Nitrates = 0 Phosphates = .2 or less yet I still have this green hair algae. It came with the rock and has not spread to any other rocks thank goodness. I figured with the nitrates and phosphates being at what they are it would just go away. I don't want to starve the tank of light because I have some Star Polyps I dont want to kill. Anyone know what I can do?
Nitrates = 0 Phosphates = .2 or less yet I still have this green hair algae. It came with the rock and has not spread to any other rocks thank goodness. I figured with the nitrates and phosphates being at what they are it would just go away. I don't want to starve the tank of light because I have some Star Polyps I dont want to kill. Anyone know what I can do?
.2 ppm is enough to cause a large hair algae problem. That doesn't include the fact that if there is enough of the algae, it will effectively sequester most of the nutrients in the water column, giving you a "false" reading from a test kit. If it were me, I'd invest in some phosphate remover (preferably a ferric oxide hydroxide type remover, not alumina based). Also, physically removing as much as possible will help tremendously as it exports nutrients. Be sure to keep up regular water changes as well.
Don't expect them to wipe it out entirely but they do help. Snails and crabs go a long way in helping out, too. It just takes a combination of alot of patience, the right algae eating crew, appropriate chemical filter media, mechanical removal(by hand), and watching what water or additives you're using. A refugium packed with macros or mangroves in combination with RO water is probably the most effective approach.
It's a battle that can last months.....believe me. Just let it do it's thing.
What are you feeding the inhabitants in the tank as some foods have lots of phosphates. Also what is your light schedule and look to see if your tank gets direct sunlight as that can cause a large growth in hair algea also. What cleanup crew do you have?! Make sure you dont have to large of a crew to where they are producing more waste than what they can handle and enough to make sure that they are eating all the leftover food in the system as well. Main thing to watch for is your phosphate level and be careful of things like Purple Up or other stuff.
I had hair algae problems..steps I did to remove it.
1-cut down on lighting (starve it form light helps)
2-add turbo snails
3-add Lawnmoyer Blenny
4-phosguard and purigen (lower phosphate & nitrates)
5-good skimming and UV sterilizer helps
