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Proof You Can Beat Hair Algae
- Thread starter eric65
- Start date
falconut
NJRC Member
Great job. I know from experience that crap can drive you crazy. I had an issue a while back and constant running and changing of GFO solved mine too. Mine was never as bad as yours. I see you were able to fix your issue pretty quickly. I wasn't changing my GFO as much as I should have and mine took almost a year. Looking good.
The only thing I tested for was nitrates and I eventually bought a silicate test kit because I just couldn't figure out the source of the brown diatoms with every water change. Silicates were 0 btw. I think the problem was it was dry rock that started to leach phosphates. The tank was set up last June and the algae started in October but just continually got worse. I eventually came to hate the tank as you can tell it was not very stocked. But I quit this hobby once because of flatworms I swore I wasn't going to be chased out again. The reason I believe it was the dry rock is I also have a 15 gallon and a 7 gallon minibow which did not have any algae so I knew it wasn't my source water.
Wow! That's fantastic! I'm having the same problem with my 30 gallon. Came out of nowhere after almost a year of running fine. Same issue with algae eating fish just mysteriously dying. Lost a tang, an angel and a lawnmower blenny.
Considering running Blue Life Clear FX Pro. Again, same deal, I know it's not my water because the holding systems downstairs are algae free, and the water and salt are the same.
Thanks for showing us the encouragement shots! LOL!
Considering running Blue Life Clear FX Pro. Again, same deal, I know it's not my water because the holding systems downstairs are algae free, and the water and salt are the same.
Thanks for showing us the encouragement shots! LOL!
I use the API test kit for nitrates and Salifert for Silicates. I wanted to buy a test kit for phosphates but from what I read it is hard to find an inexpensive accurate one. Since it was fish only I ran 2 tbsp/10g of GFO and changed it out every 3-4 days since I figured it was (hopefully) sucking up lots of phosphates. This seemed to work and after about a month I cut that down to 1tbsp/10g since it was becoming expensive. I was also resigning myself to the fact that if it didn't clear up it was going to become a freshwater planted tank.
You might add some better test kits to your wish list. Salifert is a good one, but I did a cost/performance analysis between Salifert and the new Red Sea here:
http://www.njreefers.org/showthread.php?75413-Salifert-VS-Red-Sea-Reef-Foundation-Pro-Test-Kit
But, as you mentioned you should get a Hanna meter for your PO4. If you calculate what you spent on replacing your GFO, you might have come close to the $50.00 for the meter.
http://www.njreefers.org/showthread.php?75413-Salifert-VS-Red-Sea-Reef-Foundation-Pro-Test-Kit
But, as you mentioned you should get a Hanna meter for your PO4. If you calculate what you spent on replacing your GFO, you might have come close to the $50.00 for the meter.
I wasn't too concerned with buying a phosphate meter once I came to the realization that was the source of my problem. I have a 5 stage Spectrapure RO/DI for my make up water and with the other 2 tanks having absolutely no issues it must have been the dry rock I used. The algae became my test kit because once it started to turn brown instead of vibrant green and once the growth slowed I knew I was on the right path.
I also tried the hydrogen peroxide method which worked for a couple of days but the GHA returned like it never left. The only thing I would do differently if I started a tank with dry rock would be to cook it first. I didn't want hitchhikers especially after my flatworm nightmare, thus the dry rock. So that part worked. I wasn't banking on battling algae for as long as I did.
I also tried the hydrogen peroxide method which worked for a couple of days but the GHA returned like it never left. The only thing I would do differently if I started a tank with dry rock would be to cook it first. I didn't want hitchhikers especially after my flatworm nightmare, thus the dry rock. So that part worked. I wasn't banking on battling algae for as long as I did.
great job.. persistence pays off in this hobby. I just saw two posts though with the same response. hair algae in one tank but not the other. I would not blame the rock right away. over the years i have found that in multi tank systems one of the tanks can almost act as an ats. usually it will be the main display because it has all the resources available to thrive. it has plenty of light, usually plenty of food and a lot of oxygen with all the water movement we use. Most rock if it is going to leach something will do so pretty quickly. you went months before seeing a problem. This tells me that something else is going on. over feeding, lack of water changes, low flow in and around the rock work etc. if you have a lot of rock with little flow the detritus will build up. It can give the impression of being the rocks fault. every once in a while use a small power head and blow off your rock. you'll be amazed at what comes out. this will get rid of the crap that fuels your algae problems.