New tank blues. Dealing with Hair Algae (1 Viewer)

[aqua-nut]

Well, the 18 inch cube has been up for four weeks now. I had a damsel carcass in there to cycle it, and had red slime algae for a week or so, but that died off and now I have hair algea all over the tank.

I put calurpa in two weeks ago to starve the hair algea of nutrients, and I plan to do a water change this weekend.

(BTW, I have a mini-eco system built into the back of the tank with miracle mud in it.)

My 150 is hair algae free for the most part, and it only grows in the overflow box (must be chomping on uneaten food).

Any advice? Is the tank old enough now for snails and crabs as a clean up crew?

 

[Guest]

My opinion...

Ditch the MM and get a small skimmer or ditch the MM and do weekly 10% water changes. Big tanks can run on a ecosystem, small tank can't.

Paraphrased qoutes - Eric Borenman from last months meeting.

"You are trying to get the disolved organics out of your tank so why would you put an organic based product in your tank" - Refering to MM

"Hair algae is asscociated with high nutrients in the water and to a much lesser degree flow."

 

[Guest]

The tank is definatly ready for a clean up crew. I would add some phosphate remover. the caulerpa can only compete within a nutrient range. If the nutrients are with in that range, it will be able to out compete the hair and strave it out. But if there is an overabundance of nutrients, then there is plenty for both caulerpa and hair to grow. So get the nutrients down and add some hair algea preditors and you'll get it under control.

 

[Guest]

I think it's just because the tank is so new. If the hair algae is well established, it will out-compete the caulerpa for nutrients every time. I went through the same thing with my tank when it was first setup, and once I got rid of all the hair algae with a lawnmower blenny, the caulerpa kicked in and it wasn't an issue anymore.

I disagree with ditching the miracle mud - I switched to an Ecosystem setup 6 weeks ago, and my tank has never looked better. I do agree with Tom that you might want to run a skimmer as well - that's a small tank to depend on macroalgae alone for nutrient export. You just don't have dilution working in your favor like with a larger tank.

 

[Guest]

Just my opinion...
For an Ecosystem sand is better and cheaper.

Quotes From Eric Borneman in below thread:

I think those people who have had "success" with any of these products are simply seeing the benefits of an unskimmed tank. I am not aware of a single person who has run an unskimmed tank (ATS, Jaubert, etc.) that has found or reproted miracle mud products to do anything extraordinary or even noticeable to their tanks. However, I am aware of a whole lot of people who have converted from skimmed tanks to mud tanks, having had too much "fear" to simply stop skimming without the hand-holding of some "methodology" or product line to do so. With "miracle ecosystem" products, it is less scary. What they see, then, is a tank with more life in it than when they were stripping the water column.

I think these systems can work and work well, but I also think they are silly, a rip-off (financially, intelletually, scientifiically, theoretically, etc.). I am really not fond of the deception behind the products. They make little sense to me in terms of even potential advantages over a carbonate based sediment and nutrient uptake by other reef organisms excluding monospecific accumulations of invasive and toxic macrolagae.

The mud is a combination of sands and organics anyway - just that most of the sand component is not calcareous and that's a minus aspect. the organic material (as terrestrial based peats and humus) provides the food for the creatures to grow and reproduce. Same thing could be done with a organically enriched calcareous based marine sediment and marine organic material (detritus, fish feces, algal remnants, etc). And same thing is done with those who have a fine aragonite bed with lots of detritus in it - marine muds exist all over, as do calcareous muds and silts. Use a drill bit on a piece of live rock and you'll see the similarity. The terrestrial component adds the benefit of food to creatures that were probably in nutrient limited sand beds initially - most sand beds I see in people's tanks are quite sterile, so to speak. Over time, the organic component of mud will be spent and what will be left is normal marine detrital stuff that's in everyone's sand bed anyway, and a bunch of siliciclastic sands that have none of the beneifts of aragonite based sands. Its no miracle, its just biology and ecology with a hefty prcie tag that could be done better, cheaper and easier using a brain and hands instead of eyes, ads, and mythtery.

See thread:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=14206

Mike you are free to continue to disagree if you like.

 

[Guest]

Just my opinion...
For an Ecosystem sand is better and cheaper.

Quotes From Eric Borneman in below thread:

I think those people who have had "success" with any of these products are simply seeing the benefits of an unskimmed tank. I am not aware of a single person who has run an unskimmed tank (ATS, Jaubert, etc.) that has found or reproted miracle mud products to do anything extraordinary or even noticeable to their tanks. However, I am aware of a whole lot of people who have converted from skimmed tanks to mud tanks, having had too much "fear" to simply stop skimming without the hand-holding of some "methodology" or product line to do so. With "miracle ecosystem" products, it is less scary. What they see, then, is a tank with more life in it than when they were stripping the water column.

I think these systems can work and work well, but I also think they are silly, a rip-off (financially, intelletually, scientifiically, theoretically, etc.). I am really not fond of the deception behind the products. They make little sense to me in terms of even potential advantages over a carbonate based sediment and nutrient uptake by other reef organisms excluding monospecific accumulations of invasive and toxic macrolagae.

The mud is a combination of sands and organics anyway - just that most of the sand component is not calcareous and that's a minus aspect. the organic material (as terrestrial based peats and humus) provides the food for the creatures to grow and reproduce. Same thing could be done with a organically enriched calcareous based marine sediment and marine organic material (detritus, fish feces, algal remnants, etc). And same thing is done with those who have a fine aragonite bed with lots of detritus in it - marine muds exist all over, as do calcareous muds and silts. Use a drill bit on a piece of live rock and you'll see the similarity. The terrestrial component adds the benefit of food to creatures that were probably in nutrient limited sand beds initially - most sand beds I see in people's tanks are quite sterile, so to speak. Over time, the organic component of mud will be spent and what will be left is normal marine detrital stuff that's in everyone's sand bed anyway, and a bunch of siliciclastic sands that have none of the beneifts of aragonite based sands. Its no miracle, its just biology and ecology with a hefty prcie tag that could be done better, cheaper and easier using a brain and hands instead of eyes, ads, and mythtery.

See thread:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=14206

Mike you are free to continue to disagree if you like.

Thank you, I think I might.

Actually, I have always ran skimmerless with this tank, and have definitely noticed an improvement since I switched to the ecosystem, but admittedly there could be other factors as well, i.e. correlation does not imply causation. For one, my tank is around the 6-7 month mark now, which is when things really start to settle down and the tank starts to get mature.

I just noticed that it seemed like whenever I saw pictures of a really awesome tank posted on one of the web sites, it seemed like more often than not it was an Ecosystem tank. That made me want to give it a try - if it's all a sham, then I've wasted $120. Not too bad considering the amount of money American Express has spent on my behalf in this hobby.

Anyway, I respect Eric's opinion on the matter (on most matters in fact), but I've learned not to take anything as gospel in this hobby. Too often, something catches on and gets repeated over and over, by people ever more remotely related to the original experiment/results/whatever, and before you know it, it's mantra even though none of the people actually chanting it can recall where the idea originally came from. I guess I'm just more of a "hands-on" person - I like to try things for myself and see what does and does not work.

 

[aqua-nut]

Interesting discussion, everyone, but we're off topic!

This thread is all about how to rid my cube of hair algae!!! Hello?

 

[sultros]

How long has your tank been cycling?

Are you using RO/DI water?

Im nearing the last leg of my cycle and the green hair is starting to form.
I went through a nasty diatom outbreak and cut my lighting back a bit and it all died off.

Algae is normal during cycling and should start to die off. Check your parameters and if your sitting at zero ammonia, nitrates, and nitrites, you should be good to go to add your cleanup crew. Make sure your parameters are in the green and stable, though, before you spend the cash.

 

[Guest]

IME with cycling a tank the same size I don't believe hair algae is part of the normal cycle of the tank. I didn't add a skimmer until my third fish and didn't add macro to the tank until 3 months. I have never had (knock on wood) hair algae or any other algae other than the stuff on the glass and coraline. I feed food in excess, I have too many fish, I don't check for nitrates, the lights are on 14 hrs a day, I eye ball my additions alk and Ca about once every two weeks and break out the test kits every once in a while to make the levels optimum, I don't have macro in my sump anymore and to top it all off sometimes I don't top off and my SG rises. Despite these short commings my tank is healthy, the corals are growing, sensative things like anenomes and SPS are thriving.

I believe my keys to success are a sump that provides more water volume and catches detrius and uneaten food. I clean out the deteruis and other junk in the sump once every 6 weeks. A skimmer to remove organics and uneaten food as well as areate the water. Above all what lets me get away with the most neglect is regular water changes of at least 20% a month sometimes twice a monthly and every once in a while a 40% water change.

So now you all know my deep dark secrets of tank neglect so don't Fish Protective Services on me and next time you have a problem and are asking for help you don't have to say "but I test my water once a week and it always tests perfect."

 

[aqua-nut]

How long has your tank been cycling?

Are you using RO/DI water?

Tank's been cycling for about three weeks now. Calurpa is growing FAST. I used RO/DI water to make the saltwater and the top off water as well.

 

[Cakepro]

I started doing 10-gallon twice-a-week water changes with Crystal Seas bioassay salt in my 75 gallon soft coral tank and the hair algae in my tank is rapidly decreasing. Tom can attest to how horrible the tank was. I just added a cleanup crew two days ago as well. It's amazing how well the water changes are working. I chose Crystal Seas because a) someone had given me a box of it and b) I read on Reef Central that others were claiming their hair algae problem went away. I would bet that in my case, some long-overdue water changes are the cause of the reduction in algae ~ dilution is the solution to pollution, as Mikester put it in another thread ~ not necessarily the brand of salt.

~ Sherri

 

[sultros]

You can always consider cutting your light cycle back a bit. You and I are almost at the same point in cycling. I have green hair starting to form but its growing slow since I cut my lighting back due to the nasty diatom outbreak I had.

Best thing you can really do is watch your parameters and when your tank is ready, throw in your cleanup crew.

As stated before, it's all part of the cycle and should take care of itself. If the algae persists even after your cycle is finished, you may want to check your Water for Phosphorus. I've read a few posts where folks were buying RO water that still had phosphorus in it.

 

[Guest]

...in my 75 gallon soft coral tank and the hair algae in my tank is rapidly decreasing. Tom can attest to how horrible the tank was.

Soft Coral tank I thought it was OFOWHA a One Fish Only With Hair Algae tank.

 

[AggieBrandon]

sounds like leslea's tanks but she has a few fish...

 

[Cakepro]

4 fish, blind man...koran angel, giant mutated lawnmower blenny, threadfin goby, and inbred braindamaged misbarred Ocellaris.

Since I'm taking Tom's advice to "saturation feed" my pair of clownfish who laid their first batch of eggs a week ago, I'll probably soon be posting complaints about hair algae in my stony coral tank.

 

[pernelf]

Hi, my name is Leslea and I have a really big hair algae problem.


Since Brandon is raggin on me over here without my knowlege.

 

[AggieBrandon]

Hey I told you they were making fun of you...I just didn't say I started it

Brandon

 

[Guest]

Let me axe all you people with hair algae a couple of questions:
How often do you do water changes?
Do you have an efficient skimmer?

 

[AggieBrandon]

I don't have hair algae....I rarely do water changes and I don't use a skimmer.....My corals and stuff are healthy too....I hope i didn't jinx myself...I think I will go do a water change now

Brandon

 

[pernelf]

You can AXE away

Since November I've done one water change and will probably do another one this week. Hopefully. I have a Remora skimmer I think. I use R/O for all my top off water. I think I just need more movement in the lower portion of my tank.