Fighting hair algae and cyno

Reefplumber13

Reefplumber13

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Ok so I have been fighting this for the last 4 or so weeks. What can I do to get rid of both.. they both came about after I fell behind on water changes. Im back on top of them and still cant get it gone.. I have dome everything thing I can in the tank guess ill start taking the rock out one by one to clean them
 
are you using gfo or anything else to remove phosphates? also you can cut back your lights to about half of what theyre running at now for a while to help kill off the hair algae, you can completely turn off your lights for 3 or 4 days as well. itll piss your coral off but it will definitely help get rid of the hair algae. if youre running a skimmer than skim more wet. and increase your waterchange routine by either upping the amount you take out or the frequency at which you do your water changes. and cut back on your feeding a little as well. all these steps combined should get you close to defeating both problems
 
You can try matrix, gfo, and/or purigen. I had some HA issues and ran some purigen and matrix and it has almost all disappeared. You can run any in a fine mesh bag, but gfo requires a lower tumble rate to be effective.
 
Unfortunately, It takes alot longer for things to return to stable than it does for them to get out of hand. Are you looking for chemical or biological removal?
 
Ringo®;933396 wrote: Unfortunately, It takes alot longer for things to return to stable than it does for them to get out of hand. Are you looking for chemical or biological removal?
Click to expand...

Yes what would you recommend
 
Well, I would normally suggest aggresive skimming, GFO and copious water changes as nitrates and phosphates are the root of your evil.

Most people want instant removal of the "nasty" stuff though. ChemiClean or a similar anti bacterial product will remove the cyano (this stuff should vacuum up pretty easy though). GFO will get rid of your phosphates. Skimming and water changes should get your nitrates to a manageable level. Could always look into carbon (Vodka, Vinegar....whatever floats your boat) dosing as well.

On the natural front, you could toss in a Blunt End Sea Hare and watch it go to town and then pass it along to another member when his job is done.
 
Ringo®;933405 wrote: Well, I would normally suggest aggresive skimming, GFO and copious water changes as nitrates and phosphates are the root of your evil.

Most people want instant removal of the "nasty" stuff though. ChemiClean or a similar anti bacterial product will remove the cyano (this stuff should vacuum up pretty easy though). GFO will get rid of your phosphates. Skimming and water changes should get your nitrates to a manageable level. Could always look into carbon (Vodka, Vinegar....whatever floats your boat) dosing as well.

On the natural front, you could toss in a Blunt End Sea Hare and watch it go to town and then pass it along to another member when his job is done.
Click to expand...

Do you know where a sea hare coukd be found?
 
Got mine from Pure Reef and he's a beast. Was going to let him clear out some caulerpa that I let get out of control and pass him on. He's really grown on me though and think I may just keep him.
 
For the hair algae, I've always had tremendous success with turbo snails. Here's an example: http://www.atlantareefclub.org/forums/showthread.php?t=77875">http://www.atlantareefclub.org/forums/showthread.php?t=77875</a>

For cyano, the first time I had it, making sure I got the pH to 8.3 and kept it there -- along with shortening the light cycle a little bit -- did the trick. I'm battling it in my new tank, though, and I haven't been able to get anything to work, which makes me assume that there's something feeding it. Just keeping up on water changes and waiting it out.
 
Stomatellas snails worked the best for me. I got a rock once with mushrooms and lots of hair algae and the very next morning the hair algae was completely gone. I lost all of my stomatellas when I upgraded to a larger tank. I was assuming that they would hide in the rock. These snails only came out at night.

Let me know if any of you guys find any in a LFS.
 
BEFORE you do anything.....you need to figure out the root cause of the issues. Some have already been mentioned but another for cyano is poor water movement. Overfeeding and extended light periods are causes for hair algae (cyano will come from overfeeding as well). Until you figure out your cause, it will continue.

Another thing that aids in the eradication of both of these is the physical removal of them. For cyano, I just take a net and scoop it up. For hair algae, it's best to remove the rock and use either a very stiff bristled brush on it or something along those lines. Make sure to rinse the rock well with RO water after the scrubbing. Then you should be able to put it right back in the tank. The more you physically remove, the faster anything else you employ will work.
 
Im sure it all came about bc I didnt do a water change for about a month and a half. As for the poor water moment I dont think thats it. I have two hydro nano 400s on the tank. And I only feed frozen every other day. Once a day. And my lights are on 8 hours. From 2pm to 10pm
 
Read my friend, read....

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/bluegralgae.htm">http://www.wetwebmedia.com/bluegralgae.htm</a>
[IMG]http://www.wetwebmedia.com/CDosingArt.htm">http://www.wetwebmedia.com/CDosingArt.htm</a>

And from there to what catches your interest.
 
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