For a while, I thought I was having a problem with hair algae in my new 55gal. However, my little brother stopped over and was taking a look and he immediately said he didn’t think it was actually hair algae, it was something else. So I started to do some research on the internet. After seeing some pictures of hair algae in reef tanks, I am almost certain that what I am having problems with is not hair algae, or at least what most people think of as hair algae.
I think I may be having a problem with Cladophora Algae. After doing some searching, the closest thing I found to what I have growing looks to be “cladophora vagabunda”. Most of the hair algae pictures that I have seen were very very short and very dense mats of algae. What I seem to have in my tank is very long, sometimes 4 or 5 inches long, with a main ‘stalk’ and small little filamentous “leaves” or branches sticking off of the main stalk. its very soft, and is somewhat easy to pick off of the rock. Although if its short, its not easy to pick off at all. The stalk is not hard or anything, just seems to be a main branch coming off of the rock. I will take a picture of it when I get home from work today. I just wasn’t sure if anyone knows what I am talking about.
My question would be, how do I control it. It doesn’t seem as if any of my reef janitors are touching it, even though I thought my hawaiin cowry looked like it may have been eating it one night… I was about to go get a sea hare, when I realized that I may want to make sure that what I have really is hair algae, or at least a type of hair algae.
Hmmph funny looking. What happens when you put a siphon tube to it? For control, if you can siphon it out, I would suggest that, then add a refugium with a light and some macro algaes (chaeto) to starve it out.
Yeah I have a fuge with some chaeto and a 6500k CF bulb. Lately, i’ve experienced some dieoff on my chaeto.
I have been hand prunning this stuff to the best of my ability. And have been doing a pretty good job of getting 95% of what I pick off out of the tank… i’ve been paying special attention to any of my live rock that has coralline algae on it since it seems that this stuff has pretty much starved my first piece of live rock with coralline on it… I may have to get some more chaeto grass to put down in my fuge to help starve it, since it doesnt seem that my chaeto is growing. I do have some calerpa (i think thats the correct spelling), in with my chaeto, not sure if that has anything to do with the chaeto dieing off.
But back to this algae… how do I go about keeping this in check. Would a sea hare eat this stuff?
[quote=“ihuntinde, post:5, topic:1739”]
Would a sea hare eat this stuff?[/quote]
I generally advise against getting a specialized critter to remove algae like this - if the sea hare did eat it, and it eats it all gone then it starves to death or needs to be taken out and traded in. Neither of which is good for the animal.
Algae generally grows as a result of too much food (nutrients), and/or too much light.
I’d first try to cut back on feeding, reduce the photoperiod and see what happens. You can even try going lights out for a couple days and see if this algae starts to die back.
Increased water changes to remove nutrients.
Cheato likes high flow and room to tumble, it needs to be hand pruned to keep the center of the ball alive as well. It is probably growing but because you see it everyday you probably just don’t notice it.
I had an algae outbreak which looked very much like that a year ago. It was a dense mat and covered the sand bed and some of the rock. I think I got it on a coral frag (no Qt)
out of water
I pulled it (harvested) out of the main tank and grew it in the sump under 24/7 lighting. After 2 weeks the remainder in the display disappeared and I removed it from the sump.
Here it is in the sump
Nasty stuff… I put bleach in the bucket where a I pulled some and it lived for over 2 weeks (longer but I put it in my compost pile.
When I do a search for that algae in Google most of the results come up on planted aquarium sites. I am not positive, but Cladophora Algae may be just a fresh water species. I’ll look into it more when I get a minute.
I tend to agree with what Craig said in that you may not want to buy a specialized feeder on something if that is the only thing it eats. However if you can find a general grazer that will eat it and other things in your tank and is listed as easy to keep alive then I see no harm. Of course the trouble is finding it. I have had experience with similar looking algae’s which my Purple tang and my queen conch eat however I would not recommend either of them for your tank as they will both outgrow it.(that and queen conch’s really outgrow most home aquariums and become frag bull dozers when they get older.)
I feel horrible asking because I should know by now, but what size tank do you have again?
I am work right now and don’t have Julian Sprung’s Problem Solver Algae book on the shelf here, but I will take a look at it tonight if I remember and let you know what he says. If you plan on being an aquarist for a while this would be a good book to pick up. Delaware’s Premium Aquatics typically has it(however they are currently out of stock) and That Pet Place and Hidden Reef may have it.
It is likely that your chaeto is not getting the nutrients it needs to grow because the other algaes are out competing it. I would not really recommend buying any more as I don’t think it will help much.
How often do you do water changes and how large of a change? (again you might have already told me this, sorry if you did)
GTG now, but I will see what I can find out for you. We’ll get it worked out and get rid of that crap.
[quote=“Gordonious, post:8, topic:1739”]
I feel horrible asking because I should know by now, but what size tank do you have again? [/quote]
My tank is a 55gal and I have a home built acrylic sump that holds about 23gal.
[quote=“Gordonious, post:8, topic:1739”]
How often do you do water changes and how large of a change? (again you might have already told me this, sorry if you did)[/quote]
I do water changes about every 10 to 12 days and its normally a 15g water change.
And no worries, I don’t expect you to remember my specific tank details, I am fairly new to the hobby and to
the forums.
EDIT: By the way, thanks again for all of the help.
My algae started out that dark of a color green but has since turned to what you see in my pictures. I would assume that means that the water changes and my chaeto is starting to starve it, but it still seems to be spreading…
Also, I am using RO water and not straight tap water to do my water changes, and I am using Oceanic salt.
My Alkalinity / KH seems to both be low (which in turn is making my calcium high), but I am trying to bring that up by adding Buffer. My PH is between 8.2 and 8.4, all of my ammonia, nitrates and nitrites are at 0, and the only other thing I am testing for is magnesium which is also slightly low, but not much, its at around 1350 at last check. My salinity is also testing at about 1.0245
Just to give some background for everyone as to what my parameters are.
Parameters being dead on doesn’t surprise me. Generally when you have an algae bloom your nitrates and phosphates will test at 0 because the algae is using them up and keeping them out of the water column (same principle we use in our fuges).
I’d begin by using the assumption that you do have phosphates in your water (either form source water or salt or food) and would consider running phosguard or a phosphate removing pad in the sump and see what happens.
You can buy a test kit for Phosphates, but really won’t detect them if the algae is growing fast enough to absorb it.(like Craig was saying) I would skip the test kit and just start using some sort of removal media. Not to expensive and as long as you use the recommended amounts I really don’t see it hurting anything.
With the Alk being off Diatoms will definitely be more difficult to fight as well. If you found a herbivore that went after your mystery algae you may just be swapping the algae problem for a diatom problem. The Nitrates and Phosphates will still be present and either something will use it or they will build to the point where corals and fish will suffer.
Are you using RO water with 0tds? If you stick to those water changes either you are really over feeding or have too heavily stocked of a tank or have phosphates or/and Nitrates in your source water and aren’t helping as much as you might want with your water changes.
Using a good skimmer and running carbon might help a little bit, but my guess would be it wouldn’t solve the problem.
Oh and I goofed when I sent that message. I thought I would search throw old posts to figure out your tank size before I recommended a tang. Of course I found your tank size so I knew tang wouldn’t work, but forgot to delete the question. I need sleep.
Try looking up images of Derbesia. If so Mr. Sprung would recommend correcting your Alk, removing Phosphates, using a toothbrush, and perhaps some herbivores. Turbo and Astraea snails may possibly help control it, but I wouldn’t put too many in your tank. You really should consider picking up his algae book.
Tells us a bit about your clean up crew. What types of snails, hermits, and so on do you have and how many?
[quote=“Gordonious, post:14, topic:1739”]
Are you using RO water with 0tds? If you stick to those water changes either you are really over feeding or have too heavily stocked of a tank or have phosphates or/and Nitrates in your source water and aren’t helping as much as you might want with your water changes. [/quote]
My RO water does have zero TDS based on the “dipstick” tests that I’ve used. I’d rather not go out and buy a TDS meter if I don’t have too just to use it once to verify that they are at zero. But I am running a water softener and a RO unit at the same time, so I doubt I have any TDS. Also, my RO system is only a couple of months old, so I’d also doubt the filters are allowing any silicates through.
As for feeding, I hardly feed at all, being that the only thing in my tank right now is the clean up crew and a couple of scavengers.
[quote=“Gordonious, post:14, topic:1739”]
Using a good skimmer and running carbon might help a little bit, but my guess would be it wouldn’t solve the problem.
Tells us a bit about your clean up crew. What types of snails, hermits, and so on do you have and how many? [/quote]
As of right now, I have 12 Cerith and 12 Nerite snails, a Peppermint shrimp, a Hawaiian Cowry, and an Emerald Crab. I have thought about picking up a few turbo snails, maybe 2 or 3. I had also thought about picking up a Sea Hare. I understand that if I pick up all these herbivores, that once the nuisance algae is gone, I’ll have to start feeding them. But I’d rather have to do that as opposed to looking at algae.
Keep in mind that new tanks often have various algae issues - as the tank matures and the beneficial bacteria stabilizes the algaes start to fade on their own.
A TDS meter is just as important as and refractometer. You will not only use it one, but should be using it monthly to ensure your RO is performing as it should. This is also how you will no when it’s time to replace your membrane and filters.
How long do you leave your lights on per day? You may want to consider running a few days without them as it doesn’t seem that you have any “light dependent” animals in the tank.
Do you have a skimmer on the tank?
One of the other things to keep in mind is that as you successfully kill off this nuisance algae it will decompose in the tank and release the nutrients it once used for food, if you do not currently have one, now would be a good time to invest in a skimmer, otherwise you could be entering the beginning of a vicious cycle of events that will ultimately lead to you pulling your hair out.
Try picking up a single “Mexican Turbo†snails and 2-3 Astraea. If the Turbo eats it and starts to make a dent in it, but doesn’t clean it all out in a week then I would buy a second. If the Astraeas are surely eating it, but not getting it all you can use your judgment as far as how many more to pick up. I would hold off on the sea hare for time being.
As far as the one time use of the TDS meter I don’t understand. If you got the meter and knew it was good now it’s not like you could ignore the RO unit for ever. Knowing the TDS is the best way to know when you need to replace your membrane. Unless you just replace it more frequently then it could ever possibly need to be replaced, but if you’re looking to save money on the TDS meter… that doesn’t really add up. You are right though that you are probably safe at this point, but I would budget for the TDS meter in the long run.(IE maybe hold off on that coral you don’t really need a couple of months from now, so you can get the meter)
Keep us updated and good luck. When there is a will there is a way.
Jon
PS, sorry if this repeats some of what Craig said, he beat me to it by a second and I don’t have time to re-edit my post.
Here is another photo from the tank, from a little farther out… It shows that the algae isn’t quite as dense as what I was seeing for hair algae…
I have also lowered my photoperiod from 11hours down to about 8hours. Not sure if that will affect my GSP or my inverts…
Also, I do have a skimmer. It’s an ASM G1x. It does an awesome job. Pulls out some real nasty sulfur smelling stuff.
Yeah, after reading both of your posts, I will probably go ahead and get a TDS meter. I was just under the impression that I wouldn’t use it enough to justify spending the money on it.
If it is just that rock, pull it out, hit it with a wire brush, rinse in a bucket of salt water and stick it back in. Not enough to have a fit over just yet.
