wifesaidgetahobby Posted June 24, 2016 Share Posted June 24, 2016 I have a 40 gallon tank that is a wonderful shade of green, I am doing weekly water changes of around 10 gallons. My question is can the water change be causing the green hair algae? By this I mean changing to much water? Tank has a ball of cheato, 30 pounds of rock, 3 hydor gen three pumps on wave maker, hang on filter, 4 fish,three giant snails and some pulsating zinnia. Oh my light is a radion xr30 w pro. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emerald525 Posted June 24, 2016 Share Posted June 24, 2016 It could be if you are not using good quality ro water . Do you have an rodi unit? What is the Tds of the water you are using ? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JManrow Posted June 25, 2016 Share Posted June 25, 2016 In addition to not using a good quality RO/DI filter, there may also be other factors, such as over-feeding. Using a good quality Protein Skimmer, Granulated Activated Carbon, and a Phosphate Remover will all help keep excess nutrients down. Always start with, as Kim said, good quality water, the most popular is a RO/DI Unit (Reverse Osmosis/ De-Ionizing Resin Filter), or you may buy the water from your LFS (Local Fish Store). We have several PNWMAS Sponsors that sell these units. There are algae-grazing fish, such as Tangs and Rabbit Fish that will help keep that hair algae down better than the snail can. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wifesaidgetahobby Posted June 25, 2016 Author Share Posted June 25, 2016 I am running a rodi unit and my tds meter is showing zero. My guess is probably over feeding, I do tend to let my fish have seconds!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGooseWhisperer Posted June 27, 2016 Share Posted June 27, 2016 When battling hair algae I think too many water changes don't really help. Unless you have high N and P. If water testing is good then stick with a little less food, little less light and bump up the herbivores Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emerald525 Posted June 27, 2016 Share Posted June 27, 2016 I am running a rodi unit and my tds meter is showing zero. My guess is probably over feeding, I do tend to let my fish have seconds!! LOL Well that could do it! Checking to see what your phosphates are may also point you in the right direction but you could also cut down on the feeding and see what happens that's the easier approach and probably what I would do. If you don't have test kits then any local fish store can run a test on your water. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Douglas Posted June 28, 2016 Share Posted June 28, 2016 What emerald said, you will know more when you get water tested. I expect your phosphates to be high. I also anticipate that your food has fine particles creating a cloud in the water that fish can't eat and is in in excess of what your corals consume. I say this because I have been there too. What helped me was to grab an auto feeder set to low, so I couldn't over feed and got a more intense red spectrum refugium light. I later dumped the refuge and currently have an ats which was an improvement. Also dose alk, cal, and mag through a cheap jebao which has worked great. Current tank under construction will have gfo, carbon, two marinepure blocks, dosing carbon, and grossly over sized skimmer. I have grown tired of algae harvesting. I would rather pour out skimmate than throw away algae. Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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