Losing battle with hair algae, thinking of throwing in the towel.

[lonhater]

The closest one to me is a half hour away on a good day so at best I can make it out there every 2-3 weeks :-/

Yeah that drive is a real issue. If you plan to have a tank into the future it might be the more economical option to get a rodi system. Much more convenient at least.

 

[peterat33rpm]

Gotcha thanks for the input. If the stuff I’m buying isn’t 0 I’m going to look into just getting an RO system myself, I’ve been putting it off.

 

[Tamberav]

Well distilled is boiled into vapor and returned to water form (removing the impurities) while also removing all minerals etc from the water.

It’s not recommended but it will work.

Rodi is filtered through a reverse osmosis system removing impurities and retaining the minerals and other benefits of the water.

If you have the option I’d buy reverse osmosis water over distilled.

RODI does not retain minerals. It actually tastes nasty because its ultra pure. The DI stage is to remove anything left from RO.

RO does have minerals and what is used to drinking water, generally a filter at the end adds minerals back for taste.

 

[Tamberav]

That being said, I have never seen a grocery store with a true RODI...

because its gross to drink..

I would think it is either RO or RODI with stuff added back through one of the stages added for taste...

Just a guess.

 

[Reefer Brent]

The RO water I have tested is usually 1 to 10 on my TDS.

RODI is zero with good filters. Get a RODI buddy on Amazon for a cheap option.

That being said I don't think it's your main issue(barring any silica issues found on ICP) This is all normal stuff(and feelings)

I found microbacter 7 or clean used once a week in a minimum or less dose keeps the stuff from hanging on your rockwork as well. Dose day after your water change. (Some people won't like this idea but I have had good luck with this) The issue is when we expect these products to be a miracle cure and then dump more in when it's not. This will take you down a worse path.

Also CUC which you are investing in is great.

Add a bunch of copepods! Get a mix of kinds from your LFS if they have them. Florida reef labs has a great mix of them In a bottle. Dump them in at night with lights off after your water change. Wait 2+ weeks to water change again if you can get away with it.

 

[Paul B]

I really hate to get into this and almost never go on algae threads but my opinion is to stop changing water. Yeah, I know, counter to what everyone tells you. Your algae looks to be dying from lack of nutrients and I would keep letting it die.

When you change water you are adding the chemicals algae needs to grow. (iron, iodine, water from Hot Dog carts in Manhattan etc.) If you leave it alone it will deplete what it needs and die, then you can suck it out.

I like a diatom filter but you probably don't have one. I would also never add any chemical to eliminate algae. It doesn't eliminate it, it kills it and those nutrients that were in the algae fuel more algae growth.

An algae scrubber is the best thing and easy to build or buy. Algae is good and will grow if it "wants" to no matter what you do. A scrubber will allow it to grow, but it will only grow where you want it. My tank is very old and still gets algae which I feel is a good and healthy thing just like in the sea where it grows everywhere. You just don't want it on everything.

It grows in cycles as it uses nutrients and some cycles last a few months or years.

Why do you think most of the creatures in the sea are herbivores?

Like manatees who come with their own algae



You don't see any algae here in Hawaii but what you do see is an urchin in every hole. Guess what they are eating?



But the sea is much larger than your tank. Even though, it keeps growing.

It's easier to use algae to your advantage for it's water purifying qualities rather than fighting it when you will lose anyway.

I took this off an isolated reef near Hawaii



If changing water was such a deterrent to algae, why do new tanks with all new water grow the most algae?

 

[VDC]

with a tank that small, i would have taken the rock out, and sprayed with peroxide already

 

[peterat33rpm]

So I got a tds meter and an ro buddie. My grocery store water in my ATO is 4 ppm, and annoyingly the first 5 gallons that I made (which took hours and made my wife glare at me when she saw the waste line) was 24, so thats useless. Next batch came out at 0 though thankfully. I’m guessing a TDS of 4 is not going to be the root of my problems though haha

 

[sfin52]

Sorry yea should have included more but was in a rush.

- I feed light, like a quarter of a cube of marine cuisine a day.
- I have upgrade the stock return pump to a sicce syncra 1.5
- no skimmer :-( I could add one to the back chamber but would take some rearranging
- I have filter sponge in 4 of the 6 media basket chambers that I clean out in tank water every water change. Should I change to floss?
- RODI water from the grocery store.
- 5 gallon water changes usually every 2 weeks. Been maybe every 10 days lately while trying to deal with this
- hygger nano wave maker on one side of the tank and another voyager (can’t remember if nano or the next one up) power head on the other. Flow is probably only average overall. Toying with getting the jebao mp10 knockoffs but I want to decide for sure I’m gonna stick with it before spending more money
- I had one big turbo that died, and then I have a handful of trochus and nessarius. LFS didn’t have small turbos last time I went

Grocery store water there'd your problem

 

[Ziggy17]

When you say you had dinos, but got rid of them… How did you identify the strain of Dino, and how did you get rid of them?

 

[peterat33rpm]

When you say you had dinos, but got rid of them… How did you identify the strain of Dino, and how did you get rid of them?

Gave a sample to LFS and they diagnosed as ostreopsis. I dosed N and P, added a cheap UV sterilizer, manual removal, pods and phyto. Some combination of the above seemed to work

 

[Stblindtiger]

Something else you might consider is your lighting. I didn’t see where you discussed your lighting schedule anywhere? I was having a problem with Algae for over a year, did the flux thing, it killed all my hair algae, but the hair algae would come right back after each time I used it.

What worked for me is what is being suggested for you, urchins, and turbo snails are great grazers. A lawn mower blennie did a great job as well. Not stirring up the sand bed during water changes is another good tip.

The biggest helper for me though was cutting back on the percentage of white spectrum light my lights were putting out. Algae loves white spectrum light. Try to dial that back too if you can.

 

[SonOfaGoat]

What type of blenny do you have? Lawnmower blennys destroy hair algae

 

[Ziggy17]

Gave a sample to LFS and they diagnosed as ostreopsis. I dosed N and P, added a cheap UV sterilizer, manual removal, pods and phyto. Some combination of the above seemed to work.

That’s the right method for that Dino. So well done.
Yeah, a lot of times post Dino outbreak, hair algae runs rampant for awhile. Largely due to the fact we increase the nutrients, which gives algae the fuel it needs to grow. Increased silicates was the source of my hair algae, I also had some bryopsis. I dosed Fluconazole and manual removal, and that got rid of a lot. Some of the more stubborn stuff, I removed the rocks and hit it with peroxide and a toothbrush. I then doubled my turbo and trochus snails in the CUC to about 20 trochus and 10 turbo. I’ve been hair algae free for a few months now.

I was ready to quit the hobby as well, but I’m happy I didn’t. Tank looks great and stabilized. More things can go wrong than can go right in reefing. Zero doubt about that.

 

[peterat33rpm]

Something else you might consider is your lighting. I didn’t see where you discussed your lighting schedule anywhere? I was having a problem with Algae for over a year, did the flux thing, it killed all my hair algae, but the hair algae would come right back after each time I used it.

What worked for me is what is being suggested for you, urchins, and turbo snails are great grazers. A lawn mower blennie did a great job as well. Not stirring up the sand bed during water changes is another good tip.

The biggest helper for me though was cutting back on the percentage of white spectrum light my lights were putting out. Algae loves white spectrum light. Try to dial that back too if you can.

I have one AI blade grow, and my schedule is 11-8 with an hour ramp up, and then minimal blue until 10 or 11. The lights are on 35% blue and 15% white for that time. If possible I’d really rather not go even further low on whites just for viewing. Those numbers give me about 150 par at the top third.

That’s the right method for that Dino. So well done.
Yeah, a lot of times post Dino outbreak, hair algae runs rampant for awhile. Largely due to the fact we increase the nutrients, which gives algae the fuel it needs to grow. Increased silicates was the source of my hair algae, I also had some bryopsis. I dosed Fluconazole and manual removal, and that got rid of a lot. Some of the more stubborn stuff, I removed the rocks and hit it with peroxide and a toothbrush. I then doubled my turbo and trochus snails in the CUC to about 20 trochus and 10 turbo. I’ve been hair algae free for a few months now.

I was ready to quit the hobby as well, but I’m happy I didn’t. Tank looks great and stabilized. More things can go wrong than can go right in reefing. Zero doubt about that.

Appreciate that advice! I’m looking at a reef cleaners package that has 25 dwarf ceriths, 8 nessarius, 10 Florida ceriths, 8 nerites, an emerald, and 7 hermits. What do you guys of that?

 

[emilyruthw]

There are people on here with a lot more experience than I but I have always struggled with GHA, only recently wiping it out for good and this is how I did it (keep in mind mine was BAD, a lot like your pictures and killing frags so I tried EVERYTHING):

• Added more Turbo and Astrea Snails (3 of each for my 3 year old 25gal tank - hope this helps you work out numbers)
• Added an Emerald Crab
• Scrubbed at the rockwork and glass until it was bare of algae and used a net to get any floating around out. Cleaned sponge filters and added more carbon and phosphate removers too. (You may not use these but clean your filter!)
• (People may hate me for saying this) After big clean, a 3-7 day blackout dependent on how bad your tank is!!, keep feeding fish small amounts but keep your light off and cover the glass so no external light can get in anywhere!
• Every day of my blackout I added Evolution Aqua Pure Reef Balance Balls into my sump. I added around 2/3 a day, the recommended per month is 5 for me but you can never have too much good bacteria to eat away at that algae!! (I kept adding these for about a week after the blackout before returning to regular dosing.) Some will say bacteria is pointless but worked for me!
• After blackout another DEEP clean.

This won’t completely eradicate the algae forever and you need to get your levels stable and balanced (I know it’s hard when you want nitrates to feed your corals but a balance is necessary!) but… it will give you time to get on top of this.

It’s been a while since I had to do this and now I just have some GHA on the back of my tank and pump in between weekly cleans.

I still add the bacteria monthly and amp it up if and when it’s needed!

I hope that helps!

 

[IceNein]

In the beginning the sand and rock will bind phosphates so you are highly susceptible to Dino’s gha and cyano.

If you start with live rock the chances are basically nonexistent.

In my opinion live rock, preferably ocean live rock is absolutely the way to go. I am about 6 months in on my 15 gallon and I have never once had "the uglies."

In my 15 gallon I do a 2 gallon water change weekly. I use a filter sock that I leave in for three or four days until It starts to back up, and then I just pull it out and clean it during my weekly water change, so half the time, no mechanical filtration. When I first bought the tank, I dosed pods in addition to the buying about 50% live rock. The rest is that painted purple rock.

I just added a nylon with some phosphate absorber (can't even recall which brand) because my phosphates were creeping up steadily.

I am not doing anything special, so I'm basically convinced that it has to be the rock.

 

[Reefer Brent]

I have one AI blade grow,

I had one of these and hair algae was crazy. They are not a full spectrum light. I would add a glow or get a full spectrum light so you have more of a UV spectrum.

 

[Tamberav]

So I got a tds meter and an ro buddie. My grocery store water in my ATO is 4 ppm, and annoyingly the first 5 gallons that I made (which took hours and made my wife glare at me when she saw the waste line) was 24, so thats useless. Next batch came out at 0 though thankfully. I’m guessing a TDS of 4 is not going to be the root of my problems though haha

depending what your container is, it could even be from that.

My drinking water container for my top off I used was plastic and it slowly broke down over time, eventually the bottom was almost entirely ate through by RODI. Got to love them microplastics!

If your 5g took many hours, you may need a booster pump. Helps reduce waste water too.

 

[peterat33rpm]

I had one of these and hair algae was crazy. They are not a full spectrum light. I would add a glow or get a full spectrum light so you have more of a UV spectrum.

I have my Fluval light lying around I guess I could go back to that, thats full spectrum and would probably still give me the par I need, but I just got the mounting arms for my blade and a kraken lid with the specific cutouts for them :-/