Hair Algae Killing Coraline?

[Ef3s]

Hi I have a 40 bowfront. Er maybe 36 bowfront. 2 power heads, a hang on back filter completely empty just to add water flow...a remora protein skimmer...

If I added a powerhead and removed the filter there would be no change...that is how empty the filter is...

I am starting to see the coraline on my live rocks be slowly replaced by green hair algae. The algae is only about 1/4 in long at this point. The coraline is still growing on the back and sides of my tank... Is this something that I should be concerned about ?

Tank has been up I beleive 3 months now. (lost count)

I have decreased my lighting period, increased water changes, I daily blow the detritus from the dead spots in the tank and I increased skimming.

Anyhthing else I can do to stop this??

1.25 Salinity...
Nitrates 10ppm or less
Nitrite 0
Ammonia 0
PH 8.2
temp 78-80
65 watt 10k
65 watt actinic
55 watt 50/50
no corals 1 feather duster 4 fish....

 

[ChrisRD]

It's a sign of increasing nutrient levels - not a good thing in a reef tank.

Elevated nutrient (phosphate) levels lead to more nuisance algae growth while at the the same time inhibiting calcification (which will allow hair algae to get the upper hand on the coralline).

Also, coralline needs decent Ca/alk levels to grow - check those.

Common sources of nutrient problems:
Bad source water (using RO or RO/DI?)
Lack of flow (two powerheads isn't much - unless they're propeller types)
Poor skimmer performance (how often do you clean the collection cup?)
Overfeeding and/or dosing liquid foods/additives that are nutrient rich (and very often totally unnecessary).
Detritus accumulation (are you removing most of what you're "storming" out of the rock?)

 

[Ef3s]

I have two maxijet 1200. PATHETIC I now realize for this tank...

I clean the collection cup daily. Fills up daily with dark water. SO assuming working great...

I use homemade RO/DI water. (BEEN LAZY was thinking about just buying 5 gallons from grocery store everytime...)


I dose 5 drops of CA a day ---recommended for my tank is 10...even tho I don't test for CA (People say not to...but I do anyways...!)

ALK
I havn't tested for...probably should...will get some tests...

I WILL also upgrade my power heads...!

 

[ChrisRD]

Check Ca/Alk, and make sure you're getting the detritus out, not just blowing it around. A few large water changes (w/clean source water) will help too.

For an easy way to get better flow, check into these kits to convert your MJs into prop pumps (which will dramatically increase flow):
Sure Flow 1600
EcoSystem Mod

I picked up a couple of the Sure Flow kits to use with some of the old MJs I had lying around and have been very happy with the results. They're stronger than a Hydor Koralia 4 - prolly about 1400-1500 GPH actual flow.

 

[Ef3s]

My phosphate is slightly high. how can I lower it without a calcium precipitation? I do use ro/di water.

 

[ChrisRD]

If you take steps to lower nutrient levels (as mentioned above) then phosphate levels will go down.

If you've addressed everything mentioned and you're still having problems you can use some GFO (granular ferric oxide) to reduce phosphate levels. PhosBan, RowaPhos, Phosar and the generic stuff from TwoPartSolution.com are all popular products that come to mind...