sea hare -plauge reduction?

[jade76]

does anyone have a sea hare out there? This is my next line effort in battaling a green hair algae plauge. Ive done everything that I can think of to rid this prob, and it seems to be mocking my efforts....These are the steps that Iv taken and it seems to be getting worse.
1. RO/DI (always have and always will)
2. reduced my lighting times by 3 hrs
3. Water changes..5% daily and 20% every weekend.
4. Since the begging Ive run gfo and carbon
5. Uv steralizer.
6. Very small bio load....3 fish.(clown,coral beauty,lawnmower blenny)
7. Added a huge cleanup crew (3 emeralds, 50 BL hermits and about 20 margarita snails and a tuxedo urchin)
8. Ive scrubbed the rock in the tank and vaccummed it out, only to have my entire tank have a green frost on everything the next Hour!

I understand the principale of nutrient export and such ....but I feel like im battling a lost cause. ANy other help or suggestions? Ive heard that a sea hare is pretty veracious with this stuff.

 

[glxtrix]

You sure its GHA and not a form of Bryopsis (sp?) You happen to have a Mg test kit? Check to see where Mg is. If it seems low, boots it up around 1500-1700. This seems to help with either kind of algae.

 

[jade76]

I do and I did...my Mg is at 1450...(seachem test kit)

 

[ckwatson]

what about flow? I was having a problem with GHA and added a phosophat reactor and some more flow pointed right at the algae. It cleared up in about a week.

 

[ralph atl]

change out your GFO & carbon every 2 weeks (or test the water coming out of the reactor with a test kit that can detect low levels of phosphates). It just didn't happen over night, and it's not going away overnight. Your sand & rock are probably saturated with phosphates, so it's going to take some time to deplete it. Plus your algae still has phates in it. Suck it up with a hose on your next water change.

 

[jade76]

mysterybox;194780 wrote: change out your GFO & carbon every 2 weeks (or test the water coming out of the reactor with a test kit that can detect low levels of phosphates). It just didn't happen over night, and it's not going away overnight. Your sand & rock are probably saturated with phosphates, so it's going to take some time to deplete it. Plus your algae still has phates in it. Suck it up with a hose on your next water change.

Ive been doing all this...and when im doing water cahnges, I try to vaccum it up but its just bonded to the rock. and If I scrub it off, WHOA MAN, my glass stays green for a couple of days.

 

[ralph atl]

post a good pic of your algae. I would just stay the course, and have some Patience. You should see your algae get longer & look like light green straight cotton candy. That's when you really know that you are in the right direction. How much, what kind, and what kind of flow on your GFO?

 

[jade76]

mysterybox;194793 wrote: post a good pic of your algae. I would just stay the course, and have some Patience. You should see your algae get longer & look like light green straight cotton candy. That's when you really know that you are in the right direction. How much, what kind, and what kind of flow on your GFO?

Ill have to post some pics later...right now for flow, Im turning ver the tank with a mag 9.5 PH's Im using 2 koralia#4's and 1 MJmod 1200. Its a 90 gallon tank. and yes all the algea has grown about 4 inches, If I scrub it off or pull it off, it just grows right back thicker than before and the same lenght within 2 days.

 

[jmaneyapanda]

what is your skimmer? In my opinion, skimming the the best and ultimate solution to this problems. If it can be bossted, do it. Keep skimming maximized. maybe even think about getting a bigger/better.

 

[jaydm93teg]

i was gonna say i had a bad hair algae problem until i got a skimmer and once i started skimming it was AMAZING how fast it cleared up.

 

[jade76]

Im trying to avoid that subject.....but yes its time for an upgrade..Im using a coralife SS125...(I know, I know, dont laugh) Its what was left over from my old system that I havent upgraded yet. I looking at a MRC-2 and adding an extra injector, and running it with a mag18 drive. I will say though, that SS is filling an entire container to the brim, solid brown dry sludge everyday.

 

[jmaneyapanda]

jade76;194830 wrote: Im trying to avoid that subject.....but yes its time for an upgrade..Im using a coralife SS125...(I know, I know, dont laugh) Its what was left over from my old system that I havent upgraded yet. I looking at a MRC-2 and adding an extra injector, and running it with a mag18 drive. I will say though, that SS is filling an entire container to the brim, solid brown dry sludge everyday.

awww dude. Get a skimmer. Im gonna send you a PM.

 

[jaydm93teg]

shoot.......all i have is a cpr HOB skimmer....

 

[cgill311]

Do you use spray aerosols or have you sprayed for bugs lately??? That algae growth seems excessive.

How old are you bulbs?

 

[jade76]

not to derail this thread, but does anyone have any opinions on the MRC-2's? Im really limited on sump space and it seems that it would fit perfect, I just wonder if they are efficent (especially with an extra injector and an beefed up pump)?

 

[jade76]

CGill311;194833 wrote: Do you use spray aerosols or have you sprayed for bugs lately??? That algae growth seems excessive.

How old are you bulbs?

no aerosols at all...the bulbs are brand new xm 250w 15000k's

 

[ralph atl]

jmaneyapanda;194824 wrote: what is your skimmer? In my opinion, skimming the the best and ultimate solution to this problems. If it can be bossted, do it. Keep skimming maximized. maybe even think about getting a bigger/better.

great point! I guess I always assume that the skimmer is in place already!

 

[ckwatson]

I know the SS are not the best but are they really that bad. I have one and it is doing great. Also for the time being you can try a mod like the mesh or fishing string mod.

 

[jade76]

ckwatson;194879 wrote: I know the SS are not the best but are they really that bad. I have one and it is doing great. Also for the time being you can try a mod like the mesh or fishing string mod.

Its been mod meshed for some time now......looks like Im going to be getting a new skimmer in the near future.

 

[cgill311]

Does your tank see sunlight during the day?

Has the algae outbreak always been in your tank or is this something new?