Christian Posted September 18, 2009 Share Posted September 18, 2009 (edited) I have a ton of hair algae, not like a little on the rocks or on the glass. It's all over the back of the tank covering my corals, rocks, the heater.and it's really annoying. Anny one have a any thing to get rid of it all. Edited September 18, 2009 by christian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Viet-tin Posted September 18, 2009 Share Posted September 18, 2009 How old is your tank? Lighting filtration? My tank is going through the same thing but my tank is fairly new so not sweating it too much. my clean up crew comes in tomorrow so that should help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Daniel Posted September 18, 2009 Share Posted September 18, 2009 Are you using RO/DI water? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christian Posted September 18, 2009 Author Share Posted September 18, 2009 I'm not using RO/Di water I have well water the tank is almost one year and my other tank that has the same problem and it's bin set up for almost 6 years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
offroadodge Posted September 18, 2009 Share Posted September 18, 2009 well u said it WELL water. I think this may be the culprit. If you did a water change since the heavy rains the aquifer has changed considerably. You probly shld invest in RODI unless you can afford to go to local fish store all the time. Just thinking since its a well you may live in the country Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christian Posted September 19, 2009 Author Share Posted September 19, 2009 I have not dont a water change in like a month and a half may be. so it's not that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Viet-tin Posted September 19, 2009 Share Posted September 19, 2009 whats all in your tank? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muddybluewater Posted September 19, 2009 Share Posted September 19, 2009 I think you have answered all your problems. Use ro/di water and do 10% water changes weekly or 20% biweekly. Turbo snails will take care of the HA, but have a tendancy to knock things over. Probably 6-7 in the 55 and 3-4 in the 29 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rjohn Posted September 19, 2009 Share Posted September 19, 2009 If you're using well water to top off, it amounts to the same thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zarathustra2 Posted September 19, 2009 Share Posted September 19, 2009 I think your other problem is *not* doing a water change in a month and a half. I would source some RO/DI. And do 3 10% water changes a week for the next few weeks along with adding some turbos. What are your nitrates and phosphates at? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zarathustra2 Posted September 19, 2009 Share Posted September 19, 2009 I think your other problem is *not* doing a water change in a month and a half. I would source some RO/DI. And do 3 10% water changes a week for the next few weeks along with adding some turbos. What are your nitrates and phosphates at? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christian Posted September 19, 2009 Author Share Posted September 19, 2009 OK in the 55g I have 2 clown fish,1 bangle carnal fish, had 5 turbo's now have 0 they all died, 1 toadstool coral, some GSP, 5 kenya trees coral, 2 blue mushrooms , button polyp an a small rock, 3 feather dusters, 5 hermit crabs and one orange ball tip anemone witch is so cool. In the 29 I have one snail, 3 hermit crabs, one pink skink clown, one emerald crab,lots of mushrooms, GSP,one green Devil's Hand Leather Coral some of those small feather dusters. in my 55g the Hp is at 8.2,the nitrate is 0, ammonia is 0, nitrite is 0, the salt level is at 1.024 and I don't have a phosphates test. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zarathustra2 Posted September 19, 2009 Share Posted September 19, 2009 I would be very nervous about the well water. Especially if you are seeing that much die off. Maybe there is some sort of heavy metal in your water? I would definately look at sourcing R/O water and do a complete water change in increments. Doing up to 50% water change in a day is just fine as long as PH and temperature match your current water parameters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christian Posted September 19, 2009 Author Share Posted September 19, 2009 what do you mean by die off? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmanning Posted September 19, 2009 Share Posted September 19, 2009 what do you mean by die off? +1 on the RO/DI unit. You might also want to use some poly filter, which will remove harmful organics. More frequent RO/DI water changes. Maybe what he meant by "die off"....is your snails died and if you didn't took them out right away, that could of increase waste in your water. Which means your hair algae is also consuming the nutrients in your water. Some folks run skimmer to remove DOC (dissolved organic compound)--aka--fish poo, die off (snails) and uneaten food. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christian Posted September 19, 2009 Author Share Posted September 19, 2009 so your suggesting I run a skimmer? to remove the hair algae. I would like to get a fish to eat it or some thing that eats the hair. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zarathustra2 Posted September 19, 2009 Share Posted September 19, 2009 You mentioned that you had 5 turbo snails that all died. I personally find turbos to be a very hardy species so it points to something being out of whack if all of them are dieing. Since your standard water parameters seem fine I would start thinking that it is something in the well water. Again, i would be looking at swapping out the current water for RO/DI with large very frequent water changes until you have the well water out. Then work out a 10% water change per week or thereabouts using ro/di. I'd also keep your feedings limited for a while to keep nutrients as low as possible. Agressive skimming (adjust your skimmer so it is more "wet") is also a very good idea. You should be getting a cup of skinmate a day or every other day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmanning Posted September 19, 2009 Share Posted September 19, 2009 so your suggesting I run a skimmer? to remove the hair algae. I would like to get a fish to eat it or some thing that eats the hair. Using a skimmer is good when your trying to reduce/pull unwanted organic matter from your system. A lawnmower blenny would be a good candidate for grazing the algae. Read up on the following: Lawnmower blenny. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christian Posted September 19, 2009 Author Share Posted September 19, 2009 I have tested the well water and it's all good nothing out of the ordinary. I ask around and they all say that well water is good for salt water because you don't have to put any chemicals in the water. I do have a skimmer but it's not in my tank because it makes bubbles where i put it and the bubbles end up in my tank and I don't like the bubbles in my tank so I took the skimmer out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muddybluewater Posted September 19, 2009 Share Posted September 19, 2009 When You checked the well water did you ckeck for posphates, hard metals and what was the TDS. Many people recomend 50% weekly water changes without a skimmer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zarathustra2 Posted September 19, 2009 Share Posted September 19, 2009 For the GHA to grow there are two things it needs. Light and Nutrients. While you can reduce your light for a few days as a short term fix it cannot fix the issue in the long term. You need to limit the amount of free nutrients in the tank. I.E. food that is not directly used by coral, desired macro algae or fish. The other main source of nutrients is impure water. RO/DI water is absolutely pure, with impurities measured in 1-5parts per million of any dissolved solids. I am very sure that your well water does not equal this level of purity without going through a filter and would be a great place to look on a first pass for the source of your issue. You also will want to check your feeding regimine and possibly lower it. Also ensure that you have a good population of detrivores to eat up any uneaten food in your tank. The other point is to add herbavorous critters to reduce it. The most common critters for GHA are the aforementioned snails and lawnmower blennies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christian Posted September 20, 2009 Author Share Posted September 20, 2009 I don't have a tester for posphates, and hard metals and what is TDS? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muddybluewater Posted September 20, 2009 Share Posted September 20, 2009 Take some water in to one of the lfs and have it tested if you want but there really isn't a reason. My water at my house comes from wells the TDS ( total desolved solids) is about 250. After ro/di filter 000. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christian Posted September 20, 2009 Author Share Posted September 20, 2009 So is TDS bad for the tank? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muddybluewater Posted September 20, 2009 Share Posted September 20, 2009 It is a measure of the purity of the water. Lower the better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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