application System: Hang-on Tank Mount or Sump Hook-up Easy-twist Collection Cup Water-level Adjustment Dial Bubble-production Diffuser High-grade Acrylic Construction with Custom Components Colorful and Informative Packaging Item # Description Tank Capacity Dimensions (L x W x H) Price ES33014 Coralife Super Skimmer Venturi 220gal up to 220gal 6"x8"x25.5" $113.99

Brent.

[Geoff]

Welcome to TRT!!!



sounds like you are having a tough time. hair algae is a tough bugger to get a handle on.

i would start by getting rid of the sand. if the person before you had not done a water change than the SB is loaded with phosphates and pretty much whatever you do will not solve the problem because the SB will continue to leach its phosphates back into your water column.

cooking the LR would also be a good idea. this is pretty time consuming but worth it in the long run if you are serious about getting rid of the HA. unfortunately there is not a simple fix for this.

G~

[DebsSisterFlo]

I've been reading that turbo snails will eat hair algae... I have one and was thinking of getting another.

[wannareef]

i would get a huge cleanup crew 100+ hermits, 30 turbos,50 astreas, 50 nassarius they should help take care of the problem, a sally lightfoot, some emerald crabs lots of stuff that like to eat all day and night...good luck

[motorslave]

i agree with Geoff. A clean up crew will eat some of it, but wont fix the base problem. Address the problem then use clean up critters to maintain a healthy tank. I also agree with getting a good skimmer. Dont skimp here, the skimmer is a vital piece of equipment. Spend as much as you can. I would suggest looking at MRC, Euroreed and ASM units.

R

[VWD]

Welcome to TRT!!!

[mjwku2]

You guys replied fast!!!
I test nitrate and nitrite. They are fine.
I don't know that cooking my rock is going to work. I live in an apartment and don't really have the room. Plus the salwater would cost a ton. I have a lot of rock. It took 2 30 gallon rubbermaids to transfer the rock when i got it in the tank. Is there any alternatives? Cooking some of it? I have put several pieces of the rock in my sump but I don't know that that will do anything for the real problem... the phosphates. I got a chemical fix called Phos buster. It comes in two parts and it can treat a ton of water. I dont' know where the phosphate goes when it gets treated it must still be in the water i guess but if i kept treating it and doing water changes it would be gone eventually right??? THE LEVEL IS .5 OR 0 NOW, after treating a couple of times with this stuff and the corals look better... but I was thinking of trying to remove as much of the HA i could and maybe replacing the sand and treating the water. Maybe a big water change. I just don't want to do something like change the sand and spend all the money for the sand if its just gonna get saturated with phosphate again. But maybe if I keep treating with the phosbuster??? The algae grows on the sand as well as the rock. Not all of the rock is covered. It seems like the rocks that have coraline on them aren't covered. But most of the rocks have some HA on them. Many are completely covered. I would be more inclined to do some kind of treatment IN MY TANK and move the corals I have or sacrifice them... It would be cheaper I think and easier. I don't have that many I could move them to the LFS if i needed to. Would that work??? Maybe drop the water in my tank to really low, just covering the rock, then turn the lights off, If i treat the water and have 0 P04 in it can i save the water that I drain for water changes while cooking? If I do it this way should I skim it. I got 2 seaclone skimmers. I get a cup a week out of the one I am using. The other one isn't on. but I could use it. I might be able to move my stuff to the lfs but i dunno about my fish... would they survive darkness for however long? Maybe if i moved some of my rock to the lfs.... they could change the water without knowing why... in one of their systems that gets cycled anyways, dilute the problem down at the lfs for a month... but i wouldn't be able to bring it all there. I DON'T KNOW I thought i was getting a good deal I got a ton of rock and sand and fish and corals for like a quater of what it should have cost and now its going to cost the same anyways. ideas?

[Fly Guy]

Originally Posted by Brent Cone

Brent.

LOL

[mjwku2]

btw I use RO DI water so thats not the prob unless the lfs sux

[VWD]

What part Of Kansas are You from? City.

[mjwku2]

lawrence, I ahve family in hutch and wichita though