Red Haired Algae

[tcarroll]

Will it ever go away?I am battling it everyday,cleaning rocks,sand etc.

 

[cthegame]

Yes, it will. Have you increased your water changes? Do you use only RO water? Do you have phosphate remover running?

 

[tcarroll]

No Phosphate removers,although i test for them and it's 0.Have a refuge also.Been doing weekly water changes.All watere paramaters are in check.I used Distilled Water.

 

[cthegame]

Try increasing your water changes to twice a week for just a few weeks until it goes away. Dont do 20% though. Just 10% will do.

I did that for about 2-3 weeks and my algae was gone.

 

[Doc]

the algae eats your phosphates faster than it is made, so it will register at "0", even though you have them. that is the food for algae, It comes from excess nutrients in your water. Try reducing feeding for a time and reducing the lighting cycle by half for a period of a week. Likely, the problem will subside. If you are totally desperate, there is a product called chemi-clean, which is reef safe but only has a minimal effectiveness (meaning it may only work the first time you use it as the algae develops an immunity to it) It will not solve the problem of excess nutrient, but will get rid of the slime while you cut back on nutrient in your tank.

-Doc

 

[tcarroll]

OK I will do that 10% change tomorrow,I feed once daily frozen mysis shrimp.About a serving the size of my finger nail.I run lights 12 hrs.I currently have Two Clowns,One Black Striped Damsel,Lawnmower Blenny,Diamond Goby that i havent seen come out from under the rocks since i put him in the tank plus my clean up crew.I appreciate all the help from you guys.I work on my tank daily whether its cleaning the algae off sides or ckeaning skimmer or just checking on things.It's addicting and fun.

 

[Piggy]

Small water changes is the way to go. I'm finally getting over it after. Hopefully it won't be back after my vacation.

 

[cthegame]

Yay Piggy! finally. :)

 

[messiah023]

Tcarroll,

I haven't experience any algae issues in the tank. I was given advice that I should feed small portions every OTHER day and I only keep my lights on an 8-hour cycle. I think you may be "over-lighting" the tank. Maybe you can try less light with some moonlight LEDs for the evening.

Good luck.

 

[Bifferwine]

Like Doc said, try the phosphate removal media anyways. Phosphate test kits aren't very accurate and the algae take it up as fast as it's produced, causing the test kit to register a zero.

But I guess Doc said that already...

 

[nudy6969]

get a sea hare. i got one yesterday, and its been eating algae like crazy.

 

[Bifferwine]

Be careful of sea hares in small tanks, like in a 12 gallon aquapod, Nudy. You will need to return it to the store pretty soon because they eat algae like crazy, then starve to death very quickly. I've never kept a seahare in my tanks because they clear up the algae so quickly and they won't eat dried seaweed sheets, so I've had to pass them on to other people that are having algae problems or take them back to the LFS.

 

[natan]

there is a product called chemi-clean,

I used it once: it worked great. If the algae evolve resistance that could become my next problem.

Generally l avoid using chemical weapons though and let other algae/bacteria compete with whatever bothers me.