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herrera 
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 Topic: Green hair algea
Posted: April 30 2012 at 2:46pm |
I've had a new tank up for 6 months now. My first problem was dealing with a bad Cyano outbreak, that i believe was from adding BioPellets. I took Bio pellets out. and it never got any better, so after a few weeks i gave in and used Chemiclean. Cleared it up 100% in just a few days. Everything was fine for about 3weeks. Then I started getting Bad green hair algea. I have reduced light time, replaced pc bulbs. i clean out 90% of the algea once a week, but it seems to be getting worse and worse! should i keep the lights completely off for a week? should i use GFO?
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125g Aggressive tank
SWC-Xtreme cone prtein skimmer
40g Sump
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16g Innovative Marine Reef
AI led 75W
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Ann_A
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Posted: April 30 2012 at 2:51pm |
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We'll need more information about your tank...
How big is it, do you have a sump, refugium?
What fish/inverts do you have?
CUC?
What do you have for flow?
For lighting?
Basic Parameters...
Ammonia?
Nitrite?
NITRATE?
PHOSPHATE?
Temperature?
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Lewy
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Posted: April 30 2012 at 4:30pm |
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Don't forget:
Ca
Alk
Mg
PH
Edited by Lewy - April 30 2012 at 4:31pm
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40 gal w/ 20 sump
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Ann_A
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Posted: April 30 2012 at 4:50pm |
 Lewy wrote:
Don't forget:
Ca
Alk
Mg
PH |
True, but for hair algae and a problem this bad, it sounds like it is more likely to be caused by Nitrates or Phosphates.
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Lewy
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Posted: April 30 2012 at 4:58pm |
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Generally if its a bad outbreak there won't be any nitrates or phosphates because the algae is eating it all up.
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40 gal w/ 20 sump
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herrera
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Posted: April 30 2012 at 7:00pm |
Ann_A wrote:
We'll need more information about your tank...
How big is it, do you have a sump, refugium?
What fish/inverts do you have?
CUC?
What do you have for flow?
For lighting?
Basic Parameters...
Ammonia?
Nitrite?
NITRATE?
PHOSPHATE?
Temperature? |
36g No sump Picked up 15 snails 10-12 died after 2weeks! fish are fine. (black clown, flasher wrasse, royal gramma, green damsel.) temp 74f Nitrate-----will check later ammonia--will check later Phosphate 1.8 Ca 420 alk 9.6 mag ?
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Ann_A
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Posted: April 30 2012 at 7:25pm |
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Phosphates! Get some phosphate reducing pads or something that you can run in a filter of some kind to get rid of them. Are you using RO water for your top off and water changes?
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McClure
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Posted: April 30 2012 at 8:40pm |
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I would recommend snails. Lots of them. 40ish.
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herrera
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Posted: April 30 2012 at 8:52pm |
ya i got some phosphate filter pads that i have been running in the hang on filter. no helping much. also doing weekly water changes. and yes, I'm using RO water however the cartridge has not been changed out. and i've been using for almost 2 years. not sure if i should by more snails, they're dieing very quickly.
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Davidwillis
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Posted: April 30 2012 at 10:56pm |
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It seems like I remember high phosphates like that kills snails. You may need to run some alumina-based resin. But how did they get that high? Are you feeding too much? Can you post a picture?
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Lewy
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Posted: May 01 2012 at 11:28am |
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Do you have any macro algae in the tank? When I ran a HOB filter I set up a light above it with some chaeto and it really helped.
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40 gal w/ 20 sump
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Ann_A
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Posted: May 01 2012 at 11:52am |
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All of the above suggestions are great, and I would only like to add to them...
Run chaeto, do water changes, cut back on feeding, and get more snails.
However, until you get the phosphates down, the snails will die off, so until you get them down, don't get snails. If I remember correctly, hermit crabs are fairly hardy and shouldn't be too bothered by those phosphate levels. You also will need to change out the cartridge in your RO unit, and it may be a good idea to test the water with a TDS meter.
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herrera
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Posted: May 01 2012 at 1:16pm |
How do i run Chaeto in the hob filter without it flowing over into the tank? And what about GFO? should i add this?
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Ann_A
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Posted: May 01 2012 at 1:34pm |
GFO needs to be run in a reactor. You could try using activated carbon. As far as the chaeto goes, there are a few ways you can do it. If you want to create some type of screen over the outflow to keep it in place temporarily, that would work. You could also dedicate a filter solely to the purpose of being a refugium. I did this a while ago for my nano cube, but I only used what came with the filter and didn't trim the impeller. http://www.fishlore.com/fishforum/diy-do-yourself/65583-i-made-diy-aquaclear-refugium-pic-heavy.html
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Ann_A
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Posted: May 01 2012 at 1:35pm |
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BobC63
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Posted: May 01 2012 at 1:46pm |
Using a small HOB filter as a refugium is a good start
I'd also do ALL of the following:
1) Get a reactor and run GFO and carbon in it. Change it out very frequently the first few weeks (like every 3 days) until your phosphates read zero.
2) Check on your TDS and make sure you don't need to change our your RO filters
3) Pull out as much of the Hair Algae as you can get out. you can even use a scissor to cut some of it off. Try to leave the remaining algae as short as possible. Longer algae develops a bitter taste as a deterrent to getting eaten.
4) After the algae has been trimmed, get a couple of good herbivorious fish like a Foxface and maybe a Tang. Get some more hermits and snails. You could even try a Sea Hare.
If you do all these things you can beat this hair algae for sure.
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- My Current Tank: 65g Starfire (sitting empty for 2+ years) -
* Marine & Reef tanks since 1977 *
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Mark Peterson
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Posted: May 01 2012 at 5:03pm |
The only way this is going to work is if you stop trying to do it your way and stick with our advice all the way through. You have to stick with our advice and see it all the way through.
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Reefkeeping Tips, & quick, easy setup tricks:www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9244 Pay it forward - become a paid WMAS member 
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Davidwillis
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Posted: May 01 2012 at 5:09pm |
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Mark, I just have a couple questions. will the snails live with that high of phosphates? And don't you think there is a reason why the phosphates are so high?
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bstuver
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Posted: May 01 2012 at 5:09pm |
Woah Mark did you erase your last post? I swear I just gone done reading it lol. I actually agreed with you for once 
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Jackie Stuver
"wait these aren't the happy Hawaiians oompa doompa godly heaven on your face zoas? I dont want them then. lol!" Ksmart
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McClure
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Posted: May 01 2012 at 5:10pm |
bstuver wrote:
Woah Mark did you erase your last post? I swear I just gone done reading it lol.
I actually agreed with you for once |
Me too!!... Well I guess not the "for once" part... just the "agreed" part.
Edited by McClure - May 01 2012 at 5:12pm
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