Algae hair on sand bed

[gavintan87]

I've got algae hair (not long but visible strands from my DT) on my left half side of the tank and the back of the tank? Could it be the position of my wavepump that is causing the hair algae? My nitrate and phospate lvls are zero. i've got 2 wave pumps on the right side and 1 wavepump on the left side...

[rekian]

I get this problem too. Your tank still cycling?

[Ahhyi]

I had and incredible hair algae problem back then when my tank was cycling. Coz some idiot tell me to on my lights 24hrs.... Hair was everywhere on the sand and rocks. I threw in some snails and off the lights a few days. And boom. There goes the algae.

[Gouldian]

I believe your sand bed is still leaching nutrients, for me I will suggest siphoning the sand bed.

[yangster]

i suggest throwing all the sand that is affected.... hair algae is scary..... they spread like mad.

[rekian]

Throw in some cleaner crew? Is your tank still cycling?

[Ahhyi]

Even though I dun have algae problem anymore(cross fingers) I will be introducing cheato to my sump to further prevent it.

[bhtteo]

Make sure you reduce PO4 to undetectable level, this will helps.

[sty68]

Other than rowaphos any cheaper option?Newbie here.

[Jakuson]

I would like to draw the attention of bros out there to this article that I found on reefsanctuary.com, it is regarding the cycling process and it will give a lot of people why even though their tanks are so called matured still have got lots of green hair algae or the such. The cycling process is a very important milestone to the future of your reef tank. Read just the first post and I believe most of you will understand what I am talking about. For those not lazy to read, can read further, he have got lots of valuable information to share. He talks about how you can balance the algae vs anaerobic bacteria which is why although your nitrate and phosphate is zero, you still get lots of those green hair algae.. To summarize for those who happen to not get it.. Bascially, the green algae that is growing is the reason why you get 0 nitrate and probably 0 phosphate. And when that happens it is competing with the anaerobic bacteria for the source of nitrate. It order to let more anaerobic bacteria grow, you will have to prevent the green algae from growing. For you to do that, you will need to reduce light or completely block of the light in your main tank, so that the anaerobic bacteria can get most of the nitrate and reproduce faster. With the increase number of anaerobic bacteria, most of the nitrate will be gotten from them and leaving those green algae have very little nitrate to grow. Hope this article helps you in your algae problems.

Here is the link..

http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums/just-starting-out-sw-beginners/26180-newbies-little-something-cycling-breaking-new-reef-tank.html

[Jakuson]

I would like to draw the attention of bros out there to this article that I found on reefsanctuary.com, it is regarding the cycling process and it will give a lot of people why even though their tanks are so called matured still have got lots of green hair algae or the such. The cycling process is a very important milestone to the future of your reef tank. Read just the first post and I believe most of you will understand what I am talking about. For those not lazy to read, can read further, he have got lots of valuable information to share. He talks about how you can balance the algae vs anaerobic bacteria which is why although your nitrate and phosphate is zero, you still get lots of those green hair algae.. To summarize for those who happen to not get it.. Bascially, the green algae that is growing is the reason why you get 0 nitrate and probably 0 phosphate. And when that happens it is competing with the anaerobic bacteria for the source of nitrate. It order to let more anaerobic bacteria grow, you will have to prevent the green algae from growing. For you to do that, you will need to reduce light or completely block of the light in your main tank, so that the anaerobic bacteria can get most of the nitrate and reproduce faster. With the increase number of anaerobic bacteria, most of the nitrate will be gotten from them and leaving those green algae have very little nitrate to grow. If combined with clean up crews that eats up the algae, that will slow the spreading of algae even further which will definitely allow a lot of time for the anaerobic to get to the nitrate and convert it into nitrogen gas for you. Personally I think having a DSB is a must, because it will have much more anaerobic areas for the anaerobic bacteria to grow which will help you even more on the green algae problem. Hope this article helps you in your algae problems.

Here is the link..

http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums/just-starting-out-sw-beginners/26180-newbies-little-something-cycling-breaking-new-reef-tank.html

[Jakuson]

Sorry about posting it 2 times, I tried to edit and type quite long and then it doesn't allow me to save the changes so I post again with a little bit more information..

[rainmalawi]

My new tank also having hair algae growth on live rocks and I have noticed bits of greenish algae strands adhere to the aquarium glass.

[Marine_fanaticz]

I've tried blocking all lights from entering my previous tank for 3 days and the algae dropped a lot... however, I think the main problems lies in high nitrates and phosphates... cos if you wanna get corals you're gonna have to switch on the lights nonetheless and algae will slowly reappear again... now having a hard time deciding should I place chaeto in my iOS or get a hob filter and place them inside....

[rainmalawi]

I have algae on sand bed here and there and so troublesome i had to cover them with sand. Hope to suffocate them this way easier.

[james72]

Tackle hair algae :-

1) Change 10-15% of your tank volume weekly, siphon detritus2) Reduce feeding, ensure no excess floating in the tank3) Use Rowaphos in a Fluidize reactor, I find rowaphos most effective in bringing down phosphate to zero4) Manual plug out those reachable algae by hand or a Pincher5) Reduce bioload (number of fish) base on your tank size and age, the younger your tank, the lesser fish you should have.6) Once 90% of your hair algae is gone, you can try growing some cheato or using Algae scrubber to compete nutrient export out of main tank