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View Full Version : Going to have to shut down unless I get help! URGENT



spacewelder
01-16-2010, 03:58 PM
I have green hair in my tank and it is taking over. WHat can I do to get ride of it. If I can not get it to go away I am going to have to shut the system down and get ride of everything now! I need something drastic as I have tried everything. PLEASE HELP NOW!

jrod11
01-16-2010, 04:19 PM
need some more info about your system. you have excess nutrients in your water.

you try water changes and carbon? what is your lighting schedule? do you top off with rodi? when was the last time you changed the filters on your rodi if you have one?

how much do you feed your fish?

467echo
01-16-2010, 04:20 PM
what have you tried?

spacewelder
01-16-2010, 04:41 PM
I have tried all of the things you can mention and try!, Water changes , lights, ro/di, feeding. You name it and I have tried everything except turn the lights off and let it die off. I have tried carbon. It will not go away. I have a 120

jrod11
01-16-2010, 05:06 PM
you have a RODI system? are you using the stuff in front of the grocery store to top off?

hughjaas
01-16-2010, 05:15 PM
how long has your system been running?

spacewelder
01-16-2010, 05:40 PM
System has been running for a year. No I do not use the stuff at the sore. I get it from AW. Guys honestly I have tried everything you can think of so far.

bpro32
01-16-2010, 05:52 PM
do an 80% water change and see what happens

nahtanoj
01-16-2010, 06:11 PM
get a seahare.

Techknowledgy
01-16-2010, 06:14 PM
All true above, and need a lot more information
Advice
#1- Do not give up. (Do all of these at the same time.)
#2- Do a 50% water change with Scripps water.
#3- Turn off your lighting system (only) for about three - four days. Leave the skimmer and everything else running.
#4- Cover your tank with a dark cloth during that time and feed fish sparingly only once a day.
#4- Get a sea hare.
#5- When the lights do go back on, cut it back to 6-7 hours a day.
#6- Do a 20% water change AND test your water.
Just my 2 cents.

Bogg
01-16-2010, 06:16 PM
=could be bryopsis, do you have pics?.

Som1else
01-16-2010, 06:42 PM
Get s filter sock and a siphon hose, siphon it out by holding the siphon tube in your hand to suck it out as you pull it out with your fingers. I know exactly where you are at. It took me months of this to get it almost completely under control. Also you have to either use a powerhead or turkey baster and blow the crap out of it. Hair algae will capture detritus from the water column and use it for food. Ill bet that if you use a turkey baster at the base of the algae it just blows tons of crap out from it. After you have pulled tons of it using the siphon method a few seahares and an army of mithrax crabs will help to finish it off. Manual removal is the key, you can try everything else you want but in the end you will be pulling it out or scrubbing it off.

dese
01-16-2010, 07:00 PM
Do you have a CA reactor ?

DaveMorris
01-16-2010, 08:07 PM
I would post details about your system. Equipment, livestock, everything. You have said that you have tried everything, yet you still have the problem. There is something causing it to grow and maybe lots more eyes looking at what you have and how it is set up can help you figure it out. Nobody can address the issue when we don't know anything about the tank. How old are your lights? What fish do you have? what and how often do you feed? There are 1000 questions to ask and most of them will be answered if you post more details.

junkie
01-16-2010, 10:12 PM
I had a major problem with hair algea with and some bryopsis mixed in. it spread all over my tank. I tried everything new bulbs, sea hares, lettus nudi's, carbon, and doing bi-weekly 50% water changes and barely making a dent. I got to the point that i removed all my rock and scrubed it all off, a few weeks later it just grew back. the funny thing was that my tests indacated no trace of no3 or po4's, because the algae consumed it. i finally beat it with a foxface rabbitfish and plenty of ECO PHOS. i also bumped my flow in the tank quite a bit so that when i manualy removed it little bits of it never settled to start growing again, then i took my net and collected all the stray little hairs floating in the water column i could. and what i couldnt get my foxface did, i was doing 50% water changes eow. It took about 2 months of this method to completley rid my tank of H.A. and bryopsis. Dont give up! like everything in this hobby patients and persistance is key. Good Luck!!!!!

fish king
01-16-2010, 10:25 PM
also get some xxxxl turbo snails

get a YELLOW TONGA BLENNY EXCELLENT ALGAE EATER

manny77
01-17-2010, 06:29 AM
This is a good thread, I'm learning a lot from this. Something to look forward on doing because I have some green hair popping on some areas. They are not out of control, looks like a couple of hairballs about size of a quarter. It's great to learn from other people with their opinion.

spacewelder
01-17-2010, 07:13 AM
System is as folows:
120
Euro reef 8 skimmer sedra 5000
30 gallon sump
phosban reactor
dual 250 MH
Many softies
cardinal
hippo
six line
2 chromis
3 shrimp
pink lobster
hawk fish
manderin
lawn mower blenny

Redeye
01-17-2010, 08:59 AM
according to that, you dont have ANY flow, what are your powerheads??
Techknowledgy's advice is the route I would go
I would also cut back feeding to everyother day, unless your doing some anthias or sketchy butterfly, that right there will be 50% less nutrients going into the tank

baby tangs consume more algae faster than larger tangs, get yourself a baby scopas, yellow, or even a baby rabbit fish (assuming it really is hair algae, not byropsis)

davocean
01-17-2010, 09:13 AM
I scrubbed my rocks and then went lights out for 3 days.
Then I worked on excess nutrient issues, skimmer, DI...
Worked for me.

spacewelder
01-17-2010, 09:13 AM
Sorry, I have 3 Hydors and my main pump is 1400GPH. I will cut back on the feeding to every other day. Also I have no snails which I will get. My lawnmower blenny is eating alot, just not enough. I will position the power heads different to see what happens. I have tried sea hares to no end and they don't work very well. I blow the rock off everyday with a baster also. I just don't get it! I am going to do a very large water change to see what happens and see if that will remove some of the stuff.

Redeye
01-17-2010, 09:24 AM
what size hydors? I have 3 hydors in my 60g softy tank:p
for your sized tank, I'd look at a couple of the 5's or 6's

5-8's are controllable now too:D

467echo
01-17-2010, 09:30 AM
do you have a refugium setup? A refugium is a good way to export nutrients through the growth of macro algae.

spacewelder
01-17-2010, 05:24 PM
I have a 30 Gal Fuge doing its work. Maybe better heads! I don't know.

xM3TH0Dx
01-18-2010, 10:15 AM
Try this product: Algae Fix Marine
There's a good thread on RC about it regarding usage and before and after pics

Good Luck!

Sat Cong
01-18-2010, 03:47 PM
you have a RODI system? are you using the stuff in front of the grocery store to top off?

Didn't mean to hijack thread, but, is there something wrong with using water in front of grocery store? Assuming it was serviced every quarter or so? And it was not located in the "ghetto" where nobody would care to keep it up? Sorry if that is offending any one here...

jrod11
01-18-2010, 03:52 PM
Didn't mean to hijack thread, but, is there something wrong with using water in front of grocery store? Assuming it was serviced every quarter or so? And it was not located in the "ghetto" where nobody would care to keep it up? Sorry if that is offending any one here...

I've heard that they are really not that pure if you measure the TDS. Maybe someone here has tested it.

If you don't have an algae issue, then you are probably fine.

BigAir
01-18-2010, 04:21 PM
If it is hair algea, gotta also ask how old are the bulbs you are running?
Chemicals like algea killers are just temp fixes, and will not cure the root problem.

BigAir
01-18-2010, 04:22 PM
Didn't mean to hijack thread, but, is there something wrong with using water in front of grocery store? Assuming it was serviced every quarter or so? And it was not located in the "ghetto" where nobody would care to keep it up? Sorry if that is offending any one here...

That is just it, ASSUMING the machine is serviced in a timely manner. Most are not, and even the ones that are still have a pretty high TDS as they are only RO filters at best.

jrjuiliano
01-18-2010, 04:52 PM
Aside from what everyone else was saying, this really helped me identifying and treating issues:

http://www.sdreefs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=52262

laffingcrow
02-28-2010, 09:05 PM
Whle all of the previous suggestions work, you need help.
There is another way to get the algae under control. It's called an ATS or Algae Turf Scrubber
See the DIY thread suver569 and pazhope have going in the DIY section.
IF you are a DIYer and have a drill, dremel tool or grinder and a few bucks you can make one yourself from a bucket, compact fluorescent light and some PVC pipe. There is plenty of information on that thread with links to the whole evolution and history of the ATS.
How much you feed, how long your lights are on will no longer be a problem with a properly functioning Scrubber and even the worst algae overgrowths can be handled in 12 weeks or less. If the water changes can't handle the phosphates they can build up in the rocks like a sponge and even if you can't measure the phosphates they can still leach out of the rocks right where the algae can get to it. After a while the scrubber will out compete the algae in the display for nutrients and the unwanted algae will start to go away.
Oh yea and that is all with no PROTEIN SKIMMER!
I know... it sounds crazy... and some will say it aint so! some will go so far as to call it SPAM! but why would it be spam if you make it yourself?
All I'm saying is there is another way and I hope you have not thrown in the towel yet. I only got back into the hobby after 20 years because I stumbled onto the ATS on another forum while trying to help a friend get his tank under control.
It's working on my tank and that is all I have filtering my water.
Hope this helps,
thanks for your interest,
Brian