Hair algae dilemma! Need advise!

[moz71]

So my tank broke out with hair algae. Not on every rock and not in thick mats. Most of it actually looks like it gets to a certain point and starts dying. Turning white and most of my rocks look like I can best describe as dust bunnies. There are a multiple very small clumps of healthy hair algae. I purchased Chaeto and sea lettuce for Fuge. But a little worried that it will not outcompete. My nitrate reads zero and phosphate reads .003 on Hanna checker. I did just put in some rowaphas but now I am worried it will deplete to where corals are hurting. I added about 20 Trochus snails and 5 turbos also have a pincushion urchin. What else can I do?

 

[Travis Alderman]

Get vibrant. It worked for me. I feed heavy cause i have 2 schools of anthias. I dose it once a week. It takes about 3 doses before it mows through the hair algae like an unstoppable rebel force.

You can dose it twice a week but id recommended doing it slowly. Big changes are never good.

 

[christopher.lauwers]

Get vibrant. It worked for me. I feed heavy cause i have 2 schools of anthias. I dose it once a week. It takes about 3 doses before it mows through the hair algae like an unstoppable rebel force.

You can dose it twice a week but id recommended doing it slowly. Big changes are never good.

Glad to hear... I have the same GHA problem... one dose 2 right now. hope to see some results soon!

 

[moz71]

Get vibrant. It worked for me. I feed heavy cause i have 2 schools of anthias. I dose it once a week. It takes about 3 doses before it mows through the hair algae like an unstoppable rebel force.

You can dose it twice a week but id recommended doing it slowly. Big changes are never good.

Thanks. I have been reading about it but read that sometimes causes problems like Cyano or Dino’s. Any advice to eliminate that concern?

 

[mcdrichj]

I started a fuge in my sump with chaeto and fed every other day and now my phosphates are at 0.01 and my nitrates were at 0 last week so I need to increase my feeding to daily maybe even twice a day. The amount of GHA in my dt is dropping more and more as time goes on. When I started the fuge I scrubbed the rocks with a toothbrush and sucked out as much as I could. Now I dont even run a filter sock I just let all the junk fall in the fuge right out of the main drain. Natural is always better the the chemical way.

 

[moz71]

I started a fuge in my sump with chaeto and fed every other day and now my phosphates are at 0.01 and my nitrates were at 0 last week so I need to increase my feeding to daily maybe even twice a day. The amount of GHA in my dt is dropping more and more as time goes on. When I started the fuge I scrubbed the rocks with a toothbrush and sucked out as much as I could. Now I dont even run a filter sock I just let all the junk fall in the fuge right out of the main drain. Natural is always better the the chemical way.

How long has it been? Trying to gauge how long I should give it. Thank you

 

[S2G]

What is that stuff called flux rx or reef flux? Anyway I dose that and then pull out by hand once it gets weak. This should get you by until your fuge catches up and let your cuc keep it mowed down. I have an urchin that will leave a rock bare if the gha is low

 

[S2G]

You're going to get false readings with gha in your dt. The chaeto should acclimate in a few days-week. IF you have a good grow light and nutrients it should take off.

 

[mcdrichj]

How long has it been? Trying to gauge how long I should give it. Thank you

I'm at about 8 weeks and the hair thats left is much thinner. Patches that getting munched up dont seem to be coming back. I also added a hermit crab and he munches it up. The chaeto was a bit rough when i got it because i got delayed during shipping. It took about a week and a half to bounce back then it grew rapidly now its slow now so Im going to start feeding more. To add to this I have not had a filter sock in the whole time since I started and I haven't removed any detritus from the fuge and added 2 mini hermit crabs. I have been doing a 20% wc every week too which I think I will cut down to 10% I only have a total volume of 23 gal.

So technically I have been doing a 3 prong attack. 1. I have been extremely strict on my WC schedule and have been doing more than usually I do (10%). I am mostly doing this to correct parameters from not having time to do consistent wc for a few months but im sure it has some impact.
2. I added a fuge and started growing chaeto
3. I added something that definitely eats GHA a hermit crab.

Whatever method you use its going to take time. Even vibrant take around 8 weeks according to the brs test.

 

[moz71]

take

I figured that the GHA is taking in all the nitrates hence my false reading of zero. So agree. Just hoping the cheato out competes it. I guess being impatient and just need to give it time.

 

[Travis Alderman]

Thanks. I have been reading about it but read that sometimes causes problems like Cyano or Dino’s. Any advice to eliminate that concern?

Well vibrant is a bacteria that focuses on eating algae.

Just because the algae is gone doesnt mean that what caused it is gone. That is why other things may rear their ugly head like dino's.

If you also keep up with your water changes and good husbandry then you wont have to worry about those. None of those popped up for me.

I also run biopellets too in a reactor. That keeps my nitrate under control. I also dose phosphate rx every night 25 drops a night in my 125. Keeps my phosphate at around .05

 

[S2G]

I figured that the GHA is taking in all the nitrates hence my false reading of zero. So agree. Just hoping the cheato out competes it. I guess being impatient and just need to give it time.

That can easier said than done sometimes. It's good to catch it early but it's fairly easy to get rid of. Fluconazole is what I used last but I used vibrant before that. Unless your tank is overrun with gha the fuge should outcompete it quickly with a good light.

Im in the same boat my fuge light crapped out the same time my skimmer went crazy. So now I have those little patches. I just put my bulb in so hopefully my chaeto rebounds quick as well.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Liquid vibrant all the way !!