Feel like giving up...

[LordJoshaeus]

I am REALLY frustrated with my 10 gallon right now...it is INFESTED with a green hairy algae all over the hard surfaces in the tank and a brownish, shorter hairy algae overgrowing my macroalgae (the only good side is that it does not seem to grow on my corals). What can I do? Nitrates are zero (they were about 10 ppm a few weeks ago), phosphates are zero, the tank has two lights over it providing about 200 PAR at the bottom of the tank. Thanks

 

[flooddc]

Relax and don't give up. My tanks are almost 10 years old and I still get some here and there. It's natural for algae to grow when you have excess nutrient.
I would do manual removal and figure out where that extra nutrient come from (water, feeding, etc.).
Get a few Trochus or astraea turbo snail snails to help out cleaning some algae.

 

[NS Mike D]

the great paradox is ultra low nutrients can result in some other nuisance stuff out competing your coral. decide on your target numbers and stick with it. I shoot for NO3 1ppm - 3ppm and PO4 < 0.08 (I'm in the camp that PO4 is the more important number to keep low).

Get some good brushes and tweezers and get ready for a long haul. I'm several months into weekly (and more frequent right now) in my 29 gal. Nanos, IMO, are more difficult to control algae since the grazers, like tangs, you see in bigger tanks are too big for nanos. Tuxedo turchins and astrea snails are my favorite grazers in my nano.

My goal is to have coral cover so much rock the algae has no where to grow. That will take years. Thus, I think in terms of months in my algae war.

If you have or can borrow a microscope, confirm you don't have dinos. They require a different approach.


Hang in there, prepare mentally for a long haul war and spend more time looking at your beautiful corals and less at the algae.

 

[LordJoshaeus]

OK. Maybe I should remove the macroalgae and sic some serious algae eaters on the problem while I get the nutrients under control...would an urchin work in a tank this small?

 

[Coralreefer1]

Sorry to hear about your algae issue and yes, it definitely can be ing to get rid of it. A Black Diadema Urchin would help along with a Sea Cucumber, various snails, Emerald and hermit crabs plus Brittle and Serpent Sea Stars.
Water changes, carbon and reduced feeding and lighting if you are able too depending on what corals you have.
Good luck...

 

[LordJoshaeus]

Already using carbon, but I will beef up the cleanup crew and try to reduce feeding.

 

[flooddc]

Already using carbon, but I will beef up the cleanup crew and try to reduce feeding.

IMO, stick with snails. hermit and crabs don't help much with hair algae. Hermit will kill snails for their shell too.

 

[Coralreefer1]

Emerald crabs will help with uneaten food and some forms of algae, especially bubble algae. As for the hermits, flooddc is right about Blue Leg hermits and their ability to kill snails for their shells as they grow. That’s why stick with Red Legs, Scarlet Reefs, Zebras and Halloween hermits.

 

[LordJoshaeus]

I found a good way to get the hair algae off the rocks I am using an API acrylic scrubber brush. It works marvels for some reason, even though it is less effective on the glass. Here's the tank as it stands (it still has a way to go, but it's an improvement);

 

[GSnake]

are you using rodi water. (you should). it has made my gha growth 0. however the gha death cycle and breakdown goes into the sand and caused a cyano bloom for myself. its now much better after water changes and corals are growing, and or retaking lost space. my post has pics of my journey since I began taking pics and joined R2R. I will add to it now !