Do algae come back with a vengeance?

dekay · #1 07-03-2004, 12:32 AM

Around 3-4 months ago, I experienced one of my worst hair algae and cyano outbreaks with my 1yr old reef tank. After fighting it for a good month, I pretty much gave up and gave away most of the livestock except for a few mushrooms, a false perc and a few snails. For the past 2 months or so, the light was not turned on, feeding was down to once a week and as of now, most of the hair and cyano have died off.

Knowing that I pretty much have to start from square one, my question is, will these things grow back immediately? Some of my snails and crabs have died in this process as well, and I'm planning to get new hermits to hopefully feed off the remaining hair algae. Please gimme some of your opinions and advice.

Sushiman · #2 07-03-2004, 12:55 AM

aaahhhh, the joys of nuisance algae. I'm no expert but I've fought & won a few battles over the years so I tell ya what I know.
No single one thing works to stop it. It's a combo of & then maintaining them faithfully (aka: the hard part).
-increase your flow
-reassess the # of waste producers in the tank, overstocked?
-how much are you feeding?
-do you have a healthy population of detrivores?
-are your nitrates out of control?
-up your water changes.
-are your phosphates out of control?
I embrace a hybrid approach to reefkeeping, I utilize as many natural ways of waste elimination as possible, but I also liberally utilize resins, carbon, & skimming to back things up. I have found my tank just looks better & my corals do better & reproduce when I get off my butt & hit it from all angles.
Remember light+nitrates+phosphates=pea soup.
I am very pleased with Sea Chem products & actively /continuously use Denitrate, Phosgard, Purigen & carbon in my tank. I skim 24/7 with a beckett modified ETSS reefdevil down draft on a mag 12. I feed heavily & try to keep my detrivores happy & well populated. I have kicked the !@#$ out of a year & a half long battle with Bryopsis & hair algae using this method. I am now algae free times six months. KNOCKING ON WOOD AS I TYPE!