[safety4fire]

Q: I have a hair algae problem. What can I do to keep it under control?

A: Green hair algae is probably the most annoying problem that most reef aquarists face. The problem rarely occurs in fish only tanks because the algae is inhibited by copper treatments for parasites. Reef tanks, however, almost always suffer from bad growth of hair algae due to the fact that they cannot be medicated, because the same copper that kills ich and oodinium will kill all invertebrates.
What is a reef aquarist to do? First, lets see why the problem occurs. Reef tanks require good lighting for proper growth of invertebrates that have algal cells growing in their tissues. Strong lighting also spurs hair algae growth. (Fact of life, plants grow faster with stronger light--chlorophyll etc.) The main problem is evaporation, though. High evaporation rates, combined with city water, high in PHOSPHATES, spell sure trouble with hair algae. Although lighting and other things contribute, the point to remember is PHOSPHATES = HAIR ALGAE. Stop the phosphates and the hair algae growth will stop, or at least come down to a manageable level where snails etc. can keep your tank looking good.
Phosphates generally enter through city water, but some "trace element" mixtures available on the market have substantial amounts of phosphates. In fact, the two best known trace element supplements, have phosphates added on purpose, so BEWARE! (Kent Marine Essential Elements is an excellent trace element supplement without phosphates or silicates!) Of course algae growth fertilizers generally have phosphates also. (Kent Marine Macro Algae Iron Supplement with Manganese has NO PHOSPHATES OR NITRATES!) Some sea salt mixtures have more phosphates than others, so read up on these and use one with the lowest phosphates possible (Recommended salts are Instant Ocean, Reef Crystals, and of course, Kent Sea Salt). Several popular calcium and strontium supplements contain gluconates or other sugars. One new product promises to "turbocharge" natural enzyme systems and cause ich to go dormant. That product is loaded with sugars. There is some evidence that hair algae can make use of these carbon sources, so beware! They also will cause other problems such as cyanobacteria growth. Sugar has no place in a reef!
Carbon is activated two ways, with steam or with phosphoric (as in phosphates) acid. Test your carbon or buy one known to be phosphate free. Of course, Reef Carbon is the best available.
What is the solution?
There are products on the market that will limit hair algae growth or stop it altogether. These products are very hard on corals and other invertebrates and should not be used long term, if at all (Your decision). Many are basically POISONS and will cause long term damage to your animals if used indiscriminately! Some, such as those containing simazine will kill your bacteria bed and wreck your tank! In any case, do large water changes after use if you elect to use any of these.
Obviously, you must stop adding Phosphates in any form if you wish to stop hair algae growth. The long term solution is WATER! Water without phosphates or silicates. You could use distilled, but the least expensive and best choice is reverse osmosis or R/O water. R/O units remove around 95% of the phosphates, as well as lead, mercury, cadmium, arsenic, and other toxic substances that can build up in your system.
PHOSPHATE FREE WATER MUST BE THE CORNER STONE OF YOUR WAR ON HAIR ALGAE!
R/O water will not remove the existing hair algae you have now. You must remove all you can by vacuuming, manually pulling, and employing algae eaters (astrea, or turbo snails, sea urchins, and tangs: astrea snails from the caribbean are the best!). You should also remove any phosphates presently in your tank with a phosphate adsorber such as Kent Marine Phosphate Sponge. Again, you must use purified water, free of phosphates. No product, not even Phosphate Sponge can keep your tank free of phosphates if you keep adding them every time you top off the tank! Fish food, particularly frozen food, can be loaded with phosphate. Test your foods!
The following is a list of things to be done:
1. Install an R/O unit and use only R/O water for water changes and topping off for evaporation.
2. Use a good quality protein skimmer. (The biggest you can find.)
3. Use only trace elements, foods, fertilizers, carbons, etc. that contain no phosphates or silicates!
4. Use Kent Marine's Phosphate Sponge (this product is not a sponge but actually a regenerable granular ceramic product) to remove phosphates and silicates now present. Continued use will insure any phosphates accidentally added will be adsorbed and removed from the system.
5. Purchase about one astrea snail per gallon of tank capacity. (This sounds like too many snails but is the amount required to do a really good job. If you are in a club, you may be able to pass these on to a friend when you don’t need them.)
6. Remove all the hair algae you can.
7. Vacuum detritus regularly and practice good tank maintenance.
If you are already practicing the above, your other problem may be old lamps (more than 6 months). Lamps continue to burn, but since their spectrum has shifted, they will assist hair algae, and not help corals and photosynthetic inverts like they should. Change bulbs every six months! The other problem with lighting is too long a photo period. Many aquarists run metal halides or VHO fluorescents for 10 to 12 hours a day. Hair algae is very opportunistic, you will never get it under control with this much light. Reefs don’t get 12 hours of "high noon" sunlight anyway. We recommend that you get some 40 watt fluorescents to run 10 hours per day and run your metal halides or VHO’s only 4 hours per day. While getting the hair algae under control limit them to 1 to 2 hours!
Many aquarists have solved their problems with hair algae, and you can too! Just be diligent and practice these principles. It will take time, but the fight is worth it!



Q: Do I need to add your Iron and Manganese supplement if I’m not keeping any macro algaes?

A: Yes, adding this will not only benefit the macro algaes but the algaes within certain animals like corals, clams, and anemones. If these algaes are not properly supplemented, the main animal could suffer.



Q: My aquarium has a hazy brown film on the glass. It also covers the rocks and decorative coral. It wipes off easily, but in a few days it comes right back. What can I do to get rid of it?

A: This brown haze is usually Diatoms. Diatoms are microscopic. They almost always show up in tanks less than two months old. Their primary nutrient is silicates. Silicates are introduced into the aquarium by using tap water or a low grade of synthetic sea salt. You can remove the silicates by treating with Phosphate Sponge. After the silicates are taken out, the diatoms growth will slow. A maxxima will remove all silicates from tap water. Shorter photo periods will also limit diatom growth.



Q: How can I control the nitrates in my aquarium?

A: We recommend doing regular water changes with R/O, or deionized water, and use Kent Marine Nitrate Sponge in the filter. Nitrate Sponge is a semi-porous, pebble like material that reduces nitrates biologically. If placed in good flow, the water will pass around and through the media causing anerobic bacteria to form and consume the nitrates. Nitrates will remain low until the Nitrate Sponge becomes clogged. Once clogged, remove half the volume and replace. Wait two weeks and replace the rest.
Nitrate Sponge will work more efficiently anaerobically. It can be used very successfully in a slow flow denitrator.