Hair Algae problem, I've tried everything!

[coondogg97]

I've been fighting a losing battle with hair algae for close to a year. The tank is a JBJ 29 Gallon nano. My brother had it setup for years and stopped taking care of it and algae took over. Hair, bubble, caulerpa, it turned into a refugium more than a tank. He finally broke it down and it sat for months then I decided to take it and set it back up. I cleaned the tank and ran water and vinegar through it and put the rocks in a bucket and did the same for over a month. I rinsed off the rocks with fresh water and set the tank back up. It was running great for a few months and then the hair algae started. I started dosing with NO POX and running a reactor with phosphate and carbon. The algae still wasn't going away, and now my anemones were NOT happy. So I broke down and replaced all the live rock with reef ready rock from BRS. Finally the tank looked great again! Then it started...a couple of months after I setup the new rock the hair algae was back. I was doing a 5 gallon water change every week, but this week I did two of them.

Tank info:
Anemone tank
29 gallon JBJ nano
MyAI Prime 16 Light
Aquamaxx HOB Skimmer
2x - SICCE Syncra Silent 0.5 Multifunction 185 GPH Submersible Water Pump

Additional Info
Water changes - Nutri-seawater
Water top - Spring water
Cover - Glass covers the entire top of tank
Light Preset - Saxby x BRS AB+
Food - New Life Spectrum (twice a week)
Fish - 3 clownfish and a lawnmower blenny

My nitrate, nitrite, ammonia and PH levels are all within range. My Phosphate is reading .08, so I don't think that's the problem. But I still can't get rid of the hair algae!

Any advice or suggestions are appreciated. I was a big hobbyist years ago. When I left the hobby I was running 250 watt IceCap MH ballasts and 20k MH. Now I'm using my phone to load presets onto a light thats the size of a deck of cards. I'm blown away how much this hobby has changed.

 

[KrisReef]

Turn the red and white LED's down.
Rip clean the sand if you have not done that already?
Good luck

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

you are using spring water for top off, as in, the same spring water that we all drink? That might be the problem, spring water is slightly better than tap water, but still contains a lot of who knows what. If you don't have a rodi machine, then use distilled water.

 

[coondogg97]

Turn the red and white LED's down.
Rip clean the sand if you have not done that already?
Good luck

Thanks for the reply. I will turn the red & white LEDs down as suggested. I did not rip clean the sand. I probably should have done that before setting up the new rock scape. Now I've got almost 20 Anemones spread across the rocks.

I use a vacuum syphon when I do water changes and I do go through the sand. But I haven't rinsed it with fresh water.

 

[coondogg97]

you are using spring water for top off, as in, the same spring water that we all drink? That might be the problem, spring water is slightly better than tap water, but still contains a lot of who knows what. If you don't have a rodi machine, then use distilled water.

I will switch over to distilled and see if that helps as well. It's a 30 gallon Nano so I don't top it off often and it's in my office, so running an RO/DI isn't an option.

Someone at work who has a 200 gallon reef tank is insisting it's the Nutri-Seawater, but from everything I've read it seems like a pretty solid product.

Thanks for the reply

 

[Treefer32]

A few things I would suggest, I'm assuming cost is an issue, but it sucks.

1. All tanks go through ugly stages (2-6 months roughly)
2. Hand remove all hair algae that you can.
3. Your phosphates are probably much higher as the algae is consuming them.
4. Spring water? I would mix up a batch of salt water using the spring water. Test the phosphates of the freshly mixed salt water. I'm guessing the phosphates are way higher than .08. Plus, you could be adding silicates, and other minerals that feed the algae. I would used Distilled or purchase RODI Salt or fresh water from an LFS if possible.
5. If you continue to use spring water, I would run a really high quality carbon to remove as many contaminants as possible.
6. I would suggest using Reeflux - a chemical that pervents photosynthesis in macro algaes. It will take around 2-3 weeks to see Hair algae decrease, but it will die off.
7. I would also suggest running a small (Possibly HOB) refugium - whether it's chaeto, or a Algae turf scrubber. Growing algae in a different spot will outcompete the nutrients in the display and prevent algae in the display.

I've done most, if not all of these steps myself on my 340 gallon display. My display is algae free now. I had Briopsis and hair algae in the beginning. After using reeflux, phosphate-e, carbon, and algae turf scrubber, it simply vanished over a 3-6 month period of time. I even had phosphates as high as .55 ppm and nitrates as high 65 ppm, but, hair algae never came back in the display. My Turf scrubber went wild, but never any hair algae in the display.

There's ways to get it under control, but, be careful you don't do them too rapidly. Make one change, wait a month. Then make another, and wait another month. In 3-4 months you'll have it free of algae if you do some of these things.

 

[coondogg97]

A few things I would suggest, I'm assuming cost is an issue, but it sucks.

1. All tanks go through ugly stages (2-6 months roughly)
2. Hand remove all hair algae that you can.
3. Your phosphates are probably much higher as the algae is consuming them.
4. Spring water? I would mix up a batch of salt water using the spring water. Test the phosphates of the freshly mixed salt water. I'm guessing the phosphates are way higher than .08. Plus, you could be adding silicates, and other minerals that feed the algae. I would used Distilled or purchase RODI Salt or fresh water from an LFS if possible.
5. If you continue to use spring water, I would run a really high quality carbon to remove as many contaminants as possible.
6. I would suggest using Reeflux - a chemical that pervents photosynthesis in macro algaes. It will take around 2-3 weeks to see Hair algae decrease, but it will die off.
7. I would also suggest running a small (Possibly HOB) refugium - whether it's chaeto, or a Algae turf scrubber. Growing algae in a different spot will outcompete the nutrients in the display and prevent algae in the display.

I've done most, if not all of these steps myself on my 340 gallon display. My display is algae free now. I had Briopsis and hair algae in the beginning. After using reeflux, phosphate-e, carbon, and algae turf scrubber, it simply vanished over a 3-6 month period of time. I even had phosphates as high as .55 ppm and nitrates as high 65 ppm, but, hair algae never came back in the display. My Turf scrubber went wild, but never any hair algae in the display.

There's ways to get it under control, but, be careful you don't do them too rapidly. Make one change, wait a month. Then make another, and wait another month. In 3-4 months you'll have it free of algae if you do some of these things.

Thanks for the detailed reply. I was using a 5 gallon bottle of spring water for top off thats I ran off of a loser. I would let it run for maybe a half an hour a week and it would top the tank off. I just swapped the 5 gallon bottle of spring water with 1 bottle of distilled water. Hopefully that helps.

Just ordered Reef Flux from Amazon I will start using it tomorrow. Thanks for the recommendation.

I wish there was space for a refugium, the only way it would fit is if I removed the HOB Skimmer. An algae scrubber looks interesting, I will have to do a little more research on them, but that might work.

"There's ways to get it under control, but, be careful you don't do them too rapidly. Make one change, wait a month. Then make another, and wait another month. In 3-4 months you'll have it free of algae if you do some of these things."

Very well said, I said that before I got back into this hobby, but sometimes when you're in the battle you forget. Slow and steady.

Thanks again

 

[Treefer32]

Until you get it under control manual removal is your best bet. It's similar to removing chaeto or algae from an Algae turf scrubber. When you remove the algae, that's when the nutrients are removed. That's why I think something is injecting the tank with nutrients. Unfortunately, no fast fixes in this hobby! Reeflux will kill the algae, but you'll still need a way to deal with what's feeding the algae.

 

[Reefkeepers Archive]

I've been fighting a losing battle with hair algae for close to a year. The tank is a JBJ 29 Gallon nano. My brother had it setup for years and stopped taking care of it and algae took over. Hair, bubble, caulerpa, it turned into a refugium more than a tank. He finally broke it down and it sat for months then I decided to take it and set it back up. I cleaned the tank and ran water and vinegar through it and put the rocks in a bucket and did the same for over a month. I rinsed off the rocks with fresh water and set the tank back up. It was running great for a few months and then the hair algae started. I started dosing with NO POX and running a reactor with phosphate and carbon. The algae still wasn't going away, and now my anemones were NOT happy. So I broke down and replaced all the live rock with reef ready rock from BRS. Finally the tank looked great again! Then it started...a couple of months after I setup the new rock the hair algae was back. I was doing a 5 gallon water change every week, but this week I did two of them.

Tank info:
Anemone tank
29 gallon JBJ nano
MyAI Prime 16 Light
Aquamaxx HOB Skimmer
2x - SICCE Syncra Silent 0.5 Multifunction 185 GPH Submersible Water Pump

Additional Info
Water changes - Nutri-seawater
Water top - Spring water
Cover - Glass covers the entire top of tank
Light Preset - Saxby x BRS AB+
Food - New Life Spectrum (twice a week)
Fish - 3 clownfish and a lawnmower blenny

My nitrate, nitrite, ammonia and PH levels are all within range. My Phosphate is reading .08, so I don't think that's the problem. But I still can't get rid of the hair algae!

Any advice or suggestions are appreciated. I was a big hobbyist years ago. When I left the hobby I was running 250 watt IceCap MH ballasts and 20k MH. Now I'm using my phone to load presets onto a light thats the size of a deck of cards. I'm blown away how much this hobby has changed.

0.8 still gets hair algae for me, try adding GFO, also turn down the lights, had the same problem in my tank, added GFO and turned my ligjts down from 12 hours a day to 9 hours a day, barely any left, good luck!

 

[exnisstech]

Just ordered Reef Flux from Amazon I will start using it tomorrow.

Just speaking from my experience. I used reef flux for hair algae and ended up with cyano that was much worse that the hair algae. Personally I would use a more natural approach if possible. Good luck either way, nuisance algae can be a real nuisance.

 

[littlefoxx]

I've been fighting a losing battle with hair algae for close to a year. The tank is a JBJ 29 Gallon nano. My brother had it setup for years and stopped taking care of it and algae took over. Hair, bubble, caulerpa, it turned into a refugium more than a tank. He finally broke it down and it sat for months then I decided to take it and set it back up. I cleaned the tank and ran water and vinegar through it and put the rocks in a bucket and did the same for over a month. I rinsed off the rocks with fresh water and set the tank back up. It was running great for a few months and then the hair algae started. I started dosing with NO POX and running a reactor with phosphate and carbon. The algae still wasn't going away, and now my anemones were NOT happy. So I broke down and replaced all the live rock with reef ready rock from BRS. Finally the tank looked great again! Then it started...a couple of months after I setup the new rock the hair algae was back. I was doing a 5 gallon water change every week, but this week I did two of them.

Tank info:
Anemone tank
29 gallon JBJ nano
MyAI Prime 16 Light
Aquamaxx HOB Skimmer
2x - SICCE Syncra Silent 0.5 Multifunction 185 GPH Submersible Water Pump

Additional Info
Water changes - Nutri-seawater
Water top - Spring water
Cover - Glass covers the entire top of tank
Light Preset - Saxby x BRS AB+
Food - New Life Spectrum (twice a week)
Fish - 3 clownfish and a lawnmower blenny

My nitrate, nitrite, ammonia and PH levels are all within range. My Phosphate is reading .08, so I don't think that's the problem. But I still can't get rid of the hair algae!

Any advice or suggestions are appreciated. I was a big hobbyist years ago. When I left the hobby I was running 250 watt IceCap MH ballasts and 20k MH. Now I'm using my phone to load presets onto a light thats the size of a deck of cards. I'm blown away how much this hobby has changed.

You try a sea hare?? Best green algae control ever! Lawnmower blennies are good too!

 

[N1tew0lf1212]

You try a sea hare?? Best green algae control ever! Lawnmower blennies are good too!

Was literally going to say the same thing sailfin or lawn mower blennies are a very good option

 

[Rick's Reviews]

If this was my tank, turn white light down , ensure no direct sunlight, work from furthest part of filter, manual scrub, toothbrush, fingers, any floaty bits suck up with turkey baster and remove, if your filter is to the right, work from left to right, remove a quarter of hair algae each week, it's a slow and tedious job but once you get on top of it your aquarium will look amazing again, no cuc or snail will eat hair algae after a certain length, all chemicals will do more harm than good, best just to get hands and remove.
Just my opinion

 

[Pistondog]

No direct and preferably no indirect sunlight.

 

[ninjamyst]

Algae is part of the ecosystem. Whenever someone restarts a tank due to algae, they are only restarting the algae cycle again. Sounds like that's what happened to you several times. The best thing you can do is simply let it happen but manage it.

1. Manual removal is your best friend. Weekly manual removal. Gotta put in the work.
2. Do what nature does. Get a decent clean up crew. Hermit crabs for hair algae, emerald crab for bubble. For large algae problems, I usually skip snails cuz they are mostly good for maintenance but not eradication.
3. Maintain appropriate nutrient levels. Is your phosphate too high or nitrate too high? Different tools are available to combat those.

 

[nick0206]

Hi all.
I've been in the hobby for about 18 years. I am currently having a problem with hair algae. At the very beginning of the hobby I had a nano-reef and the first time I encountered hair algae. Then purchasing the sea urchin toxido saved me.
Then for a long time I had a reef on the ULNS system and I never encountered hair algae.
A year ago I moved to another city and in a new tank I decided to move away from ULNS. I currently have a 110 gallon tank with a macroalgae reactor and skimmer. Nitrate level 2-5, phosphate 0.02-0.03. Of the fish, 2 surgeonfish (saifin and purple tang) and rabbitfish. One small sea urchin and 12 turbo snails.
What do you recommend in my case?

 

[Rick's Reviews]

Manual removel!

hopefully you transferred urchin

 

[Superd513]

I've been fighting a losing battle with hair algae for close to a year. The tank is a JBJ 29 Gallon nano. My brother had it setup for years and stopped taking care of it and algae took over. Hair, bubble, caulerpa, it turned into a refugium more than a tank. He finally broke it down and it sat for months then I decided to take it and set it back up. I cleaned the tank and ran water and vinegar through it and put the rocks in a bucket and did the same for over a month. I rinsed off the rocks with fresh water and set the tank back up. It was running great for a few months and then the hair algae started. I started dosing with NO POX and running a reactor with phosphate and carbon. The algae still wasn't going away, and now my anemones were NOT happy. So I broke down and replaced all the live rock with reef ready rock from BRS. Finally the tank looked great again! Then it started...a couple of months after I setup the new rock the hair algae was back. I was doing a 5 gallon water change every week, but this week I did two of them.

Tank info:
Anemone tank
29 gallon JBJ nano
MyAI Prime 16 Light
Aquamaxx HOB Skimmer
2x - SICCE Syncra Silent 0.5 Multifunction 185 GPH Submersible Water Pump

Additional Info
Water changes - Nutri-seawater
Water top - Spring water
Cover - Glass covers the entire top of tank
Light Preset - Saxby x BRS AB+
Food - New Life Spectrum (twice a week)
Fish - 3 clownfish and a lawnmower blenny

My nitrate, nitrite, ammonia and PH levels are all within range. My Phosphate is reading .08, so I don't think that's the problem. But I still can't get rid of the hair algae!

Any advice or suggestions are appreciated. I was a big hobbyist years ago. When I left the hobby I was running 250 watt IceCap MH ballasts and 20k MH. Now I'm using my phone to load presets onto a light thats the size of a deck of cards. I'm blown away how much this hobby has changed.

That’s the same set up I have and the same problem. I’m about to hang it up. I’m just so aggravated. I’m pretty sure that if I had an algae scrubber I could maybe beat it but I just don’t have 300.00 for one. I was thinking about dosing reef flux.

 

[Superd513]

0.8 still gets hair algae for me, try adding GFO, also turn down the lights, had the same problem in my tank, added GFO and turned my ligjts down from 12 hours a day to 9 hours a day, barely any left, good luck!

How will cutting the hours affect my 3 huge bta’s

 

[Reefkeepers Archive]

How will cutting the hours affect my 3 huge bta’s

Not sure but I do have an update. I cut the GFO use and started up a 24 hour chaeto refeugium. It worked, my po4 was down to .06 but the GHA was absorbing it and growing at an unprecedented rate. Took some large chunks of that and replaced the chaeto with it. Po4 is now .02~ish and I've begun removing the large chunks. Also am feeding a cube of mysis daily and the nutrients are stable. Also no-water change and coral-only (the mysis is for the LPS) so my advice is a refeugium or algae scrubber for nutrient control and manual removal of the GHA.