Mystical Lady February 7, 2007 February 7, 2007 Since adding my T5's the hair algae has exploded!!! I didnt think I even had any HA untill the lights were started up.....its everywhere..... I can't just turn the lights off as I have corals that need the light(LOADS of corals arriving this Saturday) ...sooooo.... I need to know if it will hurt my tank if I take the rocks out, scrub them, and everything in the tank ....maybe vacuum the sand.... will my fish be hurt by this??? I only have a scooter, bicolor, pipefish and a goby.... other tank mates are pep. shrimp and a variety of snails...... I was using tap water but now am using distilled water until my RO/DI unit arrives... the RO/DI unit should help some, right? is this the only way to get rid of the algae or is there a better way??? my corals arriving this Saturday(except for one I already have).... I *assume* they will need the lights..... http://www.thewebcastle.com/_corals/ I just want the tank to look good before I place the corals in the tank......
Folta February 7, 2007 February 7, 2007 The short and sweet of it is: Light + Nutrients = Algae Both sides of this can be limiting factors for growth. I wouldn't place the blame on the lights, per se - they are just now providing the intense light that you intended for the corals. What does that mean, then? Well you will have to find the source of your nutrients. You mentioned that you used tap water, but now are using distilled.. how long did you use tap water for, how long ago did you switch to distilled, and what type of skimmer (if any?) do you have? How big is your tank? I'm betting that using the tap water has flooded your tank with nutrients that are now being used up by the algae with the intense light. First and foremost, you don't want to make any sudden changes... big changes = bad, always.. even if you're making changes in the 'right' direction. I would suggest a sequence of moderately sized water changes making sure to use Ro/Di or Distilled water for the new saltwater. You can also try to pull the hair algae out by hand. Keep us updated on the situation!
dhoch February 7, 2007 February 7, 2007 Listen to tim.. .he's beaten the hair alage into submission in his tank Dave
Caribbean Jake February 7, 2007 February 7, 2007 a quickfix: cut down on lights on time, and put 1/2 the food you are putting ... do this for one week and you will se the decline in algae. after that you needto keepthe food amount the same , at 1/2 of what you used too, and you can go back to he 8 hour or 10 hour light shift
rrubberbandman February 8, 2007 February 8, 2007 I am the hair algae king...........i can grow some mean HA.......mine has recently gone into a lightening/graying phase with the bumping up of my ALK like 11-13 dkh....and continous use of phos remover. i do WC's every 5-8 days....2.5 gallons at a time.and WOW alot gets sucked out. you could talk to folta about SUGARING............. It seems when i added my t-5's i had the same problem.........decline in coralline and increase in HA. that sucks......being that t-5's are supposed to be so awesome........???? Bryan
Folta February 8, 2007 February 8, 2007 It's not the light itself that is making it grow, at least not directly. T5's make algae grow because they are intense lights. (As are MH's). Think of light and nutrients as both bottlenecks. The algae will only grow as fast as either one of these things allow. If you had a vat full of nutrients but no light, then no algae would grow. Vice versa, if you have tons of light and no nutrients, no algae will grow. The issue with coraline algae and T5's is simply that coraline algae doesn't infact like really intense light. You'll probably end up finding coraline growth under the hair algae even. As long as more nutrients are being introduced into the water (using tap water, from feeding, stuff leaching from sand/rocks, things dying, etc), you're going to have nuisance algae issues.. the key is finding a way to control your nutrient levels. Buying the RO/DI is a great step.
rrubberbandman February 8, 2007 February 8, 2007 aren't there critters you can buy to eat up the algae? Hermits.......good..........nudi's and sea hares are supposedly good, but who can actually keep them alive for any period of time????? i guess hermits are the better choice.......snails are olny good for the film algae.
jamesbuf February 8, 2007 February 8, 2007 (edited) I had a hair algae when I setup my tank 2 years ago. I bought a few of every type of snail out there, and with enough pulling out the algae and the cleanup crew doing its job, I've been hair algae free for well over a year. I'm sure upgrading skimmers help alot too. From all those diferent snails, one variety in paricular has multiplied tremendously. They are round and striped. I believe they are descendants of the tiger snails I bought from Tropical Fish World a long time ago. If you look at my tank when the lights have been out, you'll see hundreds of tiny snails come out to start cleaning. There's easily 100 on each piece of rock, and I've got alot of liverock. I can give you a few to get you started. Just let me know. Edited February 8, 2007 by jamesbuf
Mystical Lady February 8, 2007 Author February 8, 2007 (edited) Thanks everyone for the input......... Hopefully I can figure out how to hookup the RO/DI system once it gets here.... I am quite excited about it !! After reading all your comments I think I also need to take a look at my feeding habits.... maybe I am overfeeding just a tad.... well, maybe this much >....................................... < I have several Asterna snails and they seem to be eating the algae so maybe between the water, stop overfeeding, and the snails I can get relief from the algae....... I just need more patience...... Edited February 8, 2007 by Mystical Lady
lanman February 8, 2007 February 8, 2007 Thanks everyone for the input......... Hopefully I can figure out how to hookup the RO/DI system once it gets here.... I am quite excited about it !! After reading all your comments I think I also need to take a look at my feeding habits.... maybe I am overfeeding just a tad.... well, maybe this much >....................................... < I have several Asterna snails and they seem to be eating the algae so maybe between the water, stop overfeeding, and the snails I can get relief from the algae....... I just need more patience...... Someone posted a link to someone selling ro/di filters for $169 that looked real nice. Now I can't find it. Any hints? bob
Mystical Lady February 9, 2007 Author February 9, 2007 Someone posted a link to someone selling ro/di filters for $169 that looked real nice. Now I can't find it. Any hints? bob I bought mine from 'thefilterguys' .... abit over $200 but they answered alot of emailed questions from me..... so Customer Service must be good .... Jan
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