Well, I discovered the bane of Hair algae. If the cause is this then, I have an easy solution for all those struggling with hair algae.
So, I went to clean my 5 year old algae turf scrubber this morning. Was about 10-12 days since I had last cleaned it. And turns the hair algae was thick as I expected, but it was bleached white all the way to the center. Like it had lost all it's green pigment after it had grown. I was so confused.
My display, other than more rapid than usual film algae, showed no signs of issues. Hammers, bubble corals, gonis, all sensitive corals looking great. Water tests showed, things normal - alk 9.1, phosphates .07 (been fluctuating between .03 and .15), Nitrates down to 34 (from the high of 65 2 months ago).
Nothing in my regimen has changed week to week. If anything I've neglected it more than usual. But, I'm always looking for faster ways to clean the glass since it's an in wall tank and I can't physically reach the bottom of the tank glass.
I purchased a plastic extendable wand with a velcro pad for magic Erasers. It came with magic erasers and the marketing on it said, pure magic eraser, no additives of any type (no scents, no cleaners, etc. just the pure form with velcro backing). It said safe for all aquariums.
I thought awesome. So, last friday I cleaned all my glass with it. It was amazing! I was done in 15-20 minutes tops vs. my usual 45 minutes to do a thorough cleaning with my bladed tools. However, my algae scrubber bleached all of the algae the same time.
Now, that could totally be a complete coincidence. I respect that.
Is there anything in magic erasers that when in salt water for 25 minutes would cause hair algae to bleach and die in an extremely short time. (like overnight).
Or in the velcro? Or something else?
If Magic erasers do destroy hair algae, can we bottle it and dose it?
So, I went to clean my 5 year old algae turf scrubber this morning. Was about 10-12 days since I had last cleaned it. And turns the hair algae was thick as I expected, but it was bleached white all the way to the center. Like it had lost all it's green pigment after it had grown. I was so confused.
My display, other than more rapid than usual film algae, showed no signs of issues. Hammers, bubble corals, gonis, all sensitive corals looking great. Water tests showed, things normal - alk 9.1, phosphates .07 (been fluctuating between .03 and .15), Nitrates down to 34 (from the high of 65 2 months ago).
Nothing in my regimen has changed week to week. If anything I've neglected it more than usual. But, I'm always looking for faster ways to clean the glass since it's an in wall tank and I can't physically reach the bottom of the tank glass.
I purchased a plastic extendable wand with a velcro pad for magic Erasers. It came with magic erasers and the marketing on it said, pure magic eraser, no additives of any type (no scents, no cleaners, etc. just the pure form with velcro backing). It said safe for all aquariums.
I thought awesome. So, last friday I cleaned all my glass with it. It was amazing! I was done in 15-20 minutes tops vs. my usual 45 minutes to do a thorough cleaning with my bladed tools. However, my algae scrubber bleached all of the algae the same time.
Now, that could totally be a complete coincidence. I respect that.
Is there anything in magic erasers that when in salt water for 25 minutes would cause hair algae to bleach and die in an extremely short time. (like overnight).
Or in the velcro? Or something else?
If Magic erasers do destroy hair algae, can we bottle it and dose it?
