Green hair algea

[Gaston]

I'm starting to get alot of green hair algea on the sides of the tank mostly where the powerheads are pointing, i have a bit on the one of the rocks.

My water parameters are good. except for my calcium which is low and nitrate being at 5.

Nitrate= 5 ppm
Calcium= 325 Mq
Alkalinity= 2.74 Mq
SG = 1.025
Hardness = 7.6 dKh
Temp = 80 F
Phosphate = o ppm

I have two MJ 1200 powered 8 hours apart, one Korillia 2 and one korillia 3 power heads both running at the same time pointing in the same direction one at the front the other at the back of the tank. One of the MJ 1200 cuts across the curretn from the Korillia's and the other against the current.

I did replace the lighting a month or so ago. Just seems to grow faster.


Does anyone have recommendations?

[Skurvey Dog]

HA uses light and nutrients in the water to fuel it's growth. Perhaps with the new lights, it has given the HA that you have an energy boost to spurt growth. I would manually try to remove all that you could with water changes, being extra careful to syphon off "all" algaes that have been dislodged and not let any float in the water. Are you using a skimmer? The HA is also feeding off of the nitrates and phos in your tank. Sometimes when there is a large amount of HA, your test readings will not be truly accurate as the algaes are consuming them. What live stock do you have in the tank? Cutting back on tank feedings, rinsing frozen foods if used, regular water changes, dusting off LR to keep debris in the water so the skimmer can remove it and using mediums to remove the phos can help.

Read this article as some HA seem to be more difficult than others to get rid of.
Green Hair Algae by Stephen Hopple - Reefkeeping.com (http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2008-07/nftt/index.php)

[Dragonwolf]

Well, you could go with the natural way and get something in there that will eat it, lawn mower blenny and a couple of emerald crabs.