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help ,.........algea out break

A

albie611

hi guys and gals....i need some advise on my situation...
my 20 gal mixed reef has developed sudden hair algea growth and it is starting to grow all over the rock
i have tested and found nothing out of the norm besides alk.
SG 1.025
PH 8.1
po3 undetectable
nitrate 5ppm
nitrite 0
amonia 0
calcium 460-480
alkalinity 8 dkh....was at 10 ....going to raise it slowly over next few days

my question is what could i do to kill it off without removing the rock..most of the rock are glued or supporting other rock.
could vodka dossing be done on such a small volume of water safely?

ps: lights are only 3 months old but did switch from 50/50 to all daylight...i think that could have caused this
but i doubt its driving the growth alone.
thanks and happy reefing.............................al
 
redfishbluefish

redfishbluefish

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
Not sure what you mean by “daylight” bulbs, but generally speaking, the lower the K, the faster stuff will grow, including hair algae.

What kind of CUC do you have. I believe Turbos eat hair algae, to an extend.
 
dastrader

dastrader

I let my maintenance slip a little (on my 29g) and it also quickly became overrun with GHA. I did one large water change (20%) and now do small daily water changes (maybe 1/2 gallon) and started pulling it out (a major PIA). After about a month it is slowly dieing off and I am starting to see rock again (where before GHA was all I could see). I also took the plunge and added 1 Emerald Crab (have heard good and bad things) and so far he is working out well (helping with pull off the GHA). I already had 2 turbo snails, and 5-8 misc other snails and about 5-8 hermit crabs.

It is definetly a patience game getting rid of it. But like I said, after a month, I am starting to see the light at the other end of the tunnel. It may be another month or two before it is all gone for me. Good Luck
 
J

Jcurry@wesketch

What foods are you feeding and how much/often? Do you use RO/DI water? what's your bio load like? The simplest way to get rid of HA is to do 30% water changes 2x / week and cut back on your feeding schedule. If your feeding frozen food be sure to rinse it before adding it to your tank.
 
A

albie611

i feed a mix of frozen or flake once every other day, use rodi onlyand have a reasonably sized cleen up crew.
the fish load is only three small fish, but the tank is loaded with coral.

i have raised the alk to 10 , and going up to 11-12,and doing 10% water changes every 3 to 4 days.
no clear change yet but i know it takes time to beat this stuff.
i just havent had to try it in quite a few years as this tank has been running for about 6 years.
 
qwik

qwik

Dont cowries and/or sea hairs eat it ?? Man after 6 years to have an outbreak must s**k . Good luck fighting it and post some pics before and after its cleared up.
 
C

concept3

somehow, your description is like "old tank syndrome"

I'd search on that topic online, it usually occurs on tanks with older live rock and sandbeds. I kinda went through something very similar as I had used the same "old" rock from my first setup many years ago. Got it cleaned up now, but it did involve scrubbing the rocks and then adding a carbon source.
 
A

albie611

Merv, do you think vodka dosing could be done on such a small tank without to much complications?
I'm wary of trying something so new to me and don't want to do anything drastic, but on the other hand I want to get rid of the HA a.s.a.p.

appreciate the advise ........thanks ..AL
 
C

concept3

you'll need to calculate the approximate amount of total water volume in your tank minus the rocks. Since rock displaces water volume, the closer you are to the actual water volume, the better understanding you'll have in terms of dosage. Bioload has a lot to do with it too.

BUT the most important thing is controlling the Dissolved Organics within the tank system first, and then dose as a preventative measure NOT a cure. Sand, rocks and filters (like a sock filter in the sump that hasn't been changed) all contribute to additional nutrients that will only hinder any kind of progress you could be potentially making by adding a Carbon source. Calculate that first. Volume is LxWxH and a rough calculation of rock+sand volume subtracted from the actual internal water volume of your tank is where you should start off. Lessening the organic source is second, and then application of Carbon in very small amounts until your skimmer goes nuts is where you want to be next. Once your skimmer gets crazy efficient, you know you've hit the sweet spot, and then you do the maintenance dose. I'm slowly weaning my system off the Carbon right now, in the form of every other day/whoops I forgot, and she's holding steady :)

I can dig up a before and now picture if I could find it.... I'll have to dig up archives from my tank of shame from October last year....
 
C

concept3

so yah, here's my tank of shame.

I switched out the lights in November as well, I got some used reeflux 12k's from tom since I wanted to try bluer bulbs. I've always had Iwasaki 6500's and even though they were great for growth, color was eh- BUT if you notice, the reduction of excess organics and increase of water clarity also allowed me to go with a lesser PAR bulb and decrease my photoperiod while still having explosive growth (I added magnesium at this time as well to help with Calcium retention/uptake)

So, here's my *lol* september and november tank shots from last year. Sorry, too lazy to take one tonight.

sep-nov.jpg



disregard the frags at the bottom, they were sold at the frag swap in sep
 
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