Back From Vacation... Hair Algae Everywhere! :(

[sothoth]

All,

I am suffering from one of the classic problems... I travelled off-and-on for about 8 weeks (gone at least 6 of them) and returned to find my tank in fairly bad shape. I guess I should consider myself lucky that it didn't completely die off, but...

I have a lot of red slime algae and green hair algae. I'm taking a multi-pronged approach to the problem:
1) Get the skimmer back to where it should be (it was apparently producing very few bubbles for at least 3 weeks) to remove waste
2) Treat the red slime with the Chemiclean product, which I've had good luck with in the past
3) I'm going to try to use the Kent "phosphate sponge" with the assumption that the green hair algae buildup with diminish when the phosphates get back to normal.

My question is... is it possible to use too much of the phosphate sponge? I was thinking of putting it in a mesh bag and adding it to the sump. But one of the web sites I looked at said you should be careful to know how much phosphate you have to begin with before you use it, so you don't use too much. I don't know if I agree that it's possible to use too much, at least as far as tank health is concerned. While I'm not a proponent of wasting things, in this case I'd prefer to overdo it than underdo it. Is it bad for the fish/corals to get phosphates VERY low?

Thanks in advance

 

[Musho3210]

dont use the kent phosphate sponge, im pretty sure its not GFO (granulated ferric oxide)

Look into RowaPhos and PhosBan

I think you dont want phosphate under .0015 or something like that, but the chance of you even reaching near that level with hobby phosphate removal products is pretty impossible lol.

Oh and i really wouldnt use chemicals to treat red slime algae. Can cause more problems than it solves.

Tear off as much GHA as you can, good nutrient export.

 

[SkiFletch]

Agreed, tear of the GHA during a waterchange. I also agree that the Kent phosphate sponge isn't the best as it is a Ceramic media instead of a GFO media like Musho said. Ceramics have the nasty byproduct of being able to leech phosphate back into the water column once its exhausted. GFO chemically can NOT release phosphate back into the water column.

 

[sothoth]

Any other opinions on the Chemiclean? I've actually had a good experiences with it. What didn't you like about it? The corals and fish in my wife's tank didn't show any signs of stress, it took care of the red slime, and after she turned the skimmer back on (after 2 days) it was no more red slime at all. Additional comments appreciated

 

[Musho3210]

well ive never felt comfortable using chemicals to fix these kinds of problems, the chemicals may get rid of the algae itself but wont fix the thing that caused the algae. So you are just delaying it i guess...

 

[sothoth]

Yeah, I generally agree, esp if anyone else here has had a bad experience with it. I don't like taking chances with a tank full or corals that I really like, know what I mean? So for sure if anyone has had a bad experience with the red slime remover (it's pretty much a 3-antibiotic coctail) I'd appreciate hearing about it.

The worst I've heard about it is that you have to turn off the skimmer for 48hrs, which I don't like, but also you have to find an alternate way to oxygenate the water, or else everything'll drop dead.

 

[Musho3210]

if its an anti-biotic than no... i would definately not use it, anti-biotic means it kills bacteria, bacteria is the thing that is keeping your tank alive. The anti-biotic may kill your bad bacteria (the red slime algae) but it may also kill your good bacteria (nitrifying and denitrifying)

 

[SkiFletch]

You're partially correct there Musho, but it's more complicated than that.

Remember, Cyanobacteria is a gram-negative bacteria, thus the antibiotic used to kill it is a gram-negative antibiotic. The bacteria that process ammonia and nitrite are gram-positive bacteria, therefore not affected by chemiclean. However, the anaerobic bacteria which process nitrate into nitrogen gas (if present in the system) ARE gram-negative, and WILL be killed by Chemiclean.

 

[Musho3210]

ah, i will remember that....

 

[sothoth]

Any suggestions on the hair algae? From my reading it seems like the cause is either nitrates or phosphates (or both). I have the nitrates totally under control (undetectible) so I assume the algae is going out of control because of the phosphates. I don't have a kit to test that to be certain, but I think that's a safe assumption since my lighting is moderate (4w/gal) for 6 hrs daily. My corals and fish are all happy. Just the hair algae is taking over.

My strategy is to take a multi-pronged apporach:
- Keep using the phosphate absorbing media
- Add more macro algae to the 'fuge, which will hopefully compete with the hair algae for resources
- Keep the nitrates undetectible
- Manually clean off the hair 2-3x/week

Anyone else have a suggestion? It's greatly appreciated!!

Thanks!

 

[Musho3210]

mechanical filter changed/cleaned 4 times a week helped a lot in my tank with hair algae, in fact it gave me the habit of doing it even if i didnt have hair algae. It helps a lot after you have scrubed a good amount off, change the filter about a few hours after you scrubbed even if you scrubbed outside of the tank.

 

[SkiFletch]

Just remember, Nitrates can be 0 because the hair algae is consuming it as fast as it enters the water column

Sounds like a good plan though.

 

[sothoth]

This is actually working pretty nicely so far. The hair algae is about 75% reduced and doesn't seem to be re-growing. I hate that stuff!!

Thanks for the info and discussion!