Star Polyp being taken over by hair algae

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gomrjoe

AC Members
May 22, 2006
374
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0
50
Miami, FL.
Hey everyone,

Little by little my Star Polyp is being taken over by hair algae... from within! Months ago I battled a severe case of hair algae in my tank. I literally scrubbed every piece of live rock I owned with a toothbrush, under hot water. There was only 2 pieces of rock that I could not clean in this manner, one was a rock that hosted my yellow colony polyps, the other, my Star Polyps.

It has been nearly 7 months now, and little by little the hair algae between the little purple stems of my Star Polyp is starting to spread. I pick at it as best I can with my fingers when the light is off so that I do not damage the corals inside, I am very careful. But I can only pick off so much, I cannot get my fingers between the stems, so I can never get all of it.

The hair algae is now starting to take over some of the smaller stems, and my Star Polyp is not opening up as much as it used to.

What can I do to help it?
Does anyone have any suggestions on how to remove the hair algae from within the stems?

I thought about using a pair of tweezers, but I am not sure how long I can keep it out of water while I clean it up... does anyone know how long I can keep the Star Polyp out of water?

Water params:
Amonia, Nitrite - 0
Nitrate < 10
calcium 400
Phosphate undetectable
Ph. 8.2
Salinity 1.024
 

gomrjoe

AC Members
May 22, 2006
374
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0
50
Miami, FL.
I have a cleanup crew, mostly turbo snails... I have a dwindling population of blue-leg hermits, I am probably down to about 20 or so, which I know is no where near enough for a 100 gallon tank. I need to replenish.

I probably have about 50 or so snails... so I know my cleanup crew is not big enough for a tank of this size... could this be part of the problem? Should I call in reinforcements??
I have a lawnmower blenny, he keeps the algae pretty well under control, but he cannot get in between the stems obviously.

I use the Kent Marine phosphate test kit, it is a blue box. I clean it with hot water and soap regularly, so I don't think it is mis-guiding me, unless the test kit itself is unreliable as a whole.

Compared to the outbreak that I had 7 months ago, I by no means have a hair algae outbreak here, I have algae on two rocks, plus my Star Polyp in my entire tank, and it really has not spread beyond those places. I have tried turning my powerhead directly at my polyps, but then they don't open.

Any advice would be very very welcome!! This is my original colony of Star Polyps for my tank, I have successfully fragged it 4 times, and I don't want to lose this colony! Thanks in advance...
 

m007

m007
Jan 4, 2007
124
0
0
Toronto, Canada
If you are in the market for a new fish I would suggest a yellow or purple tang. Your 100 gallon tank will make a great home for one and they are great hair alge eaters as most tangs are herbivores. One of them will pick your tank clean in no time including those hard to reach places without damaging your coral. I recently bought a leather coral that came with some hair algae on its base. It took about 1 hour and the tang had it picked clean. Tangs will also eat brine, dried LFS sea weed, romaine, and brocolli.
 

gomrjoe

AC Members
May 22, 2006
374
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50
Miami, FL.
Thanks,

I already have a Yellow and a Blue Tang, they do a nice job indeed. Unfortunately, my Yellow does not seem to care for getting between the stems of my polyp.

I am thinking that I may have to reload on my hermit crab population. As I have thought about it, the hair algae build up in my Star Polyp stems started within the last two months I would say, and that is when I noticed that I needed to call in reinforcements.

Here are my complete tank specs, I realized I did not put in my initial post, this may help people help me, thanks again!

Tank description:
100 gallon tank
2.6 wpg pc lighting
35 gal wet/dry/sump
Protein Skimmer
UV Sterilizer
1 yellow tang
1 pac blue tang
1 reef chromis
3 lyretail chromis
2 spotted cardinal fish
1 lawnmower blenny
1 snowflake eel
current cleanup crew: 50 turbos, 25 blue leg hermits
Inverts: star polyp, yellow colony polyp, encrusting
coral, Pulsing Xenia, 1 sand star
 

m007

m007
Jan 4, 2007
124
0
0
Toronto, Canada
Wow, that is a surprize. How is your flow across those polyps. How long is the photo period? (Lights on time) How old are the bulbs in your PC lighting?
 

gomrjoe

AC Members
May 22, 2006
374
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50
Miami, FL.
Lights are on for about 8.5 hours, and on weekends for 9 hours.

Pretty good flow, not sure of the exact turnover, I have not re-calculated it since I added a power head a couple of months ago.

Actually I am replacing my PC bulbs this weekend, it is time, they have been in for 9 months now.

I am puzzled to, believe me. Thanks!
 

gomrjoe

AC Members
May 22, 2006
374
0
0
50
Miami, FL.
The algae is definitely not getting any better by itself, that is for sure. My bulbs (PC) are now 9 months old, so I plan on replacing them this weekend.

The only thing I can think of is to rapidly increase my hermit crab population, so that they can start the leg work, no pun intended!

Other than that I am out of ideas.

The only thing else that I can think of that may be keeping my hair algae population around is the fact that I use tap water, with Reef Crystals to mix. I then use Prime and Stress Coat to treat the tap water. I have tested my tap water 3 different times with a phosphate and a nitrate test kit... phosphate always registers undetectable, and nitrate is barely detectable.

I am wondering if anyone can recommend a good phosphate test kit, because I find it rather odd that tap water has no phosphates at all, but since I have no proof against it, I continue to use it, mostly because I am lazy, and doing a 15-20% water change for my 100 gal. means of course 15-20 gallons of water, carting that home twice a week from the local grocery store is a pain in the but, and back!

Maybe if I am a good boy this year Santa will install and RO for my house!
 
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