hair algae update

Engloid · Aug 21, 2012

EvilMel said:
Nitrates and other nutrients accumulate when you don't do water changes. Nutrients accumulate on your rocks when you don't have flow...bits of detritius land and degrade, creating micro-zones of high nutrients, even if your water column water reads low.

Spencer, I was telling Darren I wanted him to do water changes, not you. I don't want you to think I was being sassy at you. It was directed at him for thinking it's his lights rather than his lack of water changing.

The shoe kinda fit, so I tried it on.

I have a large volume, so I don't change water really often. I do seem to get a good bit of detritis, but I have 4 big powerheads in the tank. Would you say I'm best to aim them at the rocks instead of all in open areas?

jaguars4263 · Aug 21, 2012

I have had a bad hair algae problem before too. I bought a chiller because my tank was at 82 if your tank water temp is that high it can trigger algae growth. Also make sure there is no direct sunlight coming into the tank. And one more thing make sure you have alot of flow in the tank. I did all of those things plus water changes once a week and the algae died off.

Goodluck:bigsmile:

EvilMel · Aug 21, 2012

Spencer, you cannot avoid water changes even in a big tank and expect to not have algae issues at some point. I had a 240g tank and water changed 35-40g a week on it. I didn't even feed heavy either.

I honestly don't understand why people would have fish, feed them, and not water change...then expect to not have algae issues. I mean, it's a box of water...the nutrients don't magically evaporate. There might be some meager amount of denitrification happening but not enough to justify not water changing.

Sorry if it seems like I'm ranting. Not trying to be harsh...I just honestly don't understand it.

About the pumps, some flow directed at your rocks wouldn't hurt. This is also part of the theory behind wave makers...so detritus won't accumulate. Ideally when you water change you'd blow off your rocks first but even I'm not doing that.

Dapple · Aug 22, 2012

20 gals done tonight. Siphon the rocks as well.

Dapple · Aug 23, 2012

It is amazing how the red slime remover works I'm cyano free now. The algaefix product worked good as well with only two applications. The algae just fell off the rocks and was very easy to siphon off.

kmaintl · Aug 23, 2012

Dapple said:
It is amazing how the red slime remover works I'm cyano free now. The algaefix product worked good as well with only two applications. The algae just fell off the rocks and was very easy to siphon off.

and no harm to any livestock... miracle treatment. LoL you're on your way to control of your tank again... now to just keep it in control and that's easier once your tank is in control.

EvilMel · Aug 23, 2012

You realize this hasn't solved your problem? The nutrients are still there...gotta keep up with the water changing now.

jaguars4263 · Aug 23, 2012

Thats just a quick fix. You need to control the nutrients by doing more water changes and add more flow. I always write on my calendar when i did my last water change,so i know in 2 weeks to do it on the same day.

Goodluck!

Engloid · Aug 25, 2012

I don't think I need to do weekly waterchanges. I have a large volume of water, lots of biological filtration, huge skimmer, etc.. therefore, the primary goal of waterchanges is to replentish minerals in the salt, calcium, etc. If you aren't really heavily stocked, those things aren't depleted quickly. Likewise, waste is diluted more, and water chemistry is more stable because it takes more to change it. Consider this analogy...if you pee in a 5 gallon bucket of RO water, its going to be pretty dirty....but if you pee in a swimming pool of RO water, the chemistry will change very little.

That said, I do waterchanges, but not weekly.