Hair Algae

[Harald]

Has anyone ever had their hair algae spontaneously disappear?!?

A few days ago I was thinking I'm going to have to pull some of the rock out
of my tank to get rid of the algae, and this morning, I noticed that there
isn't one bit of hair algae anywhere in my tank, yet my fish are getting
fatter all the time. :)

Not that I'm complaining, but I'm curious why it all of a sudden
disappeared, and no, I haven't done a water change in well over a month,
just top ups, and I don't have anything in my tank that would eat hair
algae.

--
Harald
130 g Skimmerless SW Tank
290 lbs/6" DSB
70 lbs LR
3 B/G Chromis, 1 Tomato Clown, 1 Foxface, 1 Blue Regal, 1 Cleaner Wrasse, 2
Firefish, 2 soft corals.


33 gal Skimmerless SW Nano
80 lbs/6" DSB
39 lbs LR,
1 - Yellow Wrasse, 1 Bangaii Cardinal

[CapFusion]

"Harald" > wrote in message
news:ZdCHc.13790$Rf.6995@edtnps84...
> Has anyone ever had their hair algae spontaneously disappear?!?
>

Yes, all the time. All my critter that move about are fat.
I am trying to promote algae instead.

CapFusion,...

[Simon O'Keeffe]

If you have LR then you have critters that eat hair algae.
Small inverts are a very large par tof most clean up crews.
These little guys can become very efficeint if left unpredated and have
access to algae for any sort of time frame.
Most fish will eat them if they can and some (mandarins, small wrasses
etc) are very effiecient at consuming theses inverts that they become
ineffective at ridding algae.
In a well run tank the numbers should regulate themselves to the amounof
algae that is available.
I'd say your little inverts just got cought up, I don't suppose you
recently lost a fish that can prey on the inverts, their numbers can
increase very quickly (I think they reproduce within a few days of
birth) when predators are removed.

As for you Capfusion, you should get a mandarin if you want more algae.
Simon


Harald wrote:

>Has anyone ever had their hair algae spontaneously disappear?!?
>
>A few days ago I was thinking I'm going to have to pull some of the rock out
>of my tank to get rid of the algae, and this morning, I noticed that there
>isn't one bit of hair algae anywhere in my tank, yet my fish are getting
>fatter all the time. :)
>
>Not that I'm complaining, but I'm curious why it all of a sudden
>disappeared, and no, I haven't done a water change in well over a month,
>just top ups, and I don't have anything in my tank that would eat hair
>algae.
>
>
>

[CapFusion]

"Simon O'Keeffe" > wrote in message
...
>
> As for you Capfusion, you should get a mandarin if you want more algae.
> Simon
>

I will give that in mind.

CapFusion,...

[Harald]

"Simon O'Keeffe" > wrote in message
...
> If you have LR then you have critters that eat hair algae.
> Small inverts are a very large par tof most clean up crews.
> These little guys can become very efficeint if left unpredated and have
> access to algae for any sort of time frame.
> Most fish will eat them if they can and some (mandarins, small wrasses
> etc) are very effiecient at consuming theses inverts that they become
> ineffective at ridding algae.
> In a well run tank the numbers should regulate themselves to the amounof
> algae that is available.
> I'd say your little inverts just got cought up, I don't suppose you
> recently lost a fish that can prey on the inverts, their numbers can
> increase very quickly (I think they reproduce within a few days of
> birth) when predators are removed.
>
> As for you Capfusion, you should get a mandarin if you want more algae.
> Simon
>

Nope, I haven't lost anything lately...actually, that's not true. My two
fireshrimp died a couple of weeks ago. I'd had them for almost 2 and a half
years. They'd gotten quite large too, almost 3" in length. I bought a
replacement end of last week, and the hair algae did disappear between the
deaths of the two, and the addition of the new one....


--
Harald
130 g Skimmerless SW Tank
290 lbs/6" DSB
70 lbs LR
3 B/G Chromis, 1 Tomato Clown, 1 Foxface, 1 Blue Regal, 1 Cleaner Wrasse, 2
Firefish, 2 soft corals, 1 Fire shrimp, 2 Red Seastars.


33 gal Skimmerless SW Nano
80 lbs/6" DSB
39 lbs LR,
1 - Yellow Wrasse, 1 Bangaii Cardinal
>
> Harald wrote:
>
> >Has anyone ever had their hair algae spontaneously disappear?!?
> >
> >A few days ago I was thinking I'm going to have to pull some of the rock
out
> >of my tank to get rid of the algae, and this morning, I noticed that
there
> >isn't one bit of hair algae anywhere in my tank, yet my fish are getting
> >fatter all the time. :)
> >
> >Not that I'm complaining, but I'm curious why it all of a sudden
> >disappeared, and no, I haven't done a water change in well over a month,
> >just top ups, and I don't have anything in my tank that would eat hair
> >algae.
> >
> >
> >
>

[Simon O'Keeffe]

I see harald that you don't skim either.
What method of nutrient export do you use if any.
Can you please give us a quick run down of your systems and where you
attribute success/failure.
An overview o your opinions on general reefkeeping would be appreciated.

As most know I rely mainly on algae and a very small percentage of water
changes high flow and LR (no DSB).
Thanks Bloke.
Simon

Harald wrote:

>"Simon O'Keeffe" > wrote in message
...
>
>
>>If you have LR then you have critters that eat hair algae.
>>Small inverts are a very large par tof most clean up crews.
>>These little guys can become very efficeint if left unpredated and have
>>access to algae for any sort of time frame.
>>Most fish will eat them if they can and some (mandarins, small wrasses
>>etc) are very effiecient at consuming theses inverts that they become
>>ineffective at ridding algae.
>>In a well run tank the numbers should regulate themselves to the amounof
>>algae that is available.
>>I'd say your little inverts just got cought up, I don't suppose you
>>recently lost a fish that can prey on the inverts, their numbers can
>>increase very quickly (I think they reproduce within a few days of
>>birth) when predators are removed.
>>
>>As for you Capfusion, you should get a mandarin if you want more algae.
>>Simon
>>
>>
>>
>
>Nope, I haven't lost anything lately...actually, that's not true. My two
>fireshrimp died a couple of weeks ago. I'd had them for almost 2 and a half
>years. They'd gotten quite large too, almost 3" in length. I bought a
>replacement end of last week, and the hair algae did disappear between the
>deaths of the two, and the addition of the new one....
>
>
>
>

[Harald]

"Simon O'Keeffe" > wrote in message
...
> I see harald that you don't skim either.
> What method of nutrient export do you use if any.
> Can you please give us a quick run down of your systems and where you
> attribute success/failure.
> An overview o your opinions on general reefkeeping would be appreciated.
>
> As most know I rely mainly on algae and a very small percentage of water
> changes high flow and LR (no DSB).
> Thanks Bloke.
> Simon
>
> Harald wrote:
>

I don't use a skimmer. I use a DSB, to take care of most issues. I also used
to have some macro algae's for absorption of other nutrients. Unfortunately,
when I upgraded my tank, I lost my macros. The tank has been in a
comfortable balance for the last 8-10 months, with just a bit of hair algae
growing. Every 6 weeks or so, I add a polisher filled with carbon to the
tank for a couple of days to clear any particulates in the water. I also
have hundreds of cerith snails in the tank(they breed like crazy! :) ) that
go after all the film algae that grows, and now I've added two red sea stars
to help, and they tend to keep things pretty clean. The corals do use up
some of the other nutrients in the water column. Then of course, I have
shrimp, cucumbers, and crabs to deal with detritus on the rock and sand.
Water changes, I do 15% - 20% once every two to three months. My lighting is
all PC, and I have a 1000 gph pump for circulation, though I am looking to
add a second one.

All in all, I like to use natural methods to keep the tank, it ends up being
cheaper, and a lot less work.


--
Harald
130 g Skimmerless SW Tank
290 lbs/6" DSB
70 lbs LR
3 B/G Chromis, 1 Tomato Clown, 1 Foxface, 1 Blue Regal, 1 Cleaner Wrasse, 2
Firefish, 2 soft corals, 1 Fire shrimp, 2 Red Seastars.


33 gal Skimmerless SW Nano
80 lbs/6" DSB
39 lbs LR,
1 - Yellow Wrasse, 1 Bangaii Cardinal