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Hair Algae (1 Viewer)

BJP

BJP

Joined
Sep 16, 2010
Messages
23
Location
Brooklyn Park, MN
Hey Everyone,

I am starting to see a small bloom in Bryopsis, just a few small patches, I want to get it under control before it becomes a bigger issue, I've been lucky so far to never have come across this before, but could use some helpful suggestions to rid the problem...

I have two Ecotech Radion LED fixtures, currently have a reading of .02ppm for phosphates, between 2.5 and 5.0ppm for nitrate, all other levels are in their desired range... my photo period is roughly from 11:00am to 11:00pm with the first and last hour as a ramp up/down time with my lighting intensity. I also run a High Capacity GFO in a reactor along with carbon from BRS. I am at a loss? it seems after adding the GFO reactor algae growth has been speeding up instead of slowing down...

I'm gonna pick up some hermits to add to my clean up crew, I know I do not overfeed, Ive learned my lesson on that before... I perform regular water changes of roughly 15 gallons every 7-9 days, depending on my work schedule...

Any thoughts,

Thanks,
 
This is in a 120 gallon tank? I do more than 15 gallons at a time, I'd say more like 20-25 even, I'd also suggest shorter light schedule, that's pretty long IMO. Everything else sounds great and adding a clean up crew is a great idea too!
 
scubaspew said:
This is in a 120 gallon tank? I do more than 15 gallons at a time, I'd say more like 20-25 even, I'd also suggest shorter light schedule, that's pretty long IMO. Everything else sounds great and adding a clean up crew is a great idea too!
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well, I have a pretty extensive clean up crew, minus any hermits, roughly 130 various snails, will be getting the hermit crabs tomorrow. I am trying a shorter photo period, I just adjusted it to a 10 hour cycle as opposed to the 12 hour cycle. what benefit will the 20-25 WC do vs the 15 if my my phosphate and nitrates have been stable and low? just curious more than anything...

thanks
 
I'm not necessarily recommending larger water changes because of the parameters you stated, though they could be zero. I'm suggesting larger water changes because of the size of the system and because it will help with getting rid of the algae especially if you can siphon it out! I would suggest an 8 hour photo period, I don't know how intense your LED is or how close it is to the tank or what PAR you are receiving in the tank but I know LED's are very bright and powerful and I've had some trouble acclimating certain soft corals that were under different less powerful lighting, for example I run my LED from 4pm-11pm
Again just my opinion, I'm sure others will have more to say/suggest, but those are my instant thoughts based on what little I know about your system.
 
Get some clean up crew... Pick the hair algae by hand while water pump is shut off... Check the pump and plumbming sometimes hair algae can get trap or grow inside there... This is what I did and now my tanks is free of algae... Btw my lights is on 10hrs a day... 8t5s... Good luck
 
pLee.dCoP said:
Get some clean up crew... Pick the hair algae by hand while water pump is shut off... Check the pump and plumbming sometimes hair algae can get trap or grow inside there... This is what I did and now my tanks is free of algae... Btw my lights is on 10hrs a day... 8t5s... Good luck
Click to expand...

I'd agree with everything said here except that to argue that 10 hours a day with t5's may be different than 10 hours a day with LED, just my opinion but I have also never run t5's, my knowledge about them is more limited than say PC, LED, or MH of which I have have experience with and with halide and LED I tend to like 6-7 hours, maybe eight depending on height of the light and tank dimensions, etc.
 
I would make sure to clean the filter socks in your sump as well. They trap a lot of algae but it needs to be removed so the spores don't find their way back in the display. I have a set in reserve so I can rotate them while I bleach one set.
 
pLee.dCoP said:
Get some clean up crew... Pick the hair algae by hand while water pump is shut off... Check the pump and plumbming sometimes hair algae can get trap or grow inside there... This is what I did and now my tanks is free of algae... Btw my lights is on 10hrs a day... 8t5s... Good luck
Click to expand...

Thanks, turning off the pumps would make sense, haha... I did this with out turning off the pumps, woops... I still want to know what is causing the issue in the first place. the photo period is 8 hours at it's desired intensity for coral growth. add an hour to each end for a ramp up/down, 10 hours seems pretty normal to me...what i've had on my previous set ups.

Thanks
 
zakroctj said:
I would make sure to clean the filter socks in your sump as well. They trap a lot of algae but it needs to be removed so the spores don't find their way back in the display. I have a set in reserve so I can rotate them while I bleach one set.
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bleach... hmm. how do you determine how much bleach to use, I rinse my filter socks once every 4 days or so, never done the bleach thing...
 
I suppose if you are dimming them up and down before and after full light then 10 hours makes sense. I must have missed that!
 
scubaspew said:
I'd agree with everything said here except that to argue that 10 hours a day with t5's may be different than 10 hours a day with LED, just my opinion but I have also never run t5's, my knowledge about them is more limited than say PC, LED, or MH of which I have have experience with and with halide and LED I tend to like 6-7 hours, maybe eight depending on height of the light and tank dimensions, etc.
Click to expand...

6-7 hours a day just wont cut it for me, might as well not have em at all in that instance, just my opinion... i have seen a lot of LED set ups successfully set up for 10+ hours daily, my LED's are 10" above the display per Ecotechs recommendation for proper PAR and light spread. intensity at its highest is at 80%
 
BJP said:
6-7 hours a day just wont cut it for me, might as well not have em at all in that instance, just my opinion... i have seen a lot of LED set ups successfully set up for 10+ hours daily, my LED's are 10" above the display per Ecotechs recommendation for proper PAR and light spread. intensity at its highest is at 80%
Click to expand...

Again as I said I didn't know your specifics, now that I do. I agree with your lighting regimen.
 
1 cup of bleach per gallon of water in a bucket. I leave them over night. Rinse well and air dry.
 
Could try running purigen. I haven't tried it but have some on order. Seen some people on nano reefs using it. Has great reviews on foster and Smith and Amazon.

Doesn't need a reactor just a sock. Can be cleaned and reused.
 
scubaspew said:
This is in a 120 gallon tank? I do more than 15 gallons at a time, I'd say more like 20-25 even, I'd also suggest shorter light schedule, that's pretty long IMO. Everything else sounds great and adding a clean up crew is a great idea too!
Click to expand...

He's doing 15 a week roughly he says, that's 45-60 gallons a month at 40-50% water changes a month. Which is more than plenty as "standard" is 20% on a rough basis.

I also agree on the shorter span. Maybe run your first set of lights for an hour. All lights for 6-7 and another hour on the first set. And also agree on a good clean up crew!

Also back to the water change if your doing that every week maybe try to get a larger mix bin and do a wc every week. Unless you have the free time and enjoy, less work same results always makes the hobby more enjoyable! =)
 
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