Help with Red Hair Algae Problem

[Zenoah1439]

I started getting what I believe is Red Hair Algae in my tank about 4 weeks ago. Upon seeing the first patch, I went to my LFS for advice. Since then I've increased flow in the tank, changed flow directions, reduced feeding quantities, adjusted lighting, increased cleaning frequencies, and constantly checked and maintained good chemicals in the water. However, I not only can't seem to get rid of it, but it keeps getting worse. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

My setup is a 40g breeder, with 2 T5 HO Actinic and 2 T5 HO 10k for lighting (running 8hr/day). I have a 29 gallon sump with macro algae and a protein skimmer. The tank currently has a Bangai Cardinal, and 1 baby Rabbit fish (to deal with the recent bubble algae).

The algae is red in color, and can have "hair" that seems to grow from it in the higher flow areas of the tank. It will generally coat an area, as in i can grab the edge of one area and "peel" it from the sand or rock or whatever it is growing on.

It started just in the corners of the tank on the sand, then spread to the majority of the sand, then to most of the live rock, and recently is now in my sump.

I started by hand cleaning it out every week during water changes, then went to 2 times, and now 3 times a week. During the weekly cleaning i clean the live rock (with a turkey baster) and vacuum the sand thoroughly. It seems like no matter how much i pull out, more just comes back the next day. The problem seemed to get worse when i increased the flow, so i'm considering going back to my original flow setup.

Anyone have any ideas? My LFS has recommended i stay away from chemical treatments as it is apparently only a bandaid for the problem.

 

[Krish]

Take a peek here at this write up I did. http://www.reeffrontiers.com/showthread.php?t=63768

Most algae's require the same things to grow and therefore limiting these things through various techniques can help get rid of them.



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[Derbird]

Fist I am no expert in hair algea but here is what worked for me.

I had small patches starting shortly after my tank was set up untill I got some emerald carbs (Mithrax sculptus) and a tang. Gone in less then a week. With a 40b a tang is hopefully not going to go in but I have heard of good results with sea hares as well.

I hope this helps and hopefully a few people with more experience will chime in as well.

Good luck with the battle

 

[Krish]

Yea, cuc's and fish will help remove the algae from the tank out of sight. The main issue will be the underlying problem as to what caused it. Algae usually feeds off of nitrates and phosphates primarily. If they are in excess, then algae will step in to consume it which is why you can have algae in your tank, but read zero nitrates and phosphates because it is bound up in the algae as it uses it for it's growth. You manually remove it and you export these excess nutrients out of your tank. This was why the LFS said not to use chemicals as it is just a bandaid masking the main problem which can be anything from over feeding, overstocking, lack of proper tank maintenance etc. Sometimes cuc's can be seen as bandaids as well as they can mask an underlying problem. The hobbyist sees the algae is gone so out of sight out of mind lol.


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[baker89]

My first guess would be its from your water source. Are you using RO/DI? If you are I would check it with a TDS meter.

Dennis

 

[Derbird]

Yea, cuc's and fish will help remove the algae from the tank out of sight. The main issue will be the underlying problem as to what caused it. Algae usually feeds off of nitrates and phosphates primarily. If they are in excess, then algae will step in to consume it which is why you can have algae in your tank, but read zero nitrates and phosphates because it is bound up in the algae as it uses it for it's growth. You manually remove it and you export these excess nutrients out of your tank. This was why the LFS said not to use chemicals as it is just a bandaid masking the main problem which can be anything from over feeding, overstocking, lack of proper tank maintenance etc. Sometimes cuc's can be seen as bandaids as well as they can mask an underlying problem. The hobbyist sees the algae is gone so out of sight out of mind lol.


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Good advice and nice write up Krish!

Sorry didn't mean to recommend a bandaid just waht worked in the past.

 

[Krish]

Good advice and nice write up Krish!

Sorry didn't mean to recommend a bandaid just waht worked in the past.

Thanks!!

Also, I wouldn't say it's so much a bandaid. . You use what you can to make life better in your tank. Some people set up refugiums with an algae in it simply to absorb nitrates and phosphates out of their tank to help keep these things under control. This is something they do year round. It's just a technique some people use to avoid nuisance algae in a tank. The only thing these guys need to do is periodically trim it back to export the bound up nutrients, but other than that, that is part of their "filtration" system. So it is with cuc's and fish. People will use them to keep the algae trimmed back. It won't get to the actual source of the problem, but keeps it at bay or should I say, under control.


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[godzen]

got some turbo snail to do with my GHA...wow, these guys sure can eat

 

[baker89]

Yeah those guys do great, I have 10 in my 110, but remember they still only mask the problem. You will still want to find what is causing your high nutrient problem.Dennis

 

[godzen]

yeah, i'm currently waiting for some purigen, chem-pure elite and some cheato to help with phosphate leeching from new sand and rocks. Any other snail as awesome as turbo? I'v heard alot about nassarius

 

[baker89]

IMO turbo snails are the best. Kind of big though so make sure those corals get glued down real well. Nassarius are great for your sand bed, they roam around in the sand digging through it all day keepIng the top layer turned over. As far as hair algae I don't think they do much for that. Dennis

 

[godzen]

oh i see. nassarius is more to keep sand clean and eat leftover? I filled out the form at reefcleaner website and he recommended 70 assorted snails for my 65 gal. This is to much? I'm thinking just 6 turbo and 10 nassarius for now? I currently have 1 emerald crab

 

[baker89]

I like to buy a few here and a few there rather then dumping them all in at once. That way you can also base it off your tank and it's needs. Astria snails are a good well rounded snail that keep the tank pretty clean. Hermit crabs are another option that is pretty controversial. I personally like them and like to watch them, but some people dont like putting up with crabs because they eat snails sometimes. If you do get hermits make sure you get extra empty shells for them to stay in so they don't steal the snails shells. Most fish stores have them.As for the 70 assorted that's probably about right, but different things like bio load, feeding and filtration change this. No 2 tanks are the same, in one tank someone might have awesome flow to keep things suspended in the water column to be filtered out and in another it might all sink to the bottom to be eaten by part of the clean up crew. So in my opinion watch your tank and get to know it and that will tell you what you need. Some people don't have a clean up crew at all and others argue that what one eats it also poops out so what good is it doing... Lol.Dennis