Live Rock / Water Issue

I have a problem with hair algae and I did some tests only to find out that my phosphates were around 5.0 which is what is feeding the algae. I used to use tap water until today, now I am only using RO water. Well with that being said, I am looking into redoing my tank and doing it the right way now that I know more about the hobby, but I am not sure what to do with the live rock with the algae. Should I lower my phosphates, scrub the rock and see what happens or should I re-cure all the rock before starting my new tank? I rather not have to re-cure if I can avoid it . ;D

 

hey Chris
having had a very bad hair algae problem some time ago, I can say that you dont have to strip and re cure your rock to deal with it

add some Phospate remover to your filtration system , chose from Phosban, Rhoswpos, or Phosguard ( I have used the last 2 of these and they both reduced PO4 to zero )

in addition you need to monitor Nitrates as thats an alternative nutrient source for algae
there are products on the market that absorb Nitrates also , Kent make one and there are others

if you do the above, coupled with manual removal of the algae you can get at, you should eventually get on top and solve the problem

Without knowing what live stock you have in the tank , there is one other course of action that you can consider - whilst using the above nutrient control products you can also darken out you tank for 3 days ( no lights on and cover with a dark blanket)

I have done this on a reef set up (albeit with al the corals on the begginers list) and my tank looked new after 3 days of this

but you do need to get on top of the nutrients , because if all you do is blanket the tank , the algae will just come back once you resume lighting period

Something for you to consider, hope it helps

Steve

 

yep the blanket trick works really good and most of the time, you corals can go 3 days without light.

 

great info Steve!! I am now working on water changes using RO water to get the phosphates lower and I am monitoring the Nitrates as well. I don't have any corals right now, I just have about 40lbs of LR in a 47 gallon tank with 2 clowns, a spiky black urchin, a neon dotty back and a starfish. Once I get the nitrates and phosphates to optimal levels, I would love to cover the tank for a few days just to be safe. Would this harm the fish in the tank at all?

 

Not IME - as long as they are healthy now after this your fish may take a while to resume normal day colours due to 3 days of night ( hope that makes sense) but they will come around

work on getting levels down 1st, coupled with some manual removal
and save the blanket over the tank until last ( manual removal prevents to much dead/ dying algae poluting your water)

My fish made this and Im convinced the fish of many other have also

Steve

 

What is the best way to manually remove algae? I was using a brush and then picking it off the bristles and skimming the top of my tank to remove any floating patches.

 

its hair algae?

if you have no corals, when you do next water change keep if you use 2 x buckets , dont pour the water away

remove 1 piece of rock at a time (the top or uppermost ones) scrub with toothbrush or pull out with finger tips in one of the buckets and then rinse in the other cleaner bucket

on rocks you cant remove without stripping your reef , again remove what you can with fingertips or toothbrush

can you post images? just to make sure it is hair algae and not that tough as old boots
debresia algae ( as that is really tough to rip out)

Steve

 

Another question just popped in my head when I get my larger tank and this LR is clean again, is it safe to transfer to the new tank?

 

sure !

Steve

 

I will post some pics as soon as I get home. It is definitely hair algae and pulls out quite easily