Hair Algae Problem

[Baby Ray]

I have had a hair algae problem for the past year or so and its gotten continuously worse. I have been doing regular water changes but it just won't go away. I only have two fish right now too (clownfish and ORA spotted filefish). Could I add a media of some sort that would help clean it up as well?
I have a 29 gallon tank with a 20 gallon sump

 

[Bayareareefer18]

I have had a hair algae problem for the past year or so and its gotten continuously worse. I have been doing regular water changes but it just won't go away. I only have two fish right now too (clownfish and ORA spotted filefish). Could I add a media of some sort that would help clean it up as well?
I have a 29 gallon tank with a 20 gallon sump

What are your po4 and n03 levels?

Using RODI?

If nutrients are the issue there are ways to lower them but still need to get to the root cause

 

[leepink23]

This worked great for me, assuming your nutrients are under control. Also adding a clean up crew helps if not already being used.

 

[truben1010]

This worked great for me, assuming your nutrients are under control. Also adding a clean up crew helps if not already being used.

Does this really work? I’m curious to know lol

 

[Bugger]

You need a herbivor to get rid of it. Try some lawnmower blennies. I struggled too until I got a tang

 

[Subsea]

Normally, gha thrives with low nutrients. Macro combines nitrogen/phosphorous in the ratio of 30:1. In most cases adding nitrogen will allow other macro to outcompete gha.

What are your parameters for N & P?

 

[Pete Horwath]

Agree on the lawnmower Blennie!!! Mine keeps the algae at bay as well as adds a lot of personality to the tank!!!

 

[leepink23]

Does this really work? I’m curious to know lol

It did for me, which has allowed my herbivores to keep it under control

 

[vetteguy53081]

This worked great for me, assuming your nutrients are under control. Also adding a clean up crew helps if not already being used.

This has to be mixed but works good

 

[vetteguy53081]

You need a herbivor to get rid of it. Try some lawnmower blennies. I struggled too until I got a tang

Lawnmower blenny, yellow eyed tang and/or Sea hare will work well

 

[redpine42]

You need a herbivor to get rid of it. Try some lawnmower blennies. I struggled too until I got a tang

Tang, blenny and foxfax cleaned it up fast for me. No GHA in my display tank.

 

[Rcpilot]

The OP still hasn't indicated where the water source is coming from.

RO/DI? From where? LFS? Your house?

Tap water? WHY???

What are the fresh water test kits saying about the RO/DI water? I always kept some on hand to test it before I added the salt mix.

What's the TDS meter say?

What are you feeding? How much? How often?

Regular water changes - how often? Twice a year or twice a month? Weekly? How much water? 2 gallons? 14.75972 gallons?

Details... details.... details....


Then the question becomes:
Do you want to treat the symptoms by getting a herbivorous fish?

Or do you want to fix the problem by finding out WHY you have hair algae ....... and then fix that?

 

[Baby Ray]

Im sorry for the late reply. I have been really busy this week.
I am using RODI water
I am feeding reef frenzy everyday. I wouldn't say that Im over feeding. After feeding, most of the food is gone. (I'm at school so im just going off of what my dad tells me).
A five gallon water change twice or once a month
I am gonna get my parameters to y'all as fast as I can.
I wouldn't mind getting a lawnmower blenny but I would rather just clear the tank up on my own.

 

[Baby Ray]

Amonia: 0
Nitrite:0
Nitrate:0 (I think this is the problem)
pH:8.2
Alkalinity: dKH: 5 Men/L: 1.8

If you need anything other parameters, let me know. I have tests for just about anything

 

[Error404]

IS your tank new ? If it is , typically rock will do this for a while . This is why people typically cure the rock prior to placing it in the tank . If this is the case, just let the fuel run out . I use to feed my fish pellets every day . Eventually I came across a product called benepets, and use it to feed my coral, my fish love it . And now, I don’t have to feed fish as often

 

[Baby Ray]

I have had my tank up for over 3 years now which is why this is bothering me

 

[fish farmer]

Do you have a pic of your problem hair algae?

My 29 used to look like this.

That was probably year 3 of that build.

Currently it looks more like this.

I do 5 gallon WC every two weeks. I added a CUC with a sea hare this past spring which did wonders. I manually pull what I can. An urchin does help, but can knock stuff over. I added chaeto to the sump about a month ago and my phos and nitrate reading both have started dropping....I was at 2 pmm phos/40 pmm nitrate and am currently at 1pmm phos/25 pmm nitrate.

 

[Bullnose]

+ 1 on the sea hare. Just get it and then donate it to the next reefer in need when it decimates your gha. Keep up the water changes and siphon out the poop best you can.

 

[Baby Ray]

Do tail spot bennies eat hair algae too or is it just lawnmower blennies?

 

[Pete Horwath]

Not sure on the tail spots. Lawnmowers got their name from mowing down algae. Best to only get one per tank. They will play nice with most fish but not their own kind us you find a mated pair.