GREEN HAIR ALGAE PROBLEM

[kjblackbass]

THIS IS MY FIRST REEF TANK.......
AND MY NITRATES ARE THRU THE ROOF
I'M ASSUMING THATS WHY I HAVE A BIG PROBLEM WITH GREEN HAIR ALGAE

IS THERE ANYWAY I CAN LOWER MY NITRATES TO A NORMAL LEVEL AND GET RID OF THE ALGAE
RIGHT NOW IM DOING WATER CHANGES........IM HOPING THIS WORK

CAN ANYBODY HELP ME WITH THIS PROBLEM.....IT WOULD BE MUCH APPRECIATED.....

THANKS

[brody98]

What are you using for water? Tap or is it ro? What size is your tank and how often do you change the water? How old are the light bulbs you are using? All these things can affect green algae growth

[kjblackbass]

im using ro water
58gal tank
i do water changes every two weeks

my lights are brand new

[brody98]

Are you using a skimmer? You are on the right path with changing the water more often until you can get the nitrate level down. You can use a phosphate remover to help knock down the algae growth until you get your tank inline. How long have you had your tank running? It isn't out of the ordinary to have an algae bloom in the beginning to 6 months or more into it. Sometimes it can be as simple as the brand, type and amount of food you are feeding, some foods have a lot of phosphate in them, you might want to test your ro system to see how much phosphate is in your tap water and then again after it has been processed to see if it has been removed.

[prow]

hey what up my freind had this problem and the advice i gave him worked out nicely. of course you need to do regular h2o changes with ro or di water.and more than likely it is your phosphate level causeing all the problem so you must take away the alge food source. maybe do more water changes like every two weeks until under control. but to get rid of the ugly hair alge all you need to do is get some tangs they will eat most of it quickly. and everyday clean your tanks glass to prevent biuld up. with the tangs you will be able to get an equalilbrium and the alge will go away. of course you need good filtration a protien skimmer and i would also suggest you get a sponge too. they absorb a lot of the brown alge which will bloom as your green hair alge gets under control. hope this helps. i have 130 gal 30 gal and a 20gal reef tank all over 8 yrs and going strong.my rule of thumb for any problem with alge or worms or parisites ect... is to get that(worm,alge) natural preditor or something that will compete with it for food. hope this helps good luck