NEED SOME HELP FAST, How to take hair algae off rock?

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
Mate, you've most probably just killed off your LR.

The hot water I'm assuming wasn't water from an RO unit and instead was just tap water heated up, or hot water from the tap? If so, that alone going to cause it to grow back again. (not sure of your level of experience but if you don't know, never use tap water if anything to do with your salt tanks - it's the devil)

In future just use some tank water from when you're doing a water change, and a brush to pick it off. Hair algae is growing because it's feed on phosphates in the water. Only use RO water and if you can - run some sort of Phos Reactor in the tank to get the po4 low then it won;t grow in the first place.

Hope that helps

edit; don't worry about it too much, it will get seeded again from the other LR that you didn't do that to, but it will definitely have killed off micro life in and around the rock
 
rusland005 said:
Mate, you've most probably just killed off your LR.

The hot water I'm assuming wasn't water from an RO unit and instead was just tap water heated up, or hot water from the tap? If so, that alone going to cause it to grow back again. (not sure of your level of experience but if you don't know, never use tap water if anything to do with your salt tanks - it's the devil)

In future just use some tank water from when you're doing a water change, and a brush to pick it off. Hair algae is growing because it's feed on phosphates in the water. Only use RO water and if you can - run some sort of Phos Reactor in the tank to get the po4 low then it won;t grow in the first place.

Hope that helps

edit; don't worry about it too much, it will get seeded again from the other LR that you didn't do that to, but it will definitely have killed off micro life in and around the rock
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There was only 2 bits of LR in it and I used hot water (From the kettle) On them, I didn't use it on all of the LR Only the front and top parts where the hair algae was so is there a chance it will grow back?
 
Of course ... you're using 'dirty' water, hot or cold, water from anywhere apart from the sea and a good RO unit is the devil. It's why your getting that **** growing to begin with. Deal with the supply and you won't need to clean your rocks again.

If it's your 20g then just a chore to clean, try cleaning hair algae off 90 pounds of LR - it quickly turns into a nightmare.
 
rusland005 said:
Of course ... you're using 'dirty' water, hot or cold, water from anywhere apart from the sea and a good RO unit is the devil. It's why your getting that **** growing to begin with. Deal with the supply and you won't need to clean your rocks again.

If it's your 20g then just a chore to clean, try cleaning hair algae off 90 pounds of LR - it quickly turns into a nightmare.
Click to expand...

I'd hate that. Sadly my crab died :( I was cleaning the rock and looked into my bucket of quite hot water (Hot but not boiling) And there he was, He fell off the the rock into the bucket, So I quickly picked him up and threw him into the tank which at the time was Very cold thinking he would survive but I'm afraid not, I looked in the tank and his shell hasn't moved for hours. Wait... I just thought... Don't hermit crabs escape their shell when it's boiling or freezing? God, I HOPE I DIDN'T THROW HIM OUT IN THE BUCKET.
 
It shouldn't be the end of the world. You still have your sand with BB and I'm randomly assuming some sort of filter (for aeration if nothing else). And if it was just two small pieces of your LR, you probably did more good than harm. I've been told that its not a bad idea to take some of the rock out of the tank and let it dry (just a peice or two) and put it back in so my BB colony has something to do or it will starve or something like that. I haven't researched it or asked one of the pros but it sounds logical enough to me...
 
KellyFrancis said:
you probably did more good than harm. I've been told that its not a bad idea to take some of the rock out of the tank and let it dry (just a peice or two) and put it back in so my BB colony has something to do or it will starve or something like that
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LOL WHAT? ... Are you having a joke? Seriously?

How did he do more good than harm? By removing hair algae?? Hair algae is just unsightly - that is it. So he's possibly killed off his live rock (as well as wasted money on buying it live at the time presumably) just to remove it and this is doing more GOOD than harm?

Secondly do you even know how a cycle works? ''take some of the rock out of the tank and let it dry and put it back in so my BB colony has something to do'' I don't know where to start with that lol....

edit; I'm not an 'pro' by any means but a little basic knowledge and some common sense should prevail here
 
Algae is not nitrogeniuos like cyano so it lives on Nitrate, Nitrogen, Co2 and Sunlight - phosphates are more or less a fertilzer the more they get the faster they grow. 1st things 1st remove as much as you can, second reduce or temporarally eliminate the light source be it a lighting system or direct sunlight from a window, third cut back on feedings, 4th treat and remove the source - a unit of chem pure elite for nitrate, GFO or other type of PO4 remover, protien skimming, RO/DI water changes and top offs,increase in tank flow for c02, and run carbon 48 hrs a week then add trace.

B+B dies off everytime you move it - period.
 
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