Hair Algae/Aiptasia Problem Please Help

Italeri · Jun 13, 2013

Alright guys, my tank has been up and going for about 6-7 months now. Everything is doing great, except I have noticed a few aiptasia coming out of the woodwork so to speak. Also, I am now getting a hair algae outbreak and its getting worse. Did a 50 gal. water change, but that did nothing. I am running Chemi-Pure, as well as a ton of caluerpa and chaeto in my sump. The caluerpa and chaeto have been in the sump since right after my tank cycled, and I added the Chemi-Pure about 2 weeks ago to combat the hair algae growth. The Hair algae is still growing though. No idea why. Tank parameters as of today:

125 gallon SPS reef, 20L frag tank, 55 Gallon Sump(all one system):
pH: 8.2
Ammonia: 0ppm
Nitrite: 0ppm
Nitrate: 0ppm
Phosphate: 0ppm
Calcium: 420ppm
KH: 7.0

I know I will not show positive for any phosphates or nitrates because the algae is using it all to grow, but shouldn't the Chemi-Pure be sucking that out of the water before the algae?? Any ideas of what I can put in the tank to eat the algae? I have a purple tang, and a hippo tang that arent touching it. Also, What can I put in the tank to get rid of the few aiptasia before they start spreading??

Thanks

glb · Jun 13, 2013

Has the temp gone up on your tank? I started getting that algae last summer as the temp rose. Once I tilted open the lid, it cooled down.

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12g Nanoreef. Zooanthids, Ricordia, Star Polyps, Acans and two clownfish. CF Lighting, 75% actinic blue, 25% 10,000k white.

46gReef · Jun 13, 2013

A sea hare & turbo snails will do an amazing job on HA. I would get 1 or 2 sea hares. See if your LFS does a "rental" program because they will mow down whatever you have. After the sea hare takes care of what you have I'd add some turbo snails to keep it away.

ohio reefer · Jun 13, 2013

Had some small aptasia as well, bought 12 peppermint shrimp for my 55. Never saw another.

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mike007 · Jun 13, 2013

Most algae problems are caused by excess nutrients or phosphates. That usually means overfeeding of fish or corals. Peppermint shrimp do work sometime if your fish don't eat them first.

bboyvital · Jun 13, 2013

is your tank by a window? i noticed when i had direct sunlight i started growing algae in the locations where it hit while all parameters were in its place. Also what kind of lights are you using. maybe its time for new bulbs?

for the aptasia ive always relied on peppermint shrimp. ive had the best results when i get it from petco. i know there starving if they came from petco..lol. they always do the job.

navila06 · Jun 13, 2013

peppermint shrimp for the aptasia. 6-7 month old tank is fairly new, the hair algae should eventually go away. things you can do to help in the mean time are scrub it off as many rocks as you can during say a water change, shorten photo period, cut back on feeding. lawn mower blennys in my experience destroy GHA.

Reefing Madness · Jun 13, 2013

Cheato and Caulerpa only work if they are large enough in proportion to the DT. So if you just have a small ball of each, its not big enough to take out the phosphates you have in there.
You must run Chemipure Elite to remove Phosphates as it contains GFO.

Wrx5803 · Jun 13, 2013

Is the HA consentrated to one rock. If it is you can peroxide it outside.of the tank. Make sure if u pull it off the rock durring a wc u dont let any pieces foat away.
+1 to pepperment
+1 to a sea hair they are.amazing

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feh · Jun 13, 2013

I wouldn't trust the PO4 and NO3 readings are truly zero. What type of lighting are you using? How old are the bulbs? Also how often are you changing the GFO? At 2 weeks I would recommend changing it out just to make sure its doing its job until things are back in check. You might need to change it out more often. Other than those most things have been covered. Manual removal and a little assistance from a CUC and so on will help, but you still need to find the root cause. Also do you have an efficient skimmer?

In addition to the peppermint shrimp I would recommend Aiptasia-X to kill off as many as you can and then drop the shrimp in to find/eat anything overlooked. Also peppermints can be a hit or miss. There are at least 3 types of peppermint shrimp. I've heard some swear by lysmata wurdemanni I think is the one, but it can still be hit or miss.

Italeri · Jun 13, 2013

I have 3 radions over my 125. So no new bulbs

I am also running the chemipure elite with Gfo instead of just Gfo. I cut back on my feeding but an still seeing GHA growth.

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