How to remove green hair algae from a reef tank.
Reef tank 9 years ago 129,482 views
You shoukd alwasys use R.O.D.I water from the start. Tap water contains phosphates. No.6 will only work to remove carbondioxide if you have low levels in the room. (see part 10 how to build a reef tank). Good flow and an open aquascape will stop the build up of waste, and help more waste to go up your skimmer. It does not realy matter what your phosphate levels are as long as they are below 0.03. A simmer is only 30-40% efective at removing all the waste, but make sure it working as properly. Whilest algae dose need other things to grow like iodine iron and nitrate, The phosphates are by far the easiest to remove. T5 light tubes shoyld not be more than a yesr old, and metal halide bulbes should not be mor than 8 months old. Your lighting should be on for no longer than 8 hours. All these methords can be used to remove red slime algae (cyano bacteria) as well, but Ihave a seperate video on just red slime. It is true that if you have lots of geen hair algae your phosphate levels will be low, as the algae sucks ot the phosphate quicker than you can test for it with some test kits. With the right test kit you will always show up phosphates, if you have large amounts of algae. A.P.I test kit is know good, as it will not show up levels below 0.25 Nutrifin is the same. Seachem, D.D, and Redsea pro test kits are difficult to read at low levels. Saliferts is very difficult to read at levels above 0.03, but is the best, because it will tell you easily if you have levels below 0.03. A digital hannha checker is exsencive but will give you a digital reading down to 0.01.
10. comment for How to remove green hair algae from a reef tank.
I will ask about the salt, and also test my tap water. It looks pretty clean though.
I'm thinking of adding a filter to clean the water. Can you recommend one?
I will take advise 're the salt. I will try a different supermarket as per your recomendation
20. comment for How to remove green hair algae from a reef tank.
And yes, my tank is invaded slowly by surely by hair algae and phosphates are high
A 20% way change might help.
30. comment for How to remove green hair algae from a reef tank.
I use a salifert test kit. Any sign of blue and phosphates are to high. A Hannah checker is good. If the phosphates are built up in the rocks, then no test kit will be any good!!.
2 idk :P
If your nitrates were only 20ppm, and you had a large tank full of corals, and big aquascape, I would not recommend this.
Remove the live rock fish and to corals to a spare tank or storage container, with a heater, and air stone or power head for movement, and aeration. Remove and through out the rest of the water and the sand bed. If you wanted you could keep the very top of the sand, to reseed the new sand bed. Add new dry sand bed, (1-2 inch, then new aquascape made of dry rock, then the old live rock on top. You will need to wait for the dust to settle ( a few hours).
This would remove any nitrates built up in the old sand bed. Better flow over the new sand bed may help stop the problem happening again.
Keep an eye on the ammonia levels when you add the fish and corals back.
How many pounds of live rock do you have. You need about 30-40 pounds, and a sand bed of 1-2 inches. How many fish do you have?. I would put no more than 5 clown fish size fish in your tank. The only place nitrates come from, is dead matter and fish waste. They can get trapped in the rock/sand if you do not have enough flow, skimming, or are over feeding. Or you over fed in the past. They could then be released at some point, particularly if you, or a fish stir the sand bed.
Don't just look at what's happening in your tank at the moment, or your current filtration but what has happened in the past few months/years. If your tank is 2 years old then, how long have you had high nitrates?.
I have 12 fish in a 100g, with just a 5% weakly water change, I have 0.2ppm nitrates.
The only to things you need to remove nitrates are skimming, and bacteria, provided your tank is not over fed, and has good flow!!.
How about a video/pictures of your tank.
Try a 50% water change, and sea what happens. The denitrofying bacteria that eat nitrates take time to get going sometimes 2-3 months. 40ppm is a lot for the bacteria to eat.
Try a different test kit to see if the test kit is at fault.
It is difficult to say how long it takes to remove green hair algae. It depends on the phosphate levels built up in the rocks.
Not sure what you mean by running seachem, they make lots of products. Activated carbon and perigein do the same thing, ung one or the other is good, but it won't help the nitrate/phosphate problem. Do you know what your phosphates are?. As I have stated in this video, a refugium will do very little for your nitrate, and phosphate. I have a whole video on why refugiums don't work.
Running G.F.O in a phosban reactor is good.
You could mix it with activated carbon in the reactor. Sandwich it between some filter pads so it does not tumble. I have a video on skimmers and phosban reactors (how to build a reef tank part 8). You need to use R.O.D.I water, or your tank won't work.
Sounds like you have good flow. You need a good skimmer and an open aqua scape, to help remove as much fish waste as possible. This will also help remove the phosphates. Are you using any thing to remove the phosphates. Your phosphates should be below 0.03ppm. You need the right test kit like slaifert. Do you know what your phosphates are?.
PO4 NO3 X is a form of carbon dosing, a bit like using vodka or biopellits. The carbon sauce in the PO4 NO3 x feed bacteria that also eat phosphate, and nitrate (NO3) The problem here is that the bacteria can take weeks to get going. I have never used this product before, so have no idea how long it takes to work. you also need a good skimmer. The bacteria will slowly die and reproduce. Any dead bacteria will go up the skimmer taking he PO4 and NO3 they have eaten with them. I use rowa phos in a phosban reactor to remove PO4. You need to keep it below 0.03. I just let the natural denitrifying bacteria remove the nitrates, along this good skimming.
I have a 125 reef and only hair algae is in my overflow boxes. I have 2 overflowed and grows back every few weeks. I think I have to cover the top of the overflow box with a piece of black acrylic so the lighting doesn't get inside the overflow box. But doesn't explain why there isn't any in the display tank anywhere else. The odd time I will get a sprout of it on the top of the Wavemaker. I'm thinking it has to do with flow and lighting and phosphates. I use only RO water with Tds 0.00.
Test kits? Garbage, I don't bother, period, to be honest!
Waist of money and false results and time. My opinion at least.
Any help would be appreciated doc!
Respect
That answer implies you don't test enough to know what your phosphate readings are. Am I wrong? What are your phosphates at right now?
No doubt your phosphates are not in check, yet, as well..
But where my algae has been growing are all in the areas of lots of flow.
Teeth of overflow box and directly on the wavemakers them selfs
it is normally lack of flow that causes algae, because lack of flow causes waste build up. read what I have written and learn.
If your phosphates are below 0.03 and you still have hair algae, then it could be living of phosphates built up in the rocks which are not detectable. It can also grow from dead coralline algae, or any waste/slime build up on glass or overflows.
What are your phosphates levels?. what test kit are you using?. Are the over flow boxes clean. Hair algae can also trap waste which then brakes down into phosphates. You have to work out where the phosphates are coming. I have zero hair algae in my over flow box. Maybe it is because I don't have an sump, so don't have an over flow box!!
Covering the box would work, but it is better to try and fix the phosphates first.
50. comment for How to remove green hair algae from a reef tank.
The trubble with a refugium is you need the right amount of macro algae. To much, and it will eat to much phosphate and starve itself out. If the macro won't grow then this is good one less thing to worry about. I just use rowa phos in a reactor, and have phosphate levels of 0.02/1.
It's a good nutrient barometer, though... if your chaeto is growing, you have too much phosphate! :)