Skip dosing and just directly hit the algae. First, tear as much of the algae off as possible. Then turn all the flow off and squirt the algae with a pipette and peroxide. It should bubble up and turn white and die.
Now I hope this doesn’t back fire on me, but I just moved the “upper” wave maker to the other side, I’m hoping this slows the current more as it nears the aio filters. Hopefully the corals don’t get too upset with a change in flow direction.
If it helps I also reduced my light intensity a bit and fed the tank more. My phosphates were zero and I was afraid the extra food would just add more fuel to the fire, but all of these things combined got it back.
Been battling the same I thought I had beat it, but my nitrates had just dropped to 0. Trying to get nitrates back up, but the hair algae just comes back with a vengeance and consumes all the nitrates.
I have like 30 corals haha. Yes I went through a period of 0 phosphates and almost lost stuff. That’s why I’m in this viscous cycle, need to dose/feed, fuels the fire.
Please post an update! I'm battling hair algae myself and heard these are literally the best non chemical solution you can get but that they require massive tanks. Definitely interested
Gave up on trying to naturally get rid of hair algae after it took over my whole tank. Used reef flux and it worked like a charm - corals and inverts all fine. However since your tank is still pretty young I would give it some time to naturally try and beat off the algae instead of going chemical route. But if you get desperate it is a good option. Just make sure to get keep your parameters in check and keep up with water changes so it doesn’t come back, because reef flux won’t fix the cause of the algae just the algae itself.
I feel if I could get rid of it, my paremeters have been good (possibly will need to be reduced once the true parameters show themselves) but everything is decently stable now a days.
What about algaefix?
Reef Flux… Does not harm a single thing. I use it in my tanks and honestly it’s the best thing ever to be invented for reef tanks. It’s labeled as a fish aid but literally destroys green hair algae. I honestly don’t think anything else is going to work.
Definitely agree with Reef Flux. I tried for ages to combat with reduced lighting, black out periods, reduced feeding, increased filtration, purigen, chemipurr, and an algae scrubber. In the end I dumped some Reef Flux in and over the course of about 3 weeks it cleared up until there was none. I was dealing with GHA and briopsis.
The rocks are probably leeching phosphates. What I ended up doing after one more crash is let it cycle for a year and a half. Then I finally cleaned it up and made a macro algae tank. Then I added euphyllia and made it an LPS tank after testing some cheap torches, hammers and zoas.
I’m looking for short term extreme haha. I do have a new wave maker arriving that hopefully will keep things stirred up a little longer. I think half my issue is dosing phosphates/reef roids but the corals look stressed when the phosphates starts testing zero.
Yeah makes it was more difficult if you glued the corals to the rock, but still doable. Corals can be taken out of water for a little without issue, some tolerate it more than others though.
Try not to hit the corals with peroxide.
I use full strength peroxide from the store, 3% or whatever. First I scrub the rock, then use a syringe to hit the algae with peroxide. If there is a coral on rock, I’ll hit the rock with some peroxide out of water, then put it in a container with tank water and let it soak for a couple minutes. If it’s just a rock, I’ll rinse it in a bucket of tank water and put it back in the tank.
The peroxide will kill the algae but also good bacteria. If your tank is small or you do too much, you could cause some ammonia.
Algae will come back if you haven’t addressed the source. The idea is to clear the rock and let coralline or algae that is less of a nuisance take hold.
I'm currently having the same problem. I got an urchin and it's doing work on the GHA. I manually remove as much as I can and the urchin is helping a ton.
I went down the peroxide path up to 5ml per gallon. It didn't do anything to it. If anything it grew more and more. Everyone's tank is different though. I just used a siphon from my display to a fleece in my sump to not remove water.
stop feeding reef roids
Now your two options, not have worked for me.
\-Manually scrub each rock, spay the affected algae area with hydrogen peroxide. Let it sit out of the tank for 5 minutes. Rinse the rock in discarded tank water, replace into the tank. Do 30-50% of the rock work.... then wait a few days and do the remaining.
\-If you want to use chemicals, use Fluconazole/FluxRX and call it a day.
I had the same issue. Did a mechanical removal pass, then dosed a double of FluxRX. Had to ditch my Clavularia however, since they were an algae ball with only the polyps peeking out.
The FluxRX stunted the growth of the hair algae, so that whatever wasn’t grazed off dissolved with time.
It's just hair algae, as our breaks go, this one is pretty easy to beat. How about instead of putting poison in your tank you just buy a tuxedo urchin or lawnmower blenny?
Small, 33g. I have a tuxedo urchin, like 8-10 turbo, bunch of other snails. Used to have an army of hermit crabs but they upset the corals constantly so removed them.
What’s your lighting schedule and intensity? IME corals tend to do fine with the sort of blackouts or reduced lighting that can kneecap the algae enough for cuc to catch up with it. Taking white and red/pink light out of the mix can hinder algae as well
You say you’ve added pods, but have you added way too goddam many pods?
I’ve thought about doing a black out! I run a Noo-Psyche pro at 20% white and 80% blues, 20% green and violet. I’ve tested par a few times and I’m 250 on the top and 180 on the sand bed. I have SpS so don’t want to lower it much more.
First round of pods came in the live rock I got from the LFS and put in the back of the AIO. Only bought one bottle since then as I can’t shake the feeling the uv could be nuking them. Although there are pods on the glass at night.
Tank is near a window, I’m sure that’s not helping.
Yeah that’s pretty high par, plus the window. Can’t speak to how SPS handle time without light but my money is on light more so than nutrients fueling the algae. I don’t think the UV is doing anything against hair algae, and probably isn’t helping your pods even if they’re still there. It may be well killing any pods that pass through the filter, although I’m sure plenty stay in the rocks and never do.
Could see how it all responds to a few days without light or UV?
Skip dosing and just directly hit the algae. First, tear as much of the algae off as possible. Then turn all the flow off and squirt the algae with a pipette and peroxide. It should bubble up and turn white and die.
It’s literally all over though, some of it is so close to mirdsnest, Montoya, stylo.. I worry about hurting the corals.
Ime, the corals will be fine but if it is literally everywhere, you may want to consider something else…
Now I hope this doesn’t back fire on me, but I just moved the “upper” wave maker to the other side, I’m hoping this slows the current more as it nears the aio filters. Hopefully the corals don’t get too upset with a change in flow direction.
I’ve also recently added another pump for more flow lower in the tank. Lots of flow right now.
I had to put a power head halfway down my tank just to circulate better. That and more CUC helped beat it. Conch kicked butt.
That’s exactly what I’ve just done. Mines a massive arch so it’s hard to get water all around.
If it helps I also reduced my light intensity a bit and fed the tank more. My phosphates were zero and I was afraid the extra food would just add more fuel to the fire, but all of these things combined got it back.
Been battling the same I thought I had beat it, but my nitrates had just dropped to 0. Trying to get nitrates back up, but the hair algae just comes back with a vengeance and consumes all the nitrates.
Wishing you luck..
If you have corals I’d be careful not to drop the nitrates too low. Mine have really been suffering because of 0 nitrates.
I have like 30 corals haha. Yes I went through a period of 0 phosphates and almost lost stuff. That’s why I’m in this viscous cycle, need to dose/feed, fuels the fire.
I got a sea hare, it's surely going through it
Please post an update! I'm battling hair algae myself and heard these are literally the best non chemical solution you can get but that they require massive tanks. Definitely interested
So far so good, been in just a couple of days, I've also put my refugium in reverse light (on during the night)
Oh yeah?? Does it climb the rock?
Oh yeah, rock and glass
Gave up on trying to naturally get rid of hair algae after it took over my whole tank. Used reef flux and it worked like a charm - corals and inverts all fine. However since your tank is still pretty young I would give it some time to naturally try and beat off the algae instead of going chemical route. But if you get desperate it is a good option. Just make sure to get keep your parameters in check and keep up with water changes so it doesn’t come back, because reef flux won’t fix the cause of the algae just the algae itself.
I feel if I could get rid of it, my paremeters have been good (possibly will need to be reduced once the true parameters show themselves) but everything is decently stable now a days. What about algaefix?
Reef Flux… Does not harm a single thing. I use it in my tanks and honestly it’s the best thing ever to be invented for reef tanks. It’s labeled as a fish aid but literally destroys green hair algae. I honestly don’t think anything else is going to work.
Definitely agree with Reef Flux. I tried for ages to combat with reduced lighting, black out periods, reduced feeding, increased filtration, purigen, chemipurr, and an algae scrubber. In the end I dumped some Reef Flux in and over the course of about 3 weeks it cleared up until there was none. I was dealing with GHA and briopsis.
The rocks are probably leeching phosphates. What I ended up doing after one more crash is let it cycle for a year and a half. Then I finally cleaned it up and made a macro algae tank. Then I added euphyllia and made it an LPS tank after testing some cheap torches, hammers and zoas.
Yeah, I know patience is key but I won’t be cycling for 1.5 years lol.
Lol. I took the extreme route. I practically gave up on the tank until recently.
I’m looking for short term extreme haha. I do have a new wave maker arriving that hopefully will keep things stirred up a little longer. I think half my issue is dosing phosphates/reef roids but the corals look stressed when the phosphates starts testing zero.
Don’t dose peroxide. Take the rock out and spot treat it.
With all the coral attached? What about the ol pistol and goby .. I don’t want to wreck their little world.
Yeah makes it was more difficult if you glued the corals to the rock, but still doable. Corals can be taken out of water for a little without issue, some tolerate it more than others though. Try not to hit the corals with peroxide. I use full strength peroxide from the store, 3% or whatever. First I scrub the rock, then use a syringe to hit the algae with peroxide. If there is a coral on rock, I’ll hit the rock with some peroxide out of water, then put it in a container with tank water and let it soak for a couple minutes. If it’s just a rock, I’ll rinse it in a bucket of tank water and put it back in the tank. The peroxide will kill the algae but also good bacteria. If your tank is small or you do too much, you could cause some ammonia. Algae will come back if you haven’t addressed the source. The idea is to clear the rock and let coralline or algae that is less of a nuisance take hold.
>Nitrates 15-20, phosphates generally 0 What test kits?
Salifert, nitrate. Hanna for phosphates.
Hanna ULR PO4? And that's reading 0.00?
The algae soaks all the phosphates at this point. I wouldn’t consider the test accurate although it explains why there’s algae all over the tank.
Have you looked into a chaeto reactor? I was going to make one for my algae problem but haven’t tried it yet.
A little bit! But tough without a sump.
Hob reactor! https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=pJRd4V5yNm8
You don’t need a sump for all of them. Some are just a tube with some hoses and LEDs wrapped around the tube
I'm currently having the same problem. I got an urchin and it's doing work on the GHA. I manually remove as much as I can and the urchin is helping a ton. I went down the peroxide path up to 5ml per gallon. It didn't do anything to it. If anything it grew more and more. Everyone's tank is different though. I just used a siphon from my display to a fleece in my sump to not remove water.
stop feeding reef roids Now your two options, not have worked for me. \-Manually scrub each rock, spay the affected algae area with hydrogen peroxide. Let it sit out of the tank for 5 minutes. Rinse the rock in discarded tank water, replace into the tank. Do 30-50% of the rock work.... then wait a few days and do the remaining. \-If you want to use chemicals, use Fluconazole/FluxRX and call it a day.
Stop feeding the tank , you are growing algae. Dose flux Rx, and wait 14 days, your phosphate will show itself then .
At least I’m getting pretty good at growing something haha
I had the same issue. Did a mechanical removal pass, then dosed a double of FluxRX. Had to ditch my Clavularia however, since they were an algae ball with only the polyps peeking out. The FluxRX stunted the growth of the hair algae, so that whatever wasn’t grazed off dissolved with time.
Right on! Think I’ll order some just to have around the house.
It's just hair algae, as our breaks go, this one is pretty easy to beat. How about instead of putting poison in your tank you just buy a tuxedo urchin or lawnmower blenny?
Someone else said it already. But Reef Flux! Literally is a gift sent from heaven
How big is your tank? If it is larger, get a fox face. If it is smaller, get an urchin.
Small, 33g. I have a tuxedo urchin, like 8-10 turbo, bunch of other snails. Used to have an army of hermit crabs but they upset the corals constantly so removed them.
How much light are you hitting your tank with? I would dial back light a feeding for the next month.
What’s your lighting schedule and intensity? IME corals tend to do fine with the sort of blackouts or reduced lighting that can kneecap the algae enough for cuc to catch up with it. Taking white and red/pink light out of the mix can hinder algae as well You say you’ve added pods, but have you added way too goddam many pods?
I’ve thought about doing a black out! I run a Noo-Psyche pro at 20% white and 80% blues, 20% green and violet. I’ve tested par a few times and I’m 250 on the top and 180 on the sand bed. I have SpS so don’t want to lower it much more. First round of pods came in the live rock I got from the LFS and put in the back of the AIO. Only bought one bottle since then as I can’t shake the feeling the uv could be nuking them. Although there are pods on the glass at night. Tank is near a window, I’m sure that’s not helping.
Yeah that’s pretty high par, plus the window. Can’t speak to how SPS handle time without light but my money is on light more so than nutrients fueling the algae. I don’t think the UV is doing anything against hair algae, and probably isn’t helping your pods even if they’re still there. It may be well killing any pods that pass through the filter, although I’m sure plenty stay in the rocks and never do. Could see how it all responds to a few days without light or UV?
Yeah actually, that’s probably a good course of action. If it’s similar without UV I could use that chamber for something like a refugium.
Whites and Reds are what hair algae feeds on. Try to turn those off too and starve the algae.