Hair algae Nitrates and Phosphates

[ajiisss]

After 2 years I suddenly got a hair algae problem in my tank(220 gallon). My nitrates were at 15-20ppm always and phosphates I never checked. Then I removed all rock work cleaned and removed and put back in and started carbon dosing . My nitrates are at 3 ppm and phosphates at .07. I am still getting hair algae. My question is will it die off if I maintain this level of Nitrates and phosphates? I have tangs and cleanup crews but they are not eating much

 

[Timfish]

No. Adding labile DOC, aka carbon dosing, may be helping the algae actually (See Rohwer's links and the links on phase shifts below). The algae eaters I like are urchins, large algae eating hermits like thin stripe hermits and sally lightfoot crabs. IWhat has worked best for me over hte decades is doing consitant water changes and manual removal and FWIW I haven't seen any correlation with nitrates, phosphates and nuisance algae. Shifting ecosystems so they don't promote nuisance algae doesn't happen overnight so be patient.


"Coral Reefs in the Microbial Seas" This video compliments Rohwer's book of the same title (Paper back is ~$20, Kindle is ~$10), both deal with the conflicting roles of the different types of DOC in reef ecosystems. While there is overlap bewteen his book and the video both have information not covered by the other and together give a broader view of the complex relationships found in reef ecosystems

Maintenance of Coral Reef Health (refferences at the end)

Differential recycling of coral and algal dissolved organic matter via the sponge loop.
Sponges treat DOC from algae differently than DOC from corals

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besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com

A Vicious Circle? Altered Carbon and Nutrient Cycling May Explain the Low Resilience of Caribbean Coral Reefs

A Vicious Circle? Altered Carbon and Nutrient Cycling May Explain the Low Resilience of Caribbean Coral Reefs

Coral reefs are economically important ecosystems that have suffered unprecedented losses of corals in the recent past. Why have Caribbean reefs in particu

academic.oup.com

.

 

[ajiisss]

No. Adding labile DOC, aka carbon dosing, may be helping the algae actually (See Rohwer's links and the links on phase shifts below). The algae eaters I like are urchins, large algae eating hermits like thin stripe hermits and sally lightfoot crabs. IWhat has worked best for me over hte decades is doing consitant water changes and manual removal and FWIW I haven't seen any correlation with nitrates, phosphates and nuisance algae. Shifting ecosystems so they don't promote nuisance algae doesn't happen overnight so be patient.


"Coral Reefs in the Microbial Seas" This video compliments Rohwer's book of the same title (Paper back is ~$20, Kindle is ~$10), both deal with the conflicting roles of the different types of DOC in reef ecosystems. While there is overlap bewteen his book and the video both have information not covered by the other and together give a broader view of the complex relationships found in reef ecosystems

Maintenance of Coral Reef Health (refferences at the end)

Differential recycling of coral and algal dissolved organic matter via the sponge loop.
Sponges treat DOC from algae differently than DOC from corals

Error - Cookies Turned Off

besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com

A Vicious Circle? Altered Carbon and Nutrient Cycling May Explain the Low Resilience of Caribbean Coral Reefs

A Vicious Circle? Altered Carbon and Nutrient Cycling May Explain the Low Resilience of Caribbean Coral Reefs

Coral reefs are economically important ecosystems that have suffered unprecedented losses of corals in the recent past. Why have Caribbean reefs in particu

academic.oup.com

.

Thank you for all the information. I will go through everything. I do water changes every 2 weeks

 

[vetteguy53081]

After 2 years I suddenly got a hair algae problem in my tank(220 gallon). My nitrates were at 15-20ppm always and phosphates I never checked. Then I removed all rock work cleaned and removed and put back in and started carbon dosing . My nitrates are at 3 ppm and phosphates at .07. I am still getting hair algae. My question is will it die off if I maintain this level of Nitrates and phosphates? I have tangs and cleanup crews but they are not eating much

carbon dosing fueling the algae. Is this tank getting partial sunlight?
What cleaner crew do you currently have?
Any pics under white lighting ?

 

[ajiisss]

carbon dosing fueling the algae. Is this tank getting partial sunlight?
What cleaner crew do you currently have?
Any pics under white lighting ?

No its not getting any sunlight as such its in my basement and way away from the windows. I am attaching a video let me know if you can see it . This is after I removed all alage 2 months back

 

[ajiisss]

No its not getting any sunlight as such its in my basement and way away from the windows. I am attaching a video let me know if you can see it . This is after I removed all algae 2 months back

 

[Timfish]

Thank you for all the information. I will go through everything. I do water changes every 2 weeks

Using straws might help see the below videos. An eye opening experience I had with the crash of 2008 was a system I maintained in a house that sat empty for 3 years. Over that period the system was crashed 3 times (realitors and electricians ). While some animals survived the owner didn't want to put any effort in rehabilitating the system. I did minor restocking adding some overflow from other systems. Each time just doing manual removal with small weekly water changes the nuisance algae blooms dissappeared over 4-8 months. Below are also links to two threads I posted on the local forum:

Hair Algae, A Case Study.

Nuisance algae in reef systems is pretty much a ubiquitous problem, and one that is a common source of frustration for reef aquarists. It is also one I've learned to view the problem very differently than what is generally portrayed and it just takes a few rather basic steps, and patience. (This ...

www.austinreefclub.com

Hair Algae, a second case study

Nuisance algae in reef systems is pretty much a ubiquitous problem, and one that is a common source of frustration for reef aquarists. It is also one I've learned to view the problem very differently than what is generally portrayed and it just takes a few rather basic steps, and patience. (This ...

www.austinreefclub.com

 

[vetteguy53081]

Image quite dark to tell

 

[ajiisss]

Image quite dark to tell

I will take one with a higher light intensity when I get home. But as a general question when nitrate and phoaphates are low shouldn't the algae die itself?

 

[ajiisss]

I will take one with a higher light intensity when I get home. But as a general question when nitrate and phoaphates are low shouldn't the algae die itself?

Image quite dark to tell

A good video

 

[ajiisss]

Image quite dark to tell

 

[ajiisss]

Image quite dark to tell

 

[vetteguy53081]

I will take one with a higher light intensity when I get home. But as a general question when nitrate and phoaphates are low shouldn't the algae die itself?

Not necessarily. Algae needs light and inorganics to thrive. Certain coral supplements, overfeeding and algae itself consumes nitrates

 

[vetteguy53081]

Yeah, heavy GHA. I would place it in a container of tank water and pull off as much as you can by hand and scrub the rest with a firm toothbrush and some 3% hydrogen peroxide.
Return to tank, reduce white light intensity and number of hours of white lighting and add some snails such as :
Astrea
cerith
turbo grazer
trochus

A Pencil urchin

8-10 Caribbean blue leg hermits

Are you using RODI water or tap water from the faucet ?

 

[ajiisss]

Yeah, heavy GHA. I would place it in a container of tank water and pull off as much as you can by hand and scrub the rest with a firm toothbrush and some 3% hydrogen peroxide.
Return to tank, reduce white light intensity and number of hours of white lighting and add some snails such as :
Astrea
cerith
turbo grazer
trochus

A Pencil urchin

8-10 Caribbean blue leg hermits

Are you using RODI water or tap water from the faucet ?

I am using rodi water i have a doubt thr di resin need to be replaced . Its 2 years old even though my tds still reads zero

 

[Waters]

I actually put hair algae covered live rock into brute cans filled with nothing but saltwater and inverts while I was redoing my tank. They stayed in there, basically in the dark (overhead basement light flicked on once or twice a day) with almost no nutrients for close to 2 months. The algae not only didn't die, but actually thrived. I think GHA can survive on the moon.

 

[-JoJoReefing-]

I heard tang and cleanup crew don’t like very long hair algae. In my tank I overstock clean up crew and I think they do a great job to eat every visible piece of algae. turbos especially helps with large area cleaning, and Astrea gets into the small places for deep cleaning.

 

[ajiisss]

I heard tang and cleanup crew don’t like very long hair algae. In my tank I overstock clean up crew and I think they do a great job to eat every visible piece of algae. turbos especially helps with large area cleaning, and Astrea gets into the small places for deep cleaning.

I have few snails but not eating that much may need to add some urchins

 

[-JoJoReefing-]

I have few snails but not eating that much may need to add some urchins

In my 120g display I currently have 15+ turbo, 15+ astrea and trochus, 10 cerith,l for algea. Still adding more snails.