Algae - Hang on the back filters

[Albeez]

Hi all - I have a 30 gallon tall reef tank, it's been up and running about a year now, everything is going fairly well, corals are growing and fish are happy. I am seeing a bit of hair algae, which I typically remove during my bi weekly water changes. I know a small amount of the hair algae is because of the sunlight in the morning, but I'm beginning to think part of the problem is my hang on the back filter that I run my purigen through. I don't overfeed and parameters in the tank appear to be good, although I understand ph could be 0 because the algae is eating it up. I have a bh1000 hob skimmer and two power heads, is it in my best interest to remove the HOB? What percentage of the algae do you believe is from the sunlight vs the HOB? Any other considerations? Thnx!

 

[Reefing Madness]

What are you using to test your Phosphate? I get sunlight on my tank in the morning, but I don't have hair algae. Maybe run Purigen and GFO in the HOB.

 

[KoleTang]

What else is in the HOB?

How old is the Purigen? If it is too old it could start leaching out what it has taken in.

BTW, what do you mean by your pH is 0? If that were true your water would melt your hand when you touched it LOL.

 

[Albeez]

Haha - ph is low on the reading. Just live rock holding the purigen down in Hob. Purigen isn't too old, maybe a month old. Thoughts?

 

[Albeez]

Any recommendations in how to decrease ph??

 

[Wrx5803]

I think you mean p04. Which is phosphates. And I ran chemipure elite which worked well. One bag is rated for 40 gallons. It may sound dumb but if it is a window you dont see infront of your house or care about I have used window cling tint from walmart before and it seemed to help alot.

 

[NanaReefer]

Best way to lower phosphates using a HOB filter is throw a bag of PhosGaurd in there. It will not release the PO4 once exhausted either. A little bit goes a very long way so just change it out every 2-4 weeks.

 

[Albeez]

I've got some chemipure elite and purigen. Which should I run to help remove the algae???

 

[Albeez]

Or I should say - is it wise to run them both at once? How long does chemipure elite last??

 

[Reefing Madness]

Can last 6 months, with normal conditions. But they will exhaust quickly if your system has high Phosphates. No need to run em both at the same time. Run GFO or something with Ferric Oxide in it, your choice.

 

[Albeez]

Thanks - doing a water change this weekend - going to manually remove the algae that exists, change water, and add chemipure elite and remove the purigen.