Brown Hair like algae!

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underh2osamurai

Member
Joined
Apr 28, 2009
Messages
9
Location
oak harbor, wa
Hey guys, lately I have had brown hairlike algae growing on my live sand. I've tried to stir the sand to get rid of it but comes back! I do water changes every weekend but it hasn't helped control it either. I checked my phosphates,nitrates,nitrites,and ammonia and all are okay. The local fish store told me not to worry about it but i just want to make sure you guys all agree. thanks for your help.

Jon
 
underh2osamurai said:
Hey guys, lately I have had brown hairlike algae growing on my live sand. I've tried to stir the sand to get rid of it but comes back! I do water changes every weekend but it hasn't helped control it either. I checked my phosphates,nitrates,nitrites,and ammonia and all are okay. The local fish store told me not to worry about it but i just want to make sure you guys all agree. thanks for your help.

Jon
Click to expand...

Hey Jon,
I have this stuff too and its really ugly. My parameters are also okay, I use RO and my temp is closely regulated by my chiller. I have been told that it is probably because my tank is still fairly new (4 months). I will be interested to read what the old timers have to say.
Jill
 
jill said:
Hey Jon,
I have this stuff too and its really ugly. My parameters are also okay, I use RO and my temp is closely regulated by my chiller. I have been told that it is probably because my tank is still fairly new (4 months). I will be interested to read what the old timers have to say.
Jill
Click to expand...

Hey Jill, so maybe we shouldn't worry about it then. My tank is also fairly new.....hmmm... I think 3 months. Maybe more. By the way, what is RO?
 
underh2osamurai said:
Hey Jill, so maybe we shouldn't worry about it then. My tank is also fairly new.....hmmm... I think 3 months. Maybe more. By the way, what is RO?
Click to expand...

Hi Jon,
Glad to know I'm not the only one new to this! RO is reverse osmosis water (basically distilled). We put a system in when we installed the tank. At first I was told that tap water (at least here in Bellingham) would be fine but I had HUGE issues with long green macroalgae, green hair algae and this thick mat-like green stuff. Once I stopped using the tap water my big algae issues went away. Are you using distilled water?

Jill
 
jill said:
Hi Jon,
Glad to know I'm not the only one new to this! RO is reverse osmosis water (basically distilled). We put a system in when we installed the tank. At first I was told that tap water (at least here in Bellingham) would be fine but I had HUGE issues with long green macroalgae, green hair algae and this thick mat-like green stuff. Once I stopped using the tap water my big algae issues went away. Are you using distilled water?

Jill
Click to expand...

Jill,
I do use distilled water. No room for an RO (I have a 14gal nano biocube) so I just go to safeway and by the gallon jugs. So is this brown algae that we have a problem with a form of macroalgae?
 
If you do a search on here there is an algae id thread with pics and descriptions and methods for removal. It's been very helpful for me several times!
 
Oh for the love of pete! I tried to redo it like three times too! Arrgh. It's called nuisance alage, a guide or something. try searching that "nuisance algae" and it should come up. Its a one post thread. Good luck!!
 
Try checking the salinity if you haven't already. I had a brown( almost maroon ) stuff and then my damsals died. Found out my salinity was too high. Made stupid mistake and did water top offs with saltwater. Hope this helps.
Troy
By the way I am also a newbie, I have only had my tank going about three months
 
thanks for the link beoks.
I have cyano on my sand so I suctioned it up yesterday during a water change. I also realized that the "cool" hitchhiker algae I have is dictyota sp. Will have to get it out too.

I have a cheap phosphate test that tells me I have no phos. but do you recommend a good test? I don't mind spending some money for one that is better. And as far as phosban - will it hurt my tank if I use it and it rurns out I didn't need it?
 
Run a phosphate reactor. They're like $35, and you can run carbon in there too. And if you have a bunch of algae in there, you're not going to get a reading on the test because the algaes are consuming it all. According to the phosgaurd by seachem bottle, they recommend one cup per every 75-100gals. Run it for a few weeks, see what happens? I didn't think we needed one, but after our kid dumped a can of flake food in our tank, we got one to take out all the phosphate he put in there. There was immediately no more algae trying to grow on the sand, our green hair is slowly going away too. I'd try it, they're cheap.
 
Hey samurai, I live here in Oak Harbor as well and if you need any help let me know I would be glad to come over check your set up. Would not mind getting you set up and maybe a toss a few frags your way. Let me know.
 
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