Green Hair Algae

[kris_karlie]

I have suddenly started to have a green hair algae issue. What causes this and what is the best clean up crew member for it? (I have a variety of hermits and snails- but they aren't doing a good job)!

[muddybluewater]

turbo snails do a great job on algae, they will knock some things over.

[muddybluewater]

To the rest of your question, It is caused by an export issue you are producing phosphates and nitrates that are feeding the algae. Do you have a refugium? The macro (I use chaeto, it processes better than any other form) will process the N & P and keep the system in ballance. I would suggest larger than normal water changes for the next couple weeks. How long has your tank been runnig?

[kris_karlie]

To the rest of your question, It is caused by an export issue you are producing phosphates and nitrates that are feeding the algae. Do you have a refugium? The macro (I use chaeto, it processes better than any other form) will process the N & P and keep the system in ballance. I would suggest larger than normal water changes for the next couple weeks. How long has your tank been runnig?

My system has been running since January. It's a 55gallon with 3 fish and a variety of corals. I have a Nova T5 lighting system. If the bulbs are getting close to a year old.... could this also produce the green hair algae? I have a protein skimmer and an aquaclear filter that hangs on the side of the tank.

I don't have turbos- but will get some soon!

I appreciate any advice!

[muddybluewater]

You should change your bulbs 8-9 months is about the life of them. I would pull everything out of the Aqua clear but the Carbon. Change it every 10 days or so. If you want to keep the foam block rinse it out every 2-3 days. Wet dry type media or ceramic plates and such are a breading ground for nitrates. IME Live rock will provide your biological filtration.

[Robb in Austin]

Muddyblue covered most of it but what is your water supply? What are you feeding?

If RODI, change your filters. If flake, switch to frozen rinsed in RODI water.

[JEN H]

I cannot say enough about urchins. In our big 210 we have one black long spine that is just amazing at keeping the place clean. In our smaller 29 biocube we have two short-spine urchins and just recently two sand-tiger conchs. They are keeping the place looking nice. I know this is more of a reaction instead of being proactive but I feel if you do what the others indicated and start work on the cleaning crew you will have your problem taken care of in a month or so. No one has gone hungry yet, if they do i will deal with that then. I figured I could always throw in some algae tablets if it comes down to starvation, but it has not. I have had all of these guys in the 29 for over 3 months and everyone is healthy.

Sea cucumbers, not really algae eaters, but good a keeping the substrate clean.

I hope my humble advice helps,

Matt

[offroadodge]

you could also get some mangroves if you have a sump with refugium or an over flow box to put them in. I have both mangroves and chaeto in my 120g. I know of a place you can get 20 mangroves for like $20 shipped to you. Wouldnt need that many but you can sell or give away the rest. Actually i just looked they are 9.99/20 plus shipping and it may take 3 days to get them.

[kris_karlie]

Thanks for all of the advice. I don't have a refugium.

I feed everyone frozen brine and variations of frozen cubes.....

I am going to up my cleaning crew and look into an urchin perhaps. I also see some intense weekly water changes. I bought new lights (the tank looks awesome with new bulbs - despite the tufts of green hair.....)

Thanks for all of the input.

I totally love this web site!

Cheers

[Buckeye Field Supply]

If RODI, change your filters. If flake, switch to frozen rinsed in RODI water.

Remember that your prefilters (the filters before the membrane - typically a sediment filter and carbon block, don't remove tds. A good rule of thumb is to replace your sediment filter and carbon block after six months. A more precise way to maximize the useable life of these two filters is to use a pressure gauge to identify when pressure reaching the membrane starts to decline. This is your indication one or both of the filters is beginning to clog.

Also be cognizant of the chlorine capacity of the carbon block. The Matrikx+1 (“Chlorine Guzzler”) for example will remove 99% of chlorine from 20,000 gallons of tap water presented at 1 gpm. Original equipment suppliers commonly provide carbon cartridges rated at 2,000 to 6,000 gallons.

Regarding your RO membrane and DI resin, use your TDS meter to measure, record, and track the TDS (expressed in parts per million) in three places:

1. Tap water

2. After the RO but before the DI

3. After the DI.

The TDS in your tap water will likely range from about 50 ppm to upwards of 1000 parts per million (ppm). Common readings are 100 to 400 ppm. So for sake of discussion, let's say your tap water reads 400 ppm. That means that for every million parts of water, you have 400 parts of dissolved solids. How do we go about getting that TDS reading down to somewhere near zero?

Russ @ BFS

If you do some experimenting with your TDS meter, you'll note that your sediment filter and carbon block filter (collectively called “prefilters”) do very little to remove dissolved solids. So with your tap water at 400 ppm, you can measure the water at the “in” port on your RO housing and you'll see it is still approximately 400 ppm.

The RO membrane is really the workhorse of the system. It removes most of the TDS, some membranes to a greater extent than others. For instance, 100 gpd Filmtec membranes have a rejection rate of 90% (i.e., they reject 90% of the dissolved solids in feed water). So the purified water coming from your 100 gpd membrane would be about 40 ppm (a 90% reduction). Filmtec 75 gpd (and below) membranes produce less purified water (aka “permeate”), but have a higher rejection rate (96 to 98%). The life span of a RO membrane is dependant upon how much water you run through it, and how dirty the water is. Membranes can function well for a year, two years, or more. To test the membrane, measure the total dissolved solids (TDS) in the water coming in to the membrane, and in the purified water (permeate) produced by the membrane. Compare that to the membrane’s advertised rejection rate, and to the same reading you recorded when the membrane was new. Membranes also commonly produce less water as their function declines.

After the RO membrane, water will flow to your DI housing. DI resin in good condition will reduce the 40 ppm water down to 0 or 1 ppm. When the DI output starts creeping up from 0 or 1 ppm to 3 ppm, 5 ppm, and higher, you know that your resin needs to be replaced. Sometimes people complain that their DI resin didn't last very long. Often the culprit is a malfunctioning RO membrane sending the DI resin “dirty” water. This will exhaust the resin quicker than would otherwise have been the case. Sometimes the problem is poor quality resin – remember that all resins are not created equal!