[tony40]

Let me start from the beginning tank 24gal nano 40lbs lr 3" of ls 1 clown 1 wrassel everything was good for the whole 14months of setup till last week noticed green grass growing on power head now on back wall and on live rock getting to the point where it is uncontrolable nirates 0 nitrates 0 amonia 0 water changes of 5 gals every other week any ideas on how to get rid of it

[demonsquirt]

Whats the tanks age?

Are you sure that nitrates are zero? And can you test for phosphates. One and or the other are needed for GHA.

Then 40lbs of LR is kinda high especially in a new setup. This means that rock gets packed in creating dead spots that water flow cant get to and CUC cant reach and then fish waste and uneatin food and other waste will collect causeing nitrates and phosphates.

Then your water source. If your useing tap water this will add everything from nitrate and phosphate and ammonia and copper and ect. ect.

Then what size powerheads?

[tony40]

setup is 14 months old 0 nirates 0 nitrates 0 amonia everything was great till 2 weeks ago noticed some green hair growing on power head then next day on lr and on back wall now everywhere been using a coat hanger with a hook on bottom to scrape an pull algae off but seems it grows just as quick as i clean it out dont have a phos. test kit or a skimmer but ordered a skimmer from ebay should be here soon but not sure it will take care of my problem had one on my 75 gal reef tank a couple of years back and never had any type of algea problem then had it for 3yrs but now with this small nano 24 gal seems less forgiving lost a yellow button frag due to green hair overwhelming it spent 2 1/2 hours today pulling algae not sure any more water changes would help did 5 gal water changes 3 times in last week normally do 4.5 gals every 2 weeks

[demonsquirt]

What powerheads do you have?
Do you use tap water?
Is your LR packed in?
A tank pic would be great and one thats current.
The skimmer wont help with GHA.
Removeing the Green Hair Algea is only temporary.You need to remove the source.

[tony40]

have a powerhead rated for 40 gal tank live rock stacked so wrassel can swim through most places flow very good through out lr will take pic and post tom thanks for your help but need some sleep will start again tom. thank god im on vac this week lol

[tony40]

been using distilled water with same salt from day 1 14 months ago

[demonsquirt]

Whats the powerheads maker and model #?

[tony40]

ph a little low lately at 7.8 and salt at 1023-1024

[tony40]

just guessing but think aqua 310

[tony40]

really did not have a cuc but just a few red leg crabs havent seen any of them had 4 or 5 but cant see any now

[demonsquirt]

I think you have a HOB mnedia filter rated for a 40 gallon. You need independet powerheads producing a steady circular water current. This retards algea growth and improves bacteria population and helps maintane proper PH.

Also PH will change during the day so for most accurate reading you need to test in the morning around the same.

[tony40]

look and tell me if this is green hair algea

[Hosser]

I couldnt tell you off hand but I know I did have the same stuff, just before I got quite a few more crabs and snails. No guarantee they will take care of it but it did for me. Check in to also the amount of time lights are left on and that also helped me alot. Cutting the time down, starving them essentially. Good Luck Im sure other more knowledgable, more experienced will help more.

[unclejed]

Hello Tony, yes that is green hair algae. Something has happened. There was a die off from something, maybe something you didn't even know was in the tank or a little over feeding. This stuff happens. I hate it when it does too. I had an outbreak after 8 mos. when I converted my old 55 gal. to a new one with built in over flow and a small outbreak months down the road after setting up a 14 gal. bio cube. Best advice I got from my LFS buddy was to run a phosphate reactor with "Pura phoslock". Took about 3 weeks to one month but eradicated the green hair.

[demonsquirt]

IS that aptesia also.

If it is green hair then its very young. Green hair needs a food source. Phosphate and nitrate are top. Then if you have good water flow this would help retard its growth.

[unclejed]

Originally Posted by demonsquirt

IS that aptesia also.

If it is green hair then its very young. Green hair needs a food source. Phosphate and nitrate are top. Then if you have good water flow this would help retard its growth.

Correction; GHA as most hair algaes like high flow. Cyno bacteria and diatoms don't.

[tony40]

yes have aptesia too will water changes help get rid of green hair and the aptesia? cut down lights from 11 hrs to 4 been doing water changes now for 2 weeks at 2gals every other day since. first week did 5 gals every day for 3 days straight seems to be clearing up but hard to tell

[demonsquirt]

GHA doesnt like higher flow. I think you have a HOB filter and this wont do . You need good water circulation. Plus you need to know your Phosphate reading. Many problems like GHA take time to appear and low flow helps this. Your LR and LS help convert nitrate and Ammonia into nitrogen but not if flow is low. I dought this is your only problem but add circulation would help.

[tony40]

What is a hob filter?

[demonsquirt]

Hang on back media filter. Like a aqua clear or penquin with carbon filter with mesh filter.