Please help

bnadeau · Mar 24, 2014

Hello there! I had the same problem a few months ago. Test your nitrates, high nitrates stimulate algae growth and are not good for your aquarium. Algae consumes the detritus in your tank, so having some algae is actually beneficial! I know algae is unsightly and can take over your tank, so I continued my weekly water changes (and sucked the algae off the rocks but left some in the sand bed) I pushed some of the algae around and covered a little with sand. I also introduced a great little clean up crew to help rid the detritus in my tank! My friend (who got me into the hobby and studies marine biology) brought over some beneficial bacteria too! It's been a few weeks and my algae has diminished substantially! I also recommend a circulation pump if the algae is growing in one particular spot--it could be a dead spot! Make sure that you're not overfeeding because this tends to cause a buildup of nutrients and higher nitrates. Hope this helps

Best of luck!!

Cw1985 · Mar 25, 2014

We check the water often and it always is right I point like almost perfect. We've reduced feedings. And we suction when we do water changes as well. What's the beneficial bacteria? What all does your clean up crew consist of? I've got snails and hermit crabs big and small. Also two different gobies, just added two rabbit fish today bc their suppose to eat algae, urchins, and a fox face. Most all my other fish eat the algae too.

bnadeau · Mar 25, 2014

You can pick up some bacteria at any aquarium store, or order some online! It just helps maintain the healthy organisms keeping your tank alive! A good cleanup crew depends on your tank size. For me, I have a 10gal with a 5 various snails and two hermit crabs. Like I said, Algae in moderation isn't a bad thing! Where is your tank located? I noticed that when it's sunny and sunlight hits the tank, it stimulates algae growth.

ZIGGY63 · Mar 25, 2014

rabbit fish will devour algae, what system are you using to filter your water? when I first got In the hobby In the early 2000's I would just use the stuff that would take the chlorine out of the water. I always wonder why I had algae, and It was because of this. If anything a good four stage filter system or better needs to be your water source.

fishdoc11 · Mar 25, 2014

How long has the tank been setup? Do you have a sanded and how longs has it been in. Also I am assuming you are using RO/DI water. PO4 remover helps, Ferric oxide. Those might be some things to try.

cee · Mar 25, 2014

Bradsreeeftank said:
Not too be rude, but people tend to ask all these qustions about your set up and then never answer what the problem is. maybe not the case with Cee but i caught onto it (;

Look, I get up very early in the morning and just can't hang out on here all night. This statement does little to help the OP.

There are some good suggestions on here but I think your problem is 1) not using RODI water (I assume this since you were unfamiliar with the term) and 2) phosphate locked up in your LR. #1 can be remedied fairly easily but #2 will just take time. Using H2O2 isn't going to remove the nutrients just oxidize the algae so it will likely come back. Get some herbivores (rabbitfish, turbo snails, lettuce nudi, take your pick) and let them take care of the algae, run some GFO to help take out the phosphate and be patient. Lanthanum chloride is the chemical that precipitates phosphate. While I've used it to cook LR I've never used it in a tank (people have, though), so I have no first-hand experience with that.

Daniel@R2R · Mar 25, 2014

Bradsreeeftank said:
Not too be rude, but people tend to ask all these qustions about your set up and then never answer what the problem is. maybe not the case with Cee but i caught onto it (;

I disagree. People on R2R try very hard to help others. The questions about someone's setup are necessary if they're going to be able to offer any kind of informed advice. It's part of what allows someone to diagnose the problem instead of just guessing.

To the OP, Cee has offered some very good advice as have others. Hair algae is the result of excess nutrients in your system. A good RODI system will go a long way in making sure you don't keep adding more phosphates to your system and GFO will pull them out. It sounds like you're already doing some stuff to bring down nitrates. Good luck!

goodtimes · Mar 25, 2014

What size tank is it?

Cw1985 · Mar 25, 2014

185 gallon tank I have the brs dual carbon gfi reactor and I also have my own water system for water changes

Cw1985 · Mar 25, 2014

It's been set up since before Christmas.

Cw1985 · Mar 25, 2014

bnadeau said:
You can pick up some bacteria at any aquarium store, or order some online! It just helps maintain the healthy organisms keeping your tank alive! A good cleanup crew depends on your tank size. For me, I have a 10gal with a 5 various snails and two hermit crabs. Like I said, Algae in moderation isn't a bad thing! Where is your tank located? I noticed that when it's sunny and sunlight hits the tank, it stimulates algae growth.

It's set up in my kitchen because it's so big. I know some algae is good but all the rock in my tank is covered. Hopefully it's gone soon.

Bradsreeeftank · Mar 25, 2014

cee said:
Look, I get up very early in the morning and just can't hang out on here all night. This statement does little to help the OP.

There are some good suggestions on here but I think your problem is 1) not using RODI water (I assume this since you were unfamiliar with the term) and 2) phosphate locked up in your LR. #1 can be remedied fairly easily but #2 will just take time. Using H2O2 isn't going to remove the nutrients just oxidize the algae so it will likely come back. Get some herbivores (rabbitfish, turbo snails, lettuce nudi, take your pick) and let them take care of the algae, run some GFO to help take out the phosphate and be patient. Lanthanum chloride is the chemical that precipitates phosphate. While I've used it to cook LR I've never used it in a tank (people have, though), so I have no first-hand experience with that.

I understand, i wasnt trying to be rude. Just saying that happens to me people ask everything about my tank and neever got back to me. And i like your ideas!

Bradsreeeftank · Mar 25, 2014

Make sure its not near a window!

Gladfelter · Mar 26, 2014

I just had one question real quick. You said your levels are fine. What are you checking?

wuuzzzuuppp · Mar 26, 2014

Sorry I'm jumping in a little late. RODI stands for Reverse Osmosis Deionizer. The revers osmosis is a fancy membrane filter that pulls impurities out of water and the deionizer pulls the minerals out of the water. Sorry to ask if its already been answered, but are you using one? If not are you using tap water?

Cw1985 · Mar 26, 2014

Yes I'm using the rodi. And the levels I'm checking is nitrates,nitrites,phosphate and ammonia. Checked yesterday and was perfect.

Rob.D · Mar 26, 2014

My tank has a bit of hair algae growing but Nitrate is undetectable (Salifert) and .03 Phosphate (Hanna), I feed lightly and run a ReefOctopus nwb150 on a 30 gallon tank, I have just one clownfish and a flasher wrasse......just because a test kit shows little to no readings that doesn't necessarily mean excess nutrients aren't present, it's simple to understand that the at least phosphates are present in the water, if there were no nutrients for the algae to grow the algae wouldn't be there.

I had the same issue a year or so ago when I added some terrestrial dry rock to my tank, the rocks I added would grow hair algae like mad; I set up a GFO (granular ferric oxide) reactor and after a month or so the hair algae went away, I also siphoned out as much as possible during water changes.

Gladfelter · Mar 29, 2014

That's a great point Rob. Phosphate is 0 because the algae is eating it. So to get the algae to go down you probably need to reduce phosphate. I agree about the GFO reactor. One of my favorite pieces of equipment.

rayn · Mar 29, 2014

Get a tds meter. Test your tap water. What water are you using in your tank? Tap water? That could be a major issue. My tap has a tds of 600+, so I use a reverse osmosis deoinonizing filter...RO/DI. This is a filter system to clean your water, then a DI filter at the end that completely cleans it to 0 tds. This is the healthy water to start mixing your salt with.
J
Water change to export nutrients, manual pulling, clean up crew. But above all patience. I am taking with the same issue on my predator tank. IF you have a good skimmer that can keep up, possibly vodka dosing.