[smokinreefer]

i once had hair algae for a long time, and boy it is not fun when all your rocks are covered.

good advice given here...find the source and remove it. and i dont just mean that one particular piece of rock.

it needs light and nutrients.

IMO I feed my tank alot, which = lots of nutrients.
do you feed heavily? if so, do you really need to?
try cutting down feedings.

water changes? how often do you do them?
try increasing your water changes.

you mentioned you use DI water. as in tapwater purifier?
if so, think about going RO or even RO/DI...in the long run you will save money and you will get purer water as well.

i think i read that this is a fairly new tank right? true most all brand new systems will go through some sort of algae cycle(s), but dont discount this problem to a "normal" thing, not everyone suffers from hair algae.

whats your lighting? and photoperiod? all new bulbs? kelvin rating?
maybe change bulbs to newer bulbs, or try cutting down the photoperiod a bit.

i have ran photoperiods varying from 8hrs a day upto 12+hrs.


HTH or atleast gives you some ideas as to how to fight this.

but yeah, i would still yank that rock out and scrub the living sh-- out of it.