Algae problems still

[jkreef]

Hello to all...a few months ago I posted a thread regarding hair algae that seemed to be taking over the tank. I have a 20gal reef tank that is setup as follows:

Power compact lighting (atinic and daylight) w/moomlight feature
Plenum sand bed approx. 2 inches deep
two power heads for water circulation
red sea convergent / divergent protein skimmer with surface skimmer
I use active carbon in the protein skimmer which gets changed every month.
I'm using RO/DI water which is also processed for silicates

Still to this day I cannot seem to get rid of the hair algae
I have tried leaving the lights off, but that just seems to stop it from growing. As soon as i light up the whole tank it seems to grow back in only a few hours. I did recently notice some phosphates in the water however i have been treating the tank for that for the last 3 weeks with both chemicals and water changes. But as of today my phosphate levels are at 0.0. I have been draining the plenum once a month by way of a tube I put in. Would it be better to circulate that water under the plenum with a power head? Could the plenum have something to do with the growth. As you can tell I am very desperate. I have done this type of setup many times before with never a problem. This time has been nothing but hell....Thanks for your time.

[ckreef]

Unfortunatly I have no experience w/ a plenum. Hopefully somebody who does will chime up.

[jeepjon]

never made one...I almost did, but I heard that the long term stability of such systems is highly questionable...and the ones that are stable have very yellow water for some reason...I don't know the reasoning behind that one, though.

[bamann345]

We had one on a 125, didnt know it was there......long story behind that. And I believe that caused the tank to crash, but who knows. We also had a large hair algae problem too, it killed me! The person working on the tank (not me) though more lights would help....well....more lights+bad water= more algae growth

[sammy33]

jkreef-
Do you have any "base rock" in your system or any rock that was left out dry for any length of time?

How many pounds of live rock do you have in your system?

What is the source of your live rock? Fiji? Atlantic Aquaculture?

What brand of salt are you using?

What brand of beer do you drink? (just kiddin')

I don't know...these are just some things that come to mind. I remember your original post on this. Did you ever try ditching the carbon and using Purigen instead? I know Charles (ckreef) has had great success with this. I have just started using it too.

[jkreef]

Thanks your everyone's replies....to answer your questions I have 20lbs of live fugi rock that was very beautiful when I got it...However I started having algae problems and took most of the rocks out to dry thinking that would kill the algae...since then hair algae has plagued me...Maybe somehow drying the rocks caused it...I'm not sure, like I have said I have had this setup several times before with excellent success and very low maintanence. The salt I use is Instant Ocean...I know a lot of people have complained about this stuff but I have been using it for years with never any problems...plus it is affordable....I have taken your suggestion to change carbons and it works well....My maintenance is once a week water test, once every other week a 2 gal water change...kalwasser when needed...other than that it's just feeding my one fish and watching the hair algae grow by the minute...Oh before I forget to answer your last question, I drink Fosters and Guiness beer. I hope this helps answer your questions...please let me know if you have more questions....I really appreciate any help or suggestions that anyone is willing to take the time to offer. Thanks again

[ckreef]

I use Instant Ocean so I find no problems there.

I did have one small piece of LR that keep a growth of hair algae on it. I got a "Honey Chromis" and he has chowed it all down and is keeping all the algae in my tank under control.

I don't think he is a Chromis but rather a (Paraglyphidodon sp.). He is orange with an electric blue circle on his back side along with electric blue lines running through his face. He is very small.

One thing that helps is that I don't feed the tank anything --- ever. This forces him to scavenge. I think that is what is making him such a good cleanup fish.