hair alge

[mark peacock]

over the last 4 to 5 months i have been having a problem with this and the only 2 things i have done different is
1= put a di unit on my ro
2= and added another 400 watts of metal halide total watts now 876
it was around that time when this all started
so my question could these changes be the problem i have done 2 weekly test across the board on my tank and they come out the same every time
everything is fine
nitrate 0
calcium 430
phosphate 0
magnesium 1200
ph 8.0
alk 9
amonia 0
nitrite 0
i do regular water changes on my 100 gallon beast and clean my power heads every month i am at a loss on what could be feeding the alge any ideas
i did get a lawn mower blenny and not doing the job to good
my tank size is
5ft by 2ft by 16inch
and my skimmer is doing its job as well:|

 

[boosted306]

I had the same problem with my small tank. I ended up buying a sea hare and he took care of 97% of the algae in one day. I run my lights 10-12 hours a day because of work and school which was part of the problem. I would recommend a sea hare to anyone with an algae problem. Only problem is when it eats all of the algae he then has to be fed algae strips.

 

[slim_jim989]

like boosted said a sea hare works but try and rent one, cause you wont need him for very long. also how old are you light bulbs?

 

[rainydave]

Where could one rent a sea hare?

 

[davidr2340]

Where could one rent a sea hare?

Will @ Reef Mystique will rent you one, if there are any left.

 

[young_skywalker]

you could try a blenny as well, they will usually eat quite a bit for their size

 

[boosted306]

Your lights could be going out of spectrum as well. If it has been a while replace them.

 

[mark peacock]

The lights are not even a year old i changed them last year about 5 months ago and i have a blenny but does not eat the stuff (lawn mower) may be it is the bulbs i only run my haliades for 11 hours a day the rest in antinics did not know that loss of spectrum could course hair alge? at a loss really

 

[young_skywalker]

a change in the bulbs spectrum can cause growth of different algaes...you might want to try running the halides for only 8 hours or so and have the lights on for 10-12 hours total

 

[tat2z_21]

Though I am still learning. It is my understanding that the hair algea and other algeas thrive off of a whiter spectrum the 10k and below. I am no professional but I run 20ks with pure actinics and have not had an issue with the hair algae. I could just be lucky though with that, every other possible thing that could happen, always happens. But good luck with the sea hare. I have read that they do a very good job.

 

[mark peacock]

Yea mine are 20k and look ok i might try hanging my bulbs to see what happens and may be take a couple of hours usage as well.