Green Hair Algae

[ATP123]

Hey,

My 125 gallon is full of GHA (see pic) and i don't know how to get rid of it. My nitrates and my phosphate are 0, but they still grow. I have a refugim and a cheato of a size of two base ball and that killed some of the algae, but it keeps growing. I have 5 emerald crabs in there, but they only tear up a few of them then they hide. I read that lawnmower blennies help, but i got 2 blennies in there already (i don't know what they are exactly because i got this tank from a friend 3 months ago) and I read that they are agressive to each other. My naso tang just died so now i'm planning to add a yellow tang and a blue tang at the same time (i know that the blue tang doesn't eat GHA, but it's my favorite fish) I also try and take out the algae using my hand ones a week and every month i use and airline pipe to remove the algae

So I'm looking for suggestions

I have 1 clown, 2 watchman gobies (I think), 2 Blennies (could be gobies), 1 eel thing, 1 purple dottyback. I will post pictures of the fish that i don't know tomorrow

Also i thought that the water movement was insufficient so bought a vortech mp40 hehehe

Sorry for the bad pics of the algae. They were taken at night.

 

[ATP123]

Sorry forgot about the pics

 

[Mopar Reefer]

I had the same problem and performed weekly water changes and then added a Phosphate reactor with some GFO from bulkreefsupply. In about a months time it was gone. How often do you feed? You may be overfeeding? This possibly could be causing your GHA. You need to find the source of excess nutrients and where they are coming from. Unti then your CUC is a band-aid fix not a long term. Hope this helps.

 

[ATP123]

I feed ones every other day

 

[Mopar Reefer]

Do you have a good skimmer? If so you may want to "wet" skim alittle more than usual.

 

[ATP123]

I have kent marine nautilus Te skimmer

-http://www.kentmarine.com/products/nautilus-sump-skimmer.htm

I also have sachem de nitrate and de phosphate

 

[Herefishyfishy]

Don't see any algae eaters. You need a decent cleanup crew

 

[Mopar Reefer]

^ true but you need find out what is causing the influx of nutrients, IMO.

 

[ATP123]

so should I do weekly water changes?

 

[mcvicker]

Yes. What water changes, how much and how often, are you doing now? You could also look at a phosban reactor...
-chris

 

[ATP123]

Before i posted this thread, I use to make around 15% water changes every month. Also what exactly does a phosban reactor do? How big is it? Does it connect to anything?

Thanks

 

[jill]

I had the same problem and then started to use RO (distilled water) only. I did water changes every day until the algae when away - it took about 2 weeks. I now do water changes AT LEAST once a week.

 

[ATP123]

I had the same problem and then started to use RO (distilled water) only. I did water changes every day until the algae when away - it took about 2 weeks. I now do water changes AT LEAST once a week.

I'll start doing water changes.

Also the pictures of the fish that i can't identify.

I saw that the blenny or maybe its a goby that looks like a mud skipper ate a few hermit crabs. Should i be worried about that? A few weeks ago the mud skipper didn't even touch a crab until my Naso Tang died. My eel didn't even come out.

So if I put a bigger fish (I'm going to anyways because I'm just waiting for my quarantine tank to cycle and it should be ready in a few weeks and I'm going to get a few tangs) will it stop eating the crabs again? because I think my naso tang contolled the tank because when he was still alive, the tank was organized (nothing eat or fight against each other, now the dottyback attacks anything that comes to his part of the reef).

So can someone help me identify these because i got the tank from a friend and he has all this fish and I need to know whether they are agressive or not. I know the dottyback is semi agressive

 

[ATP123]

Also, What is the best fish that eats GHA? (reef compatible) I read that the foxface rabbitfish eats it, but (IMO) it's ugly. What about a lettuce slug?

 

[pufferdady]

I have a tuxedo urchin that does ok. I've had good luck with big turbos too. Also, what kind of lighting do you have and how old are your bulbs. I've read that old bulbs will produce a different spectrum of light that can cause algea.

 

[ATP123]

I have a tuxedo urchin that does ok. I've had good luck with big turbos too. Also, what kind of lighting do you have and how old are your bulbs. I've read that old bulbs will produce a different spectrum of light that can cause algea.

I use 2x Super Actinic FR-40T12/VHO, 2x Aquasun (same thing except it's not actinic) by UV Lighting Company. I also have 2x MH bulbs I don't know the detail because i didn't purchase them.

They're about 4 months old.

 

[pufferdady]

I guess it doesn't matter what kind you have, just that if the bulbs are old (more than a year) that might be some of the problem.

 

[aquariumdebacle]

Try replacing your sanbed in thirds over a few months. Replace it with clean, unused, dry sand. This should be done once a year to gradually replace the entire bed over a year or so. Sandbeds accumulate organics and re-release them into the water column after they can no longer accumulate material. This will feed your algae.

Get a better skimmer.

 

[Mopar Reefer]

First off before you go chaning your sandbed, how old is the substrate? This step may not be neccessary. IMO changing your sand bed to fix an alage problem is a big step. If your tank is mature, say greater than 2-3 yrs old then this could possibly be a solution. If not then I think that it's wasted man hrs and money.

Turbo's are great for GHA but they are bulldozers around rocks so make sure that your rock work is firm, thus preventing slides and potential coral deaths.

 

[luisse25]

my yellow tang eats evey algae that i have in my tank,red algae,hair algae...you should try to put a yellow tang...i feed heavily everyday but i havent experience any hair algae except when my tank was a month old but the yellow tang did a good job...i do weekly water changes...