Having trouble with brown hair algae and I need help!

[Raazka]

For the last month or two I’ve been having a constant battle with brown hair algae. I’ve reduced feedings, kept lights on for only 4-5 hours, dosed my supplements only 2-3 times a week (before I did it once every day) and picked as much as I can every water change but still, it’ll pop up after a few days as strong as ever. The worse of it happens on the sand bed where I’ll get big clumps of it all over the front of the tank.

I have hermit crabs and turbo snails but they don’t seem to touch any of it. Currently no fish since I’ve recently had an ich outbreak so I’m fallowing it out (will be able to put fish back November 1st). The only fish that will be going back for now is a Springer’s Damsel and a Toby puffer.

Tank specs ;
-30 gallon, few turbo snails and hermit crabs, 2 cleaner shrimps, 1 blood red fire shrimp, no fish. About 6-7 soft corals and caulerpa macroalgae
-HOB filtration (50 gallons), 2 powerheads
-Dosing AB+, SeaChem calcium, NeoNitro

Tank parameters ;
-0ppm ammonia and nitrites
-5ppm nitrate
-0 phosphate (or really low phosphate)

Any recommendations on how to deal with all of this?

 

[Subsea]

What supplements are you dosing?

 

[Uncle99]

Zero phosphate (if correct) can trigger pest stuff which your experiencing.

Bump that to .1ppm, maintain water chemistry, add pods once, daily dash bacteria, weekly dash of phyto.

 

[Subsea]

Tank parameters ;
-0ppm ammonia and nitrites
-5ppm nitrate
-0 phosphate (or really low phosphate)

Your parameters with low nitrogen and zero phosphate are a recipe for nuisance algae.

NeoNitro - Balanced Nitrogen Supplement

Used in conjunction with MICROBACTER7 and REEF BIOFUEL or KATALYST, enables natural phosphorus uptake to take place in systems with inadequate nitrogen content, lowering phosphate concentration without the use of chemical filtration media and without resorting to polluting the system with...

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“Used in conjunction with MICROBACTER7 and REEF BIOFUEL or KATALYST, enables natural phosphorus uptake to take place in systems with inadequate nitrogen content”


Your continued use of NeoNitro will compound that problem.

 

[Raazka]

Zero phosphate (if correct) can trigger pest stuff which your experiencing.

Bump that to .1ppm, maintain water chemistry, add pods once, daily dash bacteria, weekly dash of phyto.

I’ve tried to bump it for that same reason but can’t seem to get any phosphate reading even after a heavy feeding and dosing AB+ plus reef roids. Would dosing NeoPhos help or make it so that I have too much phosphate?

 

[Uncle99]

I’ve tried to bump it for that same reason but can’t seem to get any phosphate reading even after a heavy feeding and dosing AB+ plus reef roids. Would dosing NeoPhos help or make it so that I have too much phosphate?

I use neo-phos from time to time to bump phosphate. Increased foods works, but takes some time, whereas neo-phos is available immediately.

Provided you believe the test is accurate, yup, I’d dose it and then in 24 hours, test. I’d repeat that until we get at least, a reading.

I can’t get a good reading on phosphate without the Hanna as other tests the colour change I can’t read with my eyes.

 

[Raazka]

I use neo-phos from time to time to bump phosphate. Increased foods works, but takes some time, whereas neo-phos is available immediately.

Provided you believe the test is accurate, yup, I’d dose it and then in 24 hours, test. I’d repeat that until we get at least, a reading.

I can’t get a good reading on phosphate without the Hanna as other tests the colour change I can’t read with my eyes.

Thank you very much, I’ll get some next time I go at my local reef store. Do you any any idea on how to get my phosphates stable so I don’t have to keep dosing stuff?

 

[Uncle99]

Thank you very much, I’ll get some next time I go at my local reef store. Do you any any idea on how to get my phosphates stable so I don’t have to keep dosing stuff?

The bump is just a quick fix to put it in the slot.

You should not have to dose regularly.

Most of us fight the opposite, higher po4

With 5ppm nitrate you have some room to feed more.