Losing the war against Red hair Algae
 

I am losing the war against red hair algae in my tank. My nitrates are 0
and and my PH is steady between 8.0 and 8.2. The temperature of the tank is
between 80 and 82 degrees. I have (2) 250W metal halides that are on 8
hours a day and (2) 45 Watt actinic lights that are on 12 hours a day. ( I
don't have a phosphate test kit...could that be the problem?)

The red hair algae does not grown on the live rock much. Instead it grows
every day on the sand. I rake it each night until there sand is white
again, but the next day it grows right back. I have crown snails, astral
snails, some unidentied snail, emerald crabs, blue legged hermit crabs,
brown lagged hermit crabs, but nothing seems to eat it. Any ideas?

What's your phosphate levels?
~John

The red algae in my 30-gallon tank disappeared when I added another
powerhead to increase circulation and installed a protein skimmer.


"david" wrote in message
link.net...
I am losing the war against red hair algae in my tank. My nitrates are 0
and and my PH is steady between 8.0 and 8.2. The temperature of the tank
is
between 80 and 82 degrees. I have (2) 250W metal halides that are on 8
hours a day and (2) 45 Watt actinic lights that are on 12 hours a day. ( I
don't have a phosphate test kit...could that be the problem?)

The red hair algae does not grown on the live rock much. Instead it grows
every day on the sand. I rake it each night until there sand is white
again, but the next day it grows right back. I have crown snails, astral
snails, some unidentied snail, emerald crabs, blue legged hermit crabs,
brown lagged hermit crabs, but nothing seems to eat it. Any ideas?

What you describe sounds much more like Cyano Bacteria. It
will grow like a mat or sheet on your sand, and you can even
gently scoop it together and siphon it out.

If nothing else will get rid of it, ChemiClean by Boyd
Enterprises will kill it off.

Marc


david wrote:
I am losing the war against red hair algae in my tank. My nitrates are 0
and and my PH is steady between 8.0 and 8.2. The temperature of the tank is
between 80 and 82 degrees. I have (2) 250W metal halides that are on 8
hours a day and (2) 45 Watt actinic lights that are on 12 hours a day. ( I
don't have a phosphate test kit...could that be the problem?)

The red hair algae does not grown on the live rock much. Instead it grows
every day on the sand. I rake it each night until there sand is white
again, but the next day it grows right back. I have crown snails, astral
snails, some unidentied snail, emerald crabs, blue legged hermit crabs,
brown lagged hermit crabs, but nothing seems to eat it. Any ideas?



--
Personal Page:
http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com/oanda/index.html
Business Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com
Marine Hobbyist: http://www.melevsreef.com

I have noticed that it helps when I keep the surface of the sand moving with
a power head it helps, but i makes a mess. I have a good protein skimmer.
"maddie" wrote in message
...
The red algae in my 30-gallon tank disappeared when I added another
powerhead to increase circulation and installed a protein skimmer.


"david" wrote in message
link.net...
I am losing the war against red hair algae in my tank. My nitrates are
0
and and my PH is steady between 8.0 and 8.2. The temperature of the
tank
is
between 80 and 82 degrees. I have (2) 250W metal halides that are on 8
hours a day and (2) 45 Watt actinic lights that are on 12 hours a day.
( I
don't have a phosphate test kit...could that be the problem?)

The red hair algae does not grown on the live rock much. Instead it
grows
every day on the sand. I rake it each night until there sand is white
again, but the next day it grows right back. I have crown snails,
astral
snails, some unidentied snail, emerald crabs, blue legged hermit crabs,
brown lagged hermit crabs, but nothing seems to eat it. Any ideas?

I don't have a test kit. Guess, I'll go shopping tonight. I'll let you
know.
"John" wrote in message
...
What's your phosphate levels?
~John

Yes, it does grow like a matt. I assume ChemiClean is reef safe? Thanks
for the help!
"Marc Levenson" wrote in message
m...
What you describe sounds much more like Cyano Bacteria. It
will grow like a mat or sheet on your sand, and you can even
gently scoop it together and siphon it out.

If nothing else will get rid of it, ChemiClean by Boyd
Enterprises will kill it off.

Marc


david wrote:
I am losing the war against red hair algae in my tank. My nitrates are
0
and and my PH is steady between 8.0 and 8.2. The temperature of the
tank is
between 80 and 82 degrees. I have (2) 250W metal halides that are on 8
hours a day and (2) 45 Watt actinic lights that are on 12 hours a day.
( I
don't have a phosphate test kit...could that be the problem?)

The red hair algae does not grown on the live rock much. Instead it
grows
every day on the sand. I rake it each night until there sand is white
again, but the next day it grows right back. I have crown snails,
astral
snails, some unidentied snail, emerald crabs, blue legged hermit crabs,
brown lagged hermit crabs, but nothing seems to eat it. Any ideas?



--
Personal Page:
http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com/oanda/index.html
Business Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com
Marine Hobbyist: http://www.melevsreef.com

"Marc Levenson" wrote in message
m...
What you describe sounds much more like Cyano Bacteria. It
will grow like a mat or sheet on your sand, and you can even
gently scoop it together and siphon it out.

If nothing else will get rid of it, ChemiClean by Boyd
Enterprises will kill it off.


Dear Marc and the original poster.
*DISCLAIMER*
Far be it from me (a freshwater dude) to be giving advice to reefkeepers
(those who have crossed over to the dark side) but would'nt it be cheating
to be adding chemicals to a reef? You would only be treating the symptom
anyway. Would'nt it just return once the course of chemicals is finished?

If it is Cyano as Marc states then its not that much of a problem, as this
is one of the easier algaes to control.
To the OP, you say your Nitrates are Nil, this IS the problem. Nitrates and
phosphates work hand in hand and when one of them tips the balance as in 0
Nitrates and available phosphates you will get Cyano. Basically you have a
chemical imbalance. Don't waste your money on buying a P04 test kit as you
already know THIS IS THE PROBLEM, no need for the test kit. Either do some
water changes (to correct the imbalance) or buy a phosphate sponge to remove
excess po4.

If you decide to just let it run its course it will EVENTUALLY balance out,
your tank has probably been disturbed, as in maybe you lost some fish or
possibly have too many photosynthesising plants (hence 0 NO3), it will take
a while, you have to be patient and just keep attacking the stuff, physical
removal etc.
During this time the cyano will be dying off you MUST have your skimmer
working optimally and I do suggest doing smaller frequent water changes
because as the Cyano dies it will release some nutrients back into the water
(Notably Iron) which will be fuel for other algae species like Hair or
thread algae.

On second thought maybe your tank has not changed and your tap water has!
This is quite common during seasonal changes, perhaps your water is sourced
from a different reservoir! Maybe that po4 kit is not such a bad idea after
all.
--
**So long, and thanks for all the fish!**

Well I ordered the ChemiClean and it will take a week to get here. So in
the meantime I will step up my water changes and vaaccuum the substrate a
little to get some nutrients out. I did buy the PO4 test and it says .25
mg/L which is ok??? we'll see how it goes. With a .25 Mg/L reading do you
think I shoudl still get a Phosphate sponge?


"Happy'Cam'per" wrote in message
...
"Marc Levenson" wrote in message
m...
What you describe sounds much more like Cyano Bacteria. It
will grow like a mat or sheet on your sand, and you can even
gently scoop it together and siphon it out.

If nothing else will get rid of it, ChemiClean by Boyd
Enterprises will kill it off.


Dear Marc and the original poster.
*DISCLAIMER*
Far be it from me (a freshwater dude) to be giving advice to reefkeepers
(those who have crossed over to the dark side) but would'nt it be cheating
to be adding chemicals to a reef? You would only be treating the symptom
anyway. Would'nt it just return once the course of chemicals is finished?

If it is Cyano as Marc states then its not that much of a problem, as this
is one of the easier algaes to control.
To the OP, you say your Nitrates are Nil, this IS the problem. Nitrates
and
phosphates work hand in hand and when one of them tips the balance as in 0
Nitrates and available phosphates you will get Cyano. Basically you have a
chemical imbalance. Don't waste your money on buying a P04 test kit as you
already know THIS IS THE PROBLEM, no need for the test kit. Either do some
water changes (to correct the imbalance) or buy a phosphate sponge to
remove
excess po4.

If you decide to just let it run its course it will EVENTUALLY balance
out,
your tank has probably been disturbed, as in maybe you lost some fish or
possibly have too many photosynthesising plants (hence 0 NO3), it will
take
a while, you have to be patient and just keep attacking the stuff,
physical
removal etc.
During this time the cyano will be dying off you MUST have your skimmer
working optimally and I do suggest doing smaller frequent water changes
because as the Cyano dies it will release some nutrients back into the
water
(Notably Iron) which will be fuel for other algae species like Hair or
thread algae.

On second thought maybe your tank has not changed and your tap water has!
This is quite common during seasonal changes, perhaps your water is
sourced
from a different reservoir! Maybe that po4 kit is not such a bad idea
after
all.
--
**So long, and thanks for all the fish!**

PO4 should be 0.10 I believe. But my understanding is PO4 drives hair
algae where nitrate is more responsible for cyano. Anyway, about adding
chemicals to the reef, I did it because I figured the cyano was doing more
damage than treating it would. And once you knock it way down (probably
with just one dose), removing it manually is much more managable. Good
luck...

"david" wrote in message
ink.net...
Well I ordered the ChemiClean and it will take a week to get here. So in
the meantime I will step up my water changes and vaaccuum the substrate a
little to get some nutrients out. I did buy the PO4 test and it says .25
mg/L which is ok??? we'll see how it goes. With a .25 Mg/L reading do you
think I shoudl still get a Phosphate sponge?


"Happy'Cam'per" wrote in message
...
"Marc Levenson" wrote in message
m...
What you describe sounds much more like Cyano Bacteria. It
will grow like a mat or sheet on your sand, and you can even
gently scoop it together and siphon it out.

If nothing else will get rid of it, ChemiClean by Boyd
Enterprises will kill it off.


Dear Marc and the original poster.
*DISCLAIMER*
Far be it from me (a freshwater dude) to be giving advice to reefkeepers
(those who have crossed over to the dark side) but would'nt it be
cheating
to be adding chemicals to a reef? You would only be treating the symptom
anyway. Would'nt it just return once the course of chemicals is finished?

If it is Cyano as Marc states then its not that much of a problem, as
this
is one of the easier algaes to control.
To the OP, you say your Nitrates are Nil, this IS the problem. Nitrates
and
phosphates work hand in hand and when one of them tips the balance as in
0
Nitrates and available phosphates you will get Cyano. Basically you have
a
chemical imbalance. Don't waste your money on buying a P04 test kit as
you
already know THIS IS THE PROBLEM, no need for the test kit. Either do
some
water changes (to correct the imbalance) or buy a phosphate sponge to
remove
excess po4.

If you decide to just let it run its course it will EVENTUALLY balance
out,
your tank has probably been disturbed, as in maybe you lost some fish or
possibly have too many photosynthesising plants (hence 0 NO3), it will
take
a while, you have to be patient and just keep attacking the stuff,
physical
removal etc.
During this time the cyano will be dying off you MUST have your skimmer
working optimally and I do suggest doing smaller frequent water changes
because as the Cyano dies it will release some nutrients back into the
water
(Notably Iron) which will be fuel for other algae species like Hair or
thread algae.

On second thought maybe your tank has not changed and your tap water has!
This is quite common during seasonal changes, perhaps your water is
sourced
from a different reservoir! Maybe that po4 kit is not such a bad idea
after
all.
--
**So long, and thanks for all the fish!**