High nitrates and Green Hair Algae

[Uzair Aiman]

Hi. i think most of you guys have seen a post like this before. Right now I have a green hair algae outbreak. I’ve been trying to manually remove them while doing water changes weekly.
my tank is around one year old, I’ve got a torch coral, a BTA, GSP, Yuma, and a Zoanthid in the tank. A clown pair and also a hermit crab.
after testing my water the other day, my nitrates seem to be at around 50ppm,whereas my phosphates were low at around 0.1.
I suspect that this green hair algae outbreak is caused by the excess nitrates in the tank.
I want to ask for some solutions to lower and stabilise this nitrate back safely, since I am still a beginner and budget is a bit tight, a reactor is quite challenging for me. I’ve read of carbon dosing with Red Sea NOPOX. Is my tank still considered new and still hasn’t matured yet that the biologal filtration of the bacteria is still low? Should I wait abit longer and not tinker on anything? Or do I need to take action to lower it? If so, what are the best things to do to lower nitrates and maintain the levels at a more safe magnitude? My corals seem to be fine except for my anemone. It’s been doing badly.

 

[Uzair Aiman]

Also, I have a bubble magus protein skimmer in my back compartment (It’s and AIO Tank), which seems to be going crazy and not skimming really well. And also, my green star polyps has lost its green for some reason, not sure if it’s the nitrates or the algae but, the polyps do extend, just everything is purple haha

 

[Duffer]

Most likely you are getting a false reading on your phosphates. They are being consumed by the algae and probably are much higher. Try to lower after you manually remove as much as possible and an urchin will help a lot

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

How old is the tank?
Did you miss any weekly water changes? Nitrates at 50 when doing weekly water changes is strange, should not be that high.

 

[Uzair Aiman]

How old is the tank?
Did you miss any weekly water changes? Nitrates at 50 when doing weekly water changes is strange, should not be that high.

It’s about a year old. And yes I forgot to mention. I did miss out water changes for a few months because of something happening in my life, made me neglect the tank for some time and the hair algae to spread. Thats why now I got my feet back on the ground and trying to keep my tank back on track

 

[Uzair Aiman]

Most likely you are getting a false reading on your phosphates. They are being consumed by the algae and probably are much higher. Try to lower after you manually remove as much as possible and an urchin will help a lot

How would you recommend to “lower” the phosphates/nitrates after removing the algae manually? Is there any other way other than urchins? I preferably would not want to add more livestock to the tank

 

[Freenow54]

It takes as much time to get out of a jam, as it did to get into it. I do Not like dosing. I inherited a tank same issue took 7 months of manual cleaning to make it subside, but also figured out my son was using reef roids to feed coral that was the source. Figure yours out. The skimmer is one negative as far as I am concerned. I would straighten that out and feed sparingly. Water changes did not help much I was doing 3 a week 50%. Clean the sand if you can

 

[Garf]

Algae grows in the ocean, in a lot less nutrients than most reefers can achieve. Shading, bacterial coverage and herbivores control it. Shading and bacteria develop with time, herbivores are instant.

 

[ZoWhat]

Carbon dose and phyto dose. Research and read those two things and you'll be heading in the correct direction

 

[Uzair Aiman]

It takes as much time to get out of a jam, as it did to get into it. I do Not like dosing. I inherited a tank same issue took 7 months of manual cleaning to make it subside, but also figured out my son was using reef roids to feed coral that was the source. Figure yours out. The skimmer is one negative as far as I am concerned. I would straighten that out and feed sparingly. Water changes did not help much I was doing 3 a week 50%. Clean the sand if you can

So what your trying to say is, just keep up with water changes, and figure out the source- reducing it as much as possible? Why do you not like dosing in the first place, is there any major side effects to it?

 

[Uzair Aiman]

Algae grows in the ocean, in a lot less nutrients than most reefers can achieve. Shading, bacterial coverage and herbivores control it. Shading and bacteria develop with time, herbivores are instant.

So should I just leave it be then? Let nature take place where bacteria and shading will take over and clean up the algae. Im just afraid to add any new corals to the system since my nutrients are bonkers right now imo.

 

[Uzair Aiman]

Carbon dose and phyto dose. Research and read those two things and you'll be heading in the correct direction

I already have white distilled vinegar (5%) in hand right now. Just researching on how and should I dose. Any tips or precautions?

 

[Garf]

So should I just leave it be then? Let nature take place where bacteria and shading will take over and clean up the algae. Im just afraid to add any new corals to the system since my nutrients are bonkers right now imo.

You got some pics? How big is the tank? Have you got any algae eaters?

 

[Uzair Aiman]

You got some pics? How big is the tank? Have you got any algae eaters?

Oh I also forgot to mention, I did add a small blue tang into the tank (not a permanent resident), as I've read that they are algae eaters. Also I have a nassarius snail which is only in the sand bed, and the hermit who just eats leftover food on the rocks and sandbend, never seen him eat algae though. The tanks about 25 gallons display volume.
Here are some pics.

Ive also got these green algae on the glass, which does not seem like hair algae and is really hard to get off. I tried rubbing it with a hard sponge and it still kind of persists. What is it? And how do I get rid of it? I know a metal blade can do the job, but is there any other way?

 

[damsels are not mean]

I hate to be the bearer if bad news, but nitrate control will likely have 0 noticeable impact on algae growth. It's good to have them under control but algae will always be there so long as it is not being predated upon (by some herbivores or your hand) or outcompeted (by corals and other biofilms or prettier algaes).

 

[Uzair Aiman]

I hate to be the bearer if bad news, but nitrate control will likely have 0 noticeable impact on algae growth. It's good to have them under control but algae will always be there so long as it is not being predated upon (by some herbivores or your hand) or outcompeted (by corals and other biofilms or prettier algaes).

Right now I’m just removing it manually. My goal is to get my nutrients back on track so it doesn’t grow back, at least I can buy some snails or crabs to help perish it fully. Right now the algae is still blooming and growing exponentially and I cannot keep it at bay.

 

[fish farmer]

It’s about a year old. And yes I forgot to mention. I did miss out water changes for a few months because of something happening in my life, made me neglect the tank for some time and the hair algae to spread. Thats why now I got my feet back on the ground and trying to keep my tank back on track

This is the statement I'm going to focus on.

How was your tank doing with regard to nutrients/algae BEFORE you stepped away from routine maintenance?

Personally if it was just a lack of maintenance, then I would just get back into the routine of maintenance, get the skimmer figured out, maybe a few extra WC's while you siphon algae out, maybe pull rocks and scrub it off. Razor blade to the glass is the best for film algae and a magnet scraper for routine glass cleaning.

If you are at a point in this relatively new tank's life where INPUT isn't equaling OUTPUT and you are getting excessive nutrients building then there are several avenues to remedy this. Some have already been stated.

I've gotten out of heavier algae infestations with routine WC's, cut back feeding, better skimming, siphoning out detritus, increasing flow to keep detritus from settling, blasting rock with a turkey baster before water changes, adding a few more snails and using chaeto in a sump.

 

[paintman]

Carbon dose and phyto dose. Research and read those two things and you'll be heading in the correct direction

Been dosing phyto for over a year in my 200gal. and tank does'nt look any different to my eye. In my opinion its a waste of time and money. I think it's more of a fad, just like cooking rocks were 10 years ago. Why put something in only to have your skimmer go nuts take it out?

 

[Freenow54]

So what your trying to say is, just keep up with water changes, and figure out the source- reducing it as much as possible? Why do you not like dosing in the first place, is there any major side effects to it?

Well like I said water changes did not seem to change things much however still did them. I don't like dosing because the previous owner dosed all the time, and figured he was causing the issue. Also a big discussion on use of vibrant here, killing off everything because they are saying is an algaecide, I don't trust manufacturer claims just me maybe. Look for natural ways to solve things, so far seems to work. The skimmer is big to me, and aggressive cleaning of the rock out of the tank with brass brush

 

[Uzair Aiman]

This is the statement I'm going to focus on.

How was your tank doing with regard to nutrients/algae BEFORE you stepped away from routine maintenance?

Personally if it was just a lack of maintenance, then I would just get back into the routine of maintenance, get the skimmer figured out, maybe a few extra WC's while you siphon algae out, maybe pull rocks and scrub it off. Razor blade to the glass is the best for film algae and a magnet scraper for routine glass cleaning.

If you are at a point in this relatively new tank's life where INPUT isn't equaling OUTPUT and you are getting excessive nutrients building then there are several avenues to remedy this. Some have already been stated.

I've gotten out of heavier algae infestations with routine WC's, cut back feeding, better skimming, siphoning out detritus, increasing flow to keep detritus from settling, blasting rock with a turkey baster before water changes, adding a few more snails and using chaeto in a sump.

Right before I stepped away from my routine, the tanks nutrients wasn’t ideal; but bearable. GHA was just starting to grow at that time since it is a relatively new tank, but bearable.
I do not have the space to install and chaeto system in my tank though. How long of this routine did it take you to clear it all out? Was the chaeto a big role in this? I will cut down on feeding. Maybe feed once every other day, and I’ll try to scrub off as much algae as I can.
Will it bring any side effects if I divert to just dosing vinegar instead? Or should I do your route and maintain my routine?