Green Hair Algae!!!

[offshrefshin]

HEY GUYS WELL DID A WATER CHANGE ON MY TANK YESTERDAY AND WAS OUT ALL DAY TOADY ONLY TO RETURN AND FIND MY GLASS AND LIVE ROCK STARTING TO GET MAJOR GREEN HAIR ALGAE AND BROWN ALGAE GROWTH ON IT?!?!?! I JUST ADDED 25 BLUE LEGGED HERMITS. THE LFS TOLD ME THAT THEY WOULD HELP KEEP THE ALGAE POP WAY DOWN.... BUT TODAY I AM HAVING A SERIOUS BLOOM. MY TANK IS ONLY LIKE 3 WEEKS OLD. SO IT IS STILL CYCLING..... IS THIS NORMAL IS THERE SOMETIHNG I SHOULD ADD. I ONLY HAVE A 20 GALLON WITH A RIO 90 PUSHING WATER AND A CASCADE 200 DOING THE FILTERING. I JUST REPLACED THE FILTER CARTIAGE WHEN I DID THE LAST WATER CHANGE?>!?!?!?! ANY HELP OR HINTS WOULD BE MUCHO APPERCIATED ?!?! THANKS GUYS

[Ninong]

Yes, it's not unheard of to have nuisance algae and diatom blooms during the initial cycle of a new tank. Was your live rock fully cured before you put it in your tank?

Have you been testing your tank water for nitrate?

What is the source of the water you are using to make your saltwater, or are you buying it already made up from the LFS?

In order to control unwanted algae, you need to keep nitrate levels as low as possible and phosphate and silicate at undetectable levels.

It usually takes several weeks to a few months for a new tank to settle in. I wouldn't get too concerned unless it really gets out of hand.

Good luck!

[zxc741]

I adree with what Ninong said. I had the same thing happen to me on my frist tank. The best thing to do clean is the glass and wait. After a while the brown algae will disspear and then the green algae will disspear.

[offshrefshin]

my nitrates seems to be low on the test strips i have they always come out as good or acceptable.. but my nitrite levels always seem to be high. all of the live rick i have has been cured from the lfs. and i check my levels everyday. my ph has been a constant 8.3 my aminioa is always under .25 generally reads @ 0 but sometimes the green looks a lil darker could be the light in my room. my nitrates are generally between 20 and 40 ppm the color is soo hard to judge and my nitrite seems to be between1.0 and 3.0 which the test strip says is safe and unsafe. and my alk is always 300. i was using tap water but i have a ro filter on the line for drinking water the lfs said it would be suitable. i just did a 25% water change and new filter cartiage. i only seem to have 1 LR that is growing the hair algae. another fellow saltwater enthuiast recommened mexican turbo snails. i also added agra milk the LFS claimed it would help with purple algae growth i also cut down light tine from 6 hours to 2 hours