Green Hair Algae

[fyretr7]

Hey Guys,
Got another question for you.One of my tanks has developed some green hair algae in it.This is a 30 gallon tank theat has been running for about 5 yrs now.I have done nothing different with the exception of adding about 8 # of cured live rock.I took a toothbrush and brushed most of it off and vacumed what I could out while I was doing so.I have a bottle of marine S.A.T Clarifier here and am wondering if it would be sufficient to treat it with that.I think its an ounce every 10 gallons of water.I have a pretty good cleanup crew in it of turbo's,peppermint shrimp,and hermits.I have some pretty course crushed coral in there so my bottom dont get stirred alot byt the crew.ANyone know of a better way to treat this pest?Thanks in advance for your input you guys have been great!!!!........................Dutch:bounce:

 

[KidJ57]

Have you tested your phosphates and nitrates already? What were the readings?

 

[fyretr7]

All my readings are good.I'm thinking possibly I just brought it in with the new live rock.Who knows at this point.I did a pretty thorough job of getting it off and vacuming it all up.Now i'm just hoping I can treat it with a good clarifier and keep it knocked back.I actually read on another site about a sea hare eating it,just not sure if thats good idea in the 30 gallon tank......................Dutch:^:

 

[KidJ57]

The sea hare could work, but the reason why I asked about your phosphate and nitrates is because if that even raised a little, that means that there is algae fuel in that water, if you merely got low or even 0ppm readings, that could because the algae already consumed the rest of the phosphate/nitrate in the water column. Definitely could be from the new rock if something died and decomposed, it would have cause a mini-cycle which would lead to added nitrates in the water and then...algae.

Since it doesn't seem like many people have had luck with Sea Hares, maybe you should try something like an algae scrubber:
https://www.livingreefs.com/mega-powerful-nitrate-and-phosphate-remover-diy-t16734.html
I don't know if you have room for one, but they seem rather promising

 

[Bifferwine]

I think adding Marine SAT would be a good idea -- I use it and love the stuff. It probably is just the addition of the new rock if nothing else has changed. If so, it's a hurdle that may take some time to get over. Even if you cleaned the rock, it could be leaching phosphates. In the meantime, upping your water change frequency should help too.

 

[yote]

+1 Kid and Biff
Another thing to think about,but how old are the bulbs in the lights?
Once the spectrium of the bulbs starts shifting more toward red,it starts favoring algae more.

 

[Melosu58]

Excellent battle plan for nuisance algea.

FantasyReef Databases-Viewing item "10 Step Plan for Nuisance Algae Control"

 

[cthegame]

up your water changes for a few weeks, check on your bulbs as yote suggested, turn lights on less for a few weeks, get phosphate remover if you can...and use RO water

 

[dcantucson]

+1 to all the above.