Hair algae/nitrate question

I recently started to develop hair algae its not bad but im starting to see it more and more. I manually remove it but it's a bit annoying. My nitrates seem to stay at 20 all the time. I do water changes once a week now but have yet to see any changes. What do you guys recommend? what is a usually cause for the algae? I noticed that in the morning the tank looks better than night time. At night brown algae is starting to grow on the gravel and some LR. i shut off the ligts and in the morning it looks like its gone. Just a little confused here.

55g 11 peices of coral half are frags no bigger then a silver dollar the others are about 4 inches in diameter. two clowns, royal gramma and about 7 snails, 3 hermits, one emerald, one shrimp. ok two of the snails are huge! i mean bigger then a silver dollar. I noticed these guys poop like wow!! a lot! should i trade them in for smaller ones?

i feed once a day because of the sun polyp.

 

PS anyone ever heard or used one of these? is it worth it? nitrate filters


Aquaripure Nitrate Filter: Products

 

Im working on my hair alge problem too due to high nitrates, hopefully someone will have a good answer for us.

 

mine went down just a little...since i feed frequent I need to do a water change almost weekly now. Water changes (like 20%) every week or other week is what was recommended since I have coral that need feeding almost every day. (sun polyp)

 

Ah, the brown algae that goes away with lights sounds like it could either be diatom or dinoflagellates. I never heard of the product you linked but for the price of one of them, I would suggest you buy a RO/DI unit if you haven't purchased one already. Also, do you run a protein skimmer? If you already have the RO/DI unit and protein skimmer, you are on the right track with water changes (although 20% IMO is a little much, I prefer to do 10%) weekly. When you feed the sun coral, do you broadcast feed or target feed? If you target feed, it should introduce less nutrients in the water.

edit: If the large snails are not knocking over rocks or frags, I wouldn't worry about them too much. By the way, what snails do you have in your tank?

 

OMAN!!! CAN I HELP YOU GUYS...I had the only red hair algae slime problem last year.Water changes...cleaning..nothing was helping...GRRRRR....
First check out this video...if your tank looks as bad as mine did...then your gonna have your work cut out for you....

YouTube - 90 GALLON(SALTWATER) WEEK 8 UPDATE..OH NO!!!RED SLIME!!

Let me explain first why this happens...I've learned water changes are a vital step you have to due regularly to maintain a healthy stable tank.If you slack on this...your in trouble... Over feeding,high phos levels,high nitrates along with light are the reasons for algae outbreaks..algae grow with nutrients and light,red algae is more complex...it needs nutrients to live...but can live and spread fast even without lights.

If your tank is got as bad as mine was....you need to shut down your tank for at least one week....don't worry...your fish will be fine...corals may be a little unhappy..but they will be happier on the outcome.Now...the first thing you have to do is empty out half the water in your tank....make sure all live rock is fully submerged...and you have at least one power head moving the water(the more water movement the better....you'll have to do the math based on your tank...I'm going to use my 90 gallon with a 30 gallon sump as an example.

Ok day one...I shut down my tank(lights and return pumps)but kept all power heads on...I emptied out 40 gallons from my display tank..and took out the majority of the water in my sump.
Note:I know 40 gallons is not half of 90 gallons..but remember rock takes up volume.

Day 2.....I added 15 gallons(ro/di) fresh salt water to my display...and did a small feeding.REMOVED (SCRUBBED/SYPHON)ANY HAIR ALGAE VISIBLE..About 15 minutes later I removed 10 gallons from the display tank...
Day 4.....I added 20 gallons(ro/di)salt water to my display....did a small feeding removed the little algae I saw...about 15 minutes later...I removed 10 gallons from my display tank....
Day 5...I tested my waters....at this time I noticed that my nitrates that were 40 ppm dropped down to 10 ppm...At this time I started adding more saltwater...and not removing as much.I added 20 gallons,but only removed 5 gallons after the feeding and 15 minutes passed.
Note:.I only did this because I saw that my levels dropped to reasonable levels,if your levels haven't drop...then I'd continue with steps on days 2 and 4 on day 5 until you see a drop.
Day 6...I added 20 gallons of (ro/di) salt water....to my display tank...and filled my sump back up...so as soon as I was comfortable with my levels.I'd be ready to turn my tank back on....tested my levels (10ppm)and decided...one more day won't hurt.
Day 7.....cleaned all my power heads...my skimmer...my phosban reactor and my return pumps...filled the remaining 15 gallons or so to the main tank....and hit the power on switch....
Days 8,9 and 10...I watched for any algae out breaks...saw a little bit not much worth mentioning...removed it....tested the water i wasn't quite at 10ppm but still wasn't happy.
Day 11...I did a 20% water change...by day 13...all my levels were zero!!!

Now you can do this another way...you could take out and replace every week..but remember...your adding more nutrients to your tank when you put freshly mixed salt water...nutrients that will fuel algae growth,so its important to dilute the water(dilute nitrates,phos) and remove the water quickly,if not your just letting your algae eat and grow with newly added saltwater filled with nutrients.

If your tank Hasn't got as bad as mine was...I'd keep to the same guide lines but i don't think you would have to empty out half your tank...Id say about 30-40% should be a good start.
THE KEY TO POLLUTION...IS DILUTION...AND WATER CHANGES IS THE SOLUTION!!!
NOTE: WHEN YOU DO WATER CHANGES...MAKE SURE THE TEMP IS IN THE SAFE ZONE!!
ALWAYS HAVE A BOTTLE OF CYCLE HANDY,CYCLE WILL NEVER HURT ONLY HELP.
As you can see from my gallery...this method works....

PATIENCE IS THE KEY!!HOPE THIS HELPED,ANY MORE QUESTIONS...FEEL FREE TO ASK


90 GALLON (BOTTOM DRILLED)DISPLAY
IN DISPLAY TANK;

180 LBS FIJI PREMIUM LIVE ROCK
90 LBS LIVE SAND
(3) 50 GPH POWERHEADS
(2) 1300 GPH POWER HEADS

30 GALLON SUMP
IN SUMP;
40 LBS LIVE SAND
55 LBS FIJI PREMIUM LIVE ROCK.
PHOSBAN REACTOR(150)
10 WATT U.V STEROLIZER (DONT HAVE AN ICK PROB)BUT JUST IN CASE
CORALIFE SUPER SKIMMER(150)
CORALIFE SUPER SKIMMER(65)
THEY WORK GREAT FOR ME!
(ELITE) 200 WATT HEATER
LIGHTING IN DISPLAY;
T5 NOVAS 48 INCH(6 BULB FIXTURES)
48 INCH MARINLAND L.E.D REEF LIGHTING(18K)
48 INCH (24) BLUE LED MOONLIGHT

LIGHTING ;
IN SUMP
30-90 WATT FLOOD LAMP

(MY UNDERWATER KIDS)...SAILFIN TANG,YELLOW TANG,YELLOW HEAD ANGELFISH,DIAMOND WATCHMAN GOBY,(2) BLUE GREEN CHROMIS
(4) ATLANTIC SEA ANENOMES,(20) MEXICAN TURBO SNAILS,(6)CERITH SNAILS,(10)RED LEGGED HERMIT CRABS,(10) BLUE LEGGED HERMIT CRABS,

IN SUMP;
(2)GREEN EMERALD CRABS
(5) BLUE LEGGED HERMIT CRABS
(5) RED LEGGED HEMIT CRABS

GOOD WATER QUALITY AND GOOD WATER MOVEMENT IS THE KEY!!!

TO tHoSe WhO rOcK...WiTh A fiLTeR sOcK.....
>>>>>>> I SOLUTE YOU <<<<<<<<

iMa bE 90 YEaRs OLd DoIn a 30% wAtEr ChAnGe...jUsT HaNd ME My CaNe aNd My SYPhON HoSe....IMa bE rOcKiN TilL I dIe...

 

Our nitrates are always at 20 as well, and we have no hair algae at all.

Los and Jeremy, how old are your tanks?

I agree with PeterT, sounds like dinoflagellates, we're at the tail end of that battle in our tank (not quite 6 months old yet). We sucked it out with a turkey baster at every opportunity and cut the light cycle by half. No longer have to suck it out, as it doesn't build up now. Unfortunately, dinos can strike a tank regardless of age, but it's still common in a new, unestablished tank.

Diatoms and cyano are part of the cycle, and with a little work by you (sucking out the cyano buildup and cutting the light cycle) they'll eventually go away without drastic measures of adding chemicals to your tank or emptying half the water or blacking out the tank for days a month. Even hair algae is common in new tanks, after the diatoms and cyano there's usually an outbreak. Not sure how we escaped that one other than we didn't add fish for 3 months after setting the tank up and made sure we didn't introduce any with coral frags.

Patience is the #1 thing you have to learn in this hobby. Most things in the beginning will work themselves out as your tank becomes established and starts to settle...that's if you don't rush things. Don't get frustrated and think that you have to perform drastic measures to get rid of something that is temporary. That's the biggest mistake I see with new tank owners these days...this is not an instant gratification hobby, and most things are not as dire as people make them out to be. EVERYONE goes through these stages with new tanks, and time and good, consistent tank practices takes care of most things.

 

4 months old! yeah i know its all about patients...the water looks like glass! I just starting to do weekly changes I have to get a timer for my lights at times I go out and by the time i get home its 10 hours or more i'm sure thats part of my problem.