Greetings all im new to the site and so glad i found it lots of good info and the podcasts are great

I have been batling with patches of hair algae, water quality seems exellent nitrate 0 phosphate 0 . 25% weekly water change skimming, phosban(just in case), carbon etc etc so im exploring other options than water quality to fight it

Q1. what water turnover should i be aiming for in a 14 imperial gallon nano reef softies only... gsp. psp.kenya tree and mushrooms,9 kg of live rock
i am curreuntly at 15 times turnover using 2 powerheads and getting a little detritus sitting on rocks (between turkey bastings) thus providing a nice environment for the hair algae to grow is this normal or do i need more flow i dont want to batter the softies with too much flow but cant seem to find any recomended turnover rates for softie tanks

Q2. my nano is lit by interpet dual 36w power compacts 50/50 daylight actinic 9 hours per day, the daylight side being 6500k does this spectrum favour nuisance algae growth and if so would it be better to maybee switch to the triplus tube i believe they are 8300k, and an actinic. also been looking at the arcadia 14000k pc tube but not sure if the fittings will match

many thanks, microbius

Welcome to TR, microbius:welcome:!!!

I'm not sure I'd change anything. How long has the tank been set up? I would say 15 times turn over is quite adequate for your nano. Perhaps a more aggressive, or more often, turkey baster blasting would help. What substrate are you using?

Dick

thanks amphibious the tank is 8 months in, i am using 2" deep 1mm coral sand substrate and i blast the rocks weekly

Hello Microbius! :welcome: to TR! You've found a great family of fishy friends here. :p

Since your water parameters are as you have stated, and you seem to be doing an excellent job with the water changes, I personally, for what it's worth think that maybe..... the CC has something to do with it? CC is a known substrate famous for holding detrious and releasing nutrients into the water. Do you clean the CC really well every time you do your water changes? That might be some of what the LR is picking up? Not really sure. Can't answer the lighting question, but that is a good one. There are some lighting experts here and they should chime in soon. Glad you've found us! Can't wait till you create a tank journal, as we would all enjoy following along with your accomplishments. :up:

Sorry..... one other very important question that may shed some light here..... what's the PH of your water?

greetings skurvey dog

ph is about 8.4 (im not the best at matching the colour on chart)

mmm could be cc related i clean the gravel as part of each water change but im sure a lot detritus gets left in as plenty comes out... i also only have one sand janitor a jumbo nassarius snail (its real big) could this be an issue lack of sand critters

cant wait to do a tank journal getting shots of the tank up soon with more details of my setup

detritus in a reef tank is normal, as is hair algae in normal reef conditions, the trick is to keep it under control. You make no mention of a refugium so it's possible that the lack of macro algaes to compete is most of your problem. Best bet is to start the control cycle. I've rubberbanded a hose to a nylon bristle brush and when I notice algaes (briopsis, hair algae, etc) growing out of control during my next water change I start a siphon and brush the area as clean as possible. This has been working excellently for me as it gets it all out of the tank and most times the algae doesnt come back in those areas.

I run a very high nutrient system so keeping algaes in check is much more of a battle for me than most, so bear in mind my methods may be a little extreme. most people can fight off hair algae by keeping phos and nitrates in check and simply picking out the existing algae with tweezers or fingers!

thanks j

i have no fuge setup on the system its a simple glass 24" x12"x16" tank and the idea of water going out and in the tank scares me, if it can spring a leak it will for me.thus all my equipment is internal

will have to implement the tube atatched method,i have been using a tooth brush and putting a quick filter atachment on one of the powerheads, with floss in, for an hour after scrubbing at it to catch up all the undesirables
but im sure your method gets more out and away from the system

will keep battling its just a few stubborn areas that wont seem to go it came with the so called live rock "it stank real bad when it arrived" being new to salt i didnt scrub it off for fear of killing all the hitchikers off. the rock was covered in them, they of course mostly all died off in the curing process anyhow leaving the hair algae raring to go and well fed

reef on.

ah, your doin fine! The important thing to note that most people dont figure out so early on is that nano's take a lot more maintenance than larger systems just due to the smaller volume of water. If it's just a few stubborn areas then the manual removal via brush should be perfect. No need to mess with anything else IMHO. With such a small tank your method should work perfectly.

How old are your bulbs? They can color shift and that can encourage the growth of algae. When I was using PC's I changed the out between 6 - 8 months.

hi carmie:D

thanks carmie been strugling to find out how often they need changing

been running them 6 months so it looks like its about time to change them

Color shift could be the problem. Of course there also needs to be a source of nutrients to grow the algae as well. Even though it looks like you are doing everything right it behooves you to hunt that down as well. And, (this is the voice of experience speaking) that is not easy!

hi carmie :up:

will change the lights out soon anway (can keep the others as emergency spares:agree:)

it appears i am winning my hair algae battle it seems to be coming under control and growing much slower with the 25% weekly water change and a toothbrush as weaponry
i added 2 jumbo ceriths also and they are mowing thru it

but on another note i purchased a refractometer a few days ago OMG!!!! 1.032
my hydrometer says 1.025
imediately went to lfs to check my refractometer against there refractometer exact match
have been lowering sg a point each day since. now at 1.028 im so glad i got it
the only casualty of salinity nighmare was a turbo -shame - hermits thought otherwise though:crazy:

Glad to hear things are moving in a positive direction for you and you are starting to see some results. I love my refractometer and use it very much! Verriann told me to grease the pins in the glass flip top to prevent corrosion, so I thought I'd share that tidbit with you. :agree: I'm glad that you are slowly decreasing your salinity level as that is the safest way to go. Sounds like you are well on your way my friend! You're doing GREATTTTTTTTTTTT!

ugh, grease the pins...

why didnt I think about that, brilliant idea!

GOOD ADVICE:up:

nice one skurvy

have changed the tubes wow the old ones were yellowed
noticed a shift in the tank colour in the last month to a yellow look

so looks like 5 month lifespan for the interpet power compacts then
thanks carmie for that advicenoob