Hair Algae Won't Leave Me Alone!!!

[Jarbour14]

Hello everyone,

I hope you are all staying safe and healthy. I have a 75 gallon tank that has been setup for about 2 years now. All fish and corals are healthy, I dose my tank on a consistent schedule, my lights are on a timer and I do not overfeed, yet I cant seem to shake this green hair algae growing on my rock. I just did a 50% water change each wednesday for the last 3 weeks and STILL it keeps growing, I use a BRS rodi with brand new filters, 0 TDS and a consistent salinity level of 1.025. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to get rid of this ugly algae?

Thanks in advance,
Justin

 

[vetteguy53081]

By any chance is tank at or near a window?
The direct and indirect UV will often cause this
Other factors are high white light intensity and higher phosphate and nitrate levels.
What do you have for snails/cleaners ?

 

[Canadareefer666]

We need some more info. Recent water test, nutrient control like algae scrubbers or fuge, type of lighting and clean up crew.

 

[Jarbour14]

Not near a window, I am running a refugium with chaeto, sandsifting goby, lawnmower blenny, cleaner shrimp, large assortment of different snails, and some hermits Running low intensity light as of right now for only 5 hours a day. I regularly do water changes while siphoning all the junk off the top of the sand. Very low phosphate and nitrate levels.

 

[Bradlas]

This sounds very similar to my situation. I have many of the same things going on and have been struggling with it for the past 4 months on my 75. Have you tried scrubbing the rocks in a bucket of RODI? I did that and then did a 25% water change every 3 days for the next 9 days and it has been much better for the last 2 weeks. I'm interested what other people might do to rid the tank of the algae. Best of Luck

 

[Jarbour14]

I just purchased a foxface and he has been cleaning it of the rocks as it grows and has helped me out a lot, not to mention he is a great fish with 0 aggression, when there is no algae seen on the rocks I just supliment him with some algae sheets and/or algae pellets!

 

[Garf]

I just purchased a foxface and he has been cleaning it of the rocks as it grows and has helped me out a lot, not to mention he is a great fish with 0 aggression, when there is no algae seen on the rocks I just supliment him with some algae sheets and/or algae pellets!

That’s how you do it.

 

[Garf]

This sounds very similar to my situation. I have many of the same things going on and have been struggling with it for the past 4 months on my 75. Have you tried scrubbing the rocks in a bucket of RODI? I did that and then did a 25% water change every 3 days for the next 9 days and it has been much better for the last 2 weeks. I'm interested what other people might do to rid the tank of the algae. Best of Luck

That’s not how you do it.

 

[rkpetersen]

A small amount of hair algae is common in even the healthiest tanks.
A few more suggestions for control:
Get some Lettuce Sea Slugs (Elysia sp.) They're atttractive and will eat hair algae, although not particularly quickly. They are at risk for loss by going into overflows and powerheads.
Try a Sea Hare (Dolabella or other species.) They are impressive hair algae eaters, and if they finish off everything in your tank, will quickly then starve to death. Some people think they're unattractive, I find them cute.
If you're running red or green channels on your lights, turn them down or off. This will help reduce algae growth.

 

[LegendaryCG]

As long as progress is going in the right direction just keep with it. You‘re trying to win the war not a battle.

 

[rubertoe93]

I saw my lfs siphon some out with a peice of airline tubing, he just placed it on the rock started the syphon and away it went, I imagine this will take a while but if your doing large water changes you can take the majority out this way, it may Take a while tho!