# Hair algea



## gmann (Mar 26, 2013)

So i recently had a hair algea infestation. Today i did a water change and took out all the rocks to scrub off the algea. My question is should I return everything to the way it was and continue to monitor water levels etc, or should a cut our all light for a couple days (read this somewhere online). Thanks in advance


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## Rossco (Sep 15, 2012)

get some japonica shrimp


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## jobber (May 14, 2010)

Rossco said:


> get some japonica shrimp


Wont help. Op is refering to a saltwater tank since he posted in marine section.

Sent from my mobile phone


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## dabandit1 (Dec 6, 2010)

Scrubbing it off is only a bandaid solution,it will just come back even if its 100% removed from your tank. Get some turbo snails or something to keep it in line while your get your parameters in check. Once your water is right it will stop growing back and die off on its own. 
Removing rocks and messing around is just going to make things worse and extend your cycle,couple days of dark wont hurt but it will just grow back if your water isnt right......if its there your water isnt right,even if it tests right


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## JTang (Apr 21, 2010)

Would u give us more details of your system? E.g. tank size, equipments, maintenance routine, stock... Also how old is this setup?


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## gmann (Mar 26, 2013)

Sure, my set up is as follows, been set up for 1-2 yrs now:

45g cube tank, 
remora-s hang on skimmer
Koralia 550 (I also have a 1050 model, but took it away off as the current was too strong)
Kessil 350W LED light - but switching to Coralife Lunar Aqualight T5 Lighting
cannister filter with: 2 packs chemi pure elite, 1 pack purigen, sponges, and mifante (threw away box will go back and look for proper word)

2 clown, 1 red fin fairy wrasse, 1 yellow canary wrasse, 1 blue tang, 3 strawberry snails, 3 nassarius snails, 1 cleaner shrimp (i should have more snails, but cant seem to find them)

1 bubble coral, 1 brain coral, 1 red/ green blastomosa, 1 torch coral, 1 frogspawn coral, 1 button coral, couple mushroom coral, pulse xenia
water changes once a month, weekly dose of all in one supplement


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## gmann (Mar 26, 2013)

parameters b4 water change:

kh - 7
ph 7.6
amonia - 0
nitrate - 0
nitrite - 0
salinity 1.029
phophate - 0

will do a test either tonight or tomorrow with the new parameters


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## AdobeOtoCat (Dec 10, 2011)

Magnesium and calcium levelS?

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S2 LTE


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## AquaAddict (Dec 4, 2010)

Is the algae always the same spots? It could be a circulation problem and you have higher pollution only in those spots. Tests don't always show the whole picture. Don't disturb the rocks too often. 

I tried Instant Ocean natural nitrate reducer, a soft toothbrush on the bad spots, extra hand waving to simulate a storm (yea I know, I'm weird), strategic placing of corals (esp frogspawn and torch) to absorb the higher nutrients in those locations. With the corals mentioned, you probably don't have too high a current because they don't like it. Try uping the current only at night when those corals are closed up and won't suffer from the extra buffeting. 

I have tried everything mentioned here and they all have helped. I have been doing this because I had to shut down my very noisy protein skimmer. So far, I am doing OK. I have Cheato Macro Algae in my sump instead.

AquaAddict

PS. I keep my kH at approx 10, Ca approx 450, salinity at 1.025 - 1.027 and and Mg at approx 1300. I don't usually measure pH but when I do it's usually the same as the kH.


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## scott tang (Jan 29, 2012)

ok so not an algea coment but blue tangs need a 6 foot tank


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## gmann (Mar 26, 2013)

AquaAddict said:


> Is the algae always the same spots? It could be a circulation problem and you have higher pollution only in those spots. Tests don't always show the whole picture. Don't disturb the rocks too often.
> 
> I tried Instant Ocean natural nitrate reducer, a soft toothbrush on the bad spots, extra hand waving to simulate a storm (yea I know, I'm weird), strategic placing of corals (esp frogspawn and torch) to absorb the higher nutrients in those locations. With the corals mentioned, you probably don't have too high a current because they don't like it. Try uping the current only at night when those corals are closed up and won't suffer from the extra buffeting.
> 
> ...


It was all over the place. where ever there was an opening of crushed coral, algae was there. it even got on my rocks. going to do a test tomorrow, figured 1 day of letting the new filter media set up shop would be better than testing right after the water change.


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## gmann (Mar 26, 2013)

scott tang said:


> ok so not an algea coment but blue tangs need a 6 foot tank


was not told that. the place i bought it from said it should be ok, if it becomes a prob I can always donate it back to them. My tang is swimming around fine


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## JTang (Apr 21, 2010)

Your parameter seems ok. Salinity is a bit high at 1.029. I keep mine at 1.024-1.025. Did you say you also run a canister filter? Most reefers don't recommend using canisters, which are often known as 'nitrate factory'. I started with a XP3 n switched to a HOB after several months. Everything was fine for over 1 year until i introduced some dying corals n threw the parameters off. Just recently i have started using skimmer, an AquaC Remora Pro. I suggest performing more frequent water changes n adding an extra power head to increase flow n minimize dead spots. Light could be a factor too but I have never used LED so I can't comment on that. Good luck!


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## JTang (Apr 21, 2010)

gmann said:


> was not told that. the place i bought it from said it should be ok, if it becomes a prob I can always donate it back to them. My tang is swimming around fine


It should be fine if it's still small. I also have one in my 4 footer. He is only 2.5" long though.


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## gmann (Mar 26, 2013)

ok just did a test since i did a water change 2 days ago.

ph: 7.8 phos: 0.5 salinity: 1.022
ammonia: 2 cal: 400
nitrate: 0 mag: 1600ppm
nitrite: 0 kh: 11

not sure how my ammonia shot up so much in the 2-3 days since the test at the fish shop. all fish accounted for, although my xenia look kinda weird. going to do another 25% water change, and add balance to raise ph. Any other suggestions? My kessil light is set to 25% blue light power, 75% power white light as per a suggestion from the fish shop to combat my algae issue.


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## gmann (Mar 26, 2013)

JTang said:


> It should be fine if it's still small. I also have one in my 4 footer. He is only 2.5" long though.


my tang is still small also, hopefulyl going to upgrade to a larger tank in the near future provided i figure out what im doing with this small tank first lol


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## Master wilkins (Dec 10, 2012)

gmann said:


> going to do a test tomorrow, figured 1 day of letting the new filter media set up shop would be better than testing right after the water change.
> not sure how my ammonia shot up so much in the 2-3 days.


Am I correct in assuming that you've replaced all of your filter media?


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## gmann (Mar 26, 2013)

Master wilkins said:


> Am I correct in assuming that you've replaced all of your filter media?


stars are still there. purigen is a recharged pack. chemi pure is a new additions as i no longer use carbon. mifante is also new as the previous pack was in the filter for over a year.


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## spit.fire (Jan 3, 2011)

IMO take everything out of the canister filter including the sponges and fill it with hydroton


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## dabandit1 (Dec 6, 2010)

Your ammonia spiked because you've been messing around trying to fix this removing rock and what not you triggered a mini cycle the ammonia is the only thing being not consumed hence its presence and the lack of nitrite,you mentioned crushed coral in a post.....if your using it theres your problem!!!! after the time your tank has been running it has become full of detrious crushed coral is notorious for that, most wont use it anymore for that reason. Positive 100% thats your problem. I had the exact same problem in a crushed coral tank after about a year.


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## dabandit1 (Dec 6, 2010)

Ill explain myself why I suspect this for anyone trying to learn to read their tank. Hes using powerful phosphate/nitrate removers yet tests the presence of phosphate and hair algae. Therefore something within the tank is producing it faster than it can be removed. Typical cause for this is detrious has been trapped somewhere ie;canister,sandbed,live rock.
The way you say it covered all open crushed coral and even the live rock leads me to believe the crushed coral to be the culprit.....throw in what is now known about crushed coral causing this issue and the mystery is solved imo

ty,ty I'll be here all week lol your LR was likely full too before you scrubbed it


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## coppercloud (Apr 14, 2012)

don't sea urchins eat hair algae?


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## gmann (Mar 26, 2013)

thanks for your advice dabandit1. I'm gonna give it a couple more days before i do anything. im just worried if i go in and take out all the crushed coral i'll freak out my fish and what not.


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