Hair Algae out of control, help

[Caesar Augustus]

Well I know the regular probs that cause it. I've already run a phosphate pad, done a water change, checked the skimmer, uped the kalk drip, and bought some extra calurpa for the fuge, and cut the lights to 8 hours a day. The corals are healthy but the hair is becomming a real prob. It seems to be getting a little better since I started to "clean" the Macro once a week to get the hair off of it and help photosynthisis. In theory, shouldn't the calurpa "steal" the nutirents the hair needs to survive eventually, so long as I keep in clean? Its in my 55 and the setup is relatively new, but I used good substrate that was years old from another tank so I thought I'd skip the bloom crap. But I got it bad.I have 265 watts of PC on it. Does anyone have any other cures I have not thought of? We need to develop a magic pill to rid ourselves of the damn stuff forever!!
Keep the Faith,
Augustus

[scubadude]

In theory, shouldn't the calurpa "steal" the nutirents the hair needs to survive eventually, so long as I keep in clean?

Not necessarily, hair algae seems to be more prominent with phosphates, and your hair algae was established before you added calerpa it is still a good idea to add the calerpa but it doesnt mean that it will automatically outcompete the HA. FWIW there are also problems w/calerpa too as it can release toxins that can mess with your corals.

Does anyone have any other cures I have not thought of? We need to develop a magic pill to rid ourselves of the damn stuff forever!!

Word Brother!!! But remember most of these easy fix solutions that LFS have will help dissolve the issues but it will still be in the water.....I know from the sounds of it you have done the research and this is not an easy task, but you are still dealing with the root of the problem, something that you are putting in your tank needs to be adjusted (water, food, etc) to eliminate the HA I really have a hard time putting something in my water If I dont understand it, chemical fixes for problems like this will only work if your ready to do some massive water changes after dissolving the algaes, and even then do we really understand the chemical reactions that it is setting into place afterwards? I dont....just my opinion bro.

[Bughead]

BAD NEWS; No matter what you do to try to put an end to the hair algae, nothing seems to work. You can work your butt off cleaning it out with a brush on Saturday, and by Tuesday it looks just like it did before.

GOOD NEWS: Hair algae problem is usually self-limiting, albeit after several months. I've had this problem 3 different times in three different tanks. The first two times I did everything you did, decreased phosphates (via sponge), added caulerpa, scrubbed, scrubbed and scrubbed some more. Finally after about 3 months (and a lot more grey hairs) I got the algae under control. This last time the green hair, plus briopsis launched an attack on my 55 gal reef. This tank runs skimmerless. The phosphates are high. I have minimal caulerpa in the sump. Once every week or two, sometimes longer, I'd take out what rocks were easily moveable and scrub them in a bucket of tank water. The other stuff I'd try to scrub with a toothbrush as best I could in the tank. But other than that, I didn't do anything to the tank. After about three months, the hair and the briopsis are nearly gone.

So it's irritating, maddening, and ugly , but the main defense is elbow grease and time.

[Caesar Augustus]

Thanks Guys, thats what I thought. Boy I really hate this green crap, but I will win, one way or another!
Augustus

[Elmo18]

Thanks Guys, thats what I thought. Boy I really hate this green crap, but I will win, one way or another!
Augustus

Caesar shall conquer!!!!!! Long live Caesar!!!


- Elmo

[zhenya]

Thanks Guys, thats what I thought. Boy I really hate this green crap, but I will win, one way or another!
Augustus

Good luck,CA

What type of herbivores do you have in your tank,if I may ask? There has to be some that will/could help you in your battle with that hair algae.Perhaps an sea urchin or some fish? I have a problem with Caulerpa that no fish would touch exept perhaps specific slug but I can not introduce any to my tank because of the type of fish I have,so... elbow grease it is in my case,bughead is right...

[Caesar Augustus]

Amen Elmo! Z I have some hermits and a few turbo's in the tank. By clown died but I plan to introduce some new fish soon. maybe a kole tang and a algae blenny, I also want to replace my clown before my oldest daughter gets wise that he's gone..............he's been "hiding"for a while if you get what I mean;)
Thanks,
Augustus