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50gal, 305mh fixture, using R/O water, not overfeeding, only 2 small fish in tank... i can get you test results later today of the tank water.......

but there is a HUGE green hair algae problem, it covers about %90 of the LR, its on top of the LS and have to clean the glass about every 3 days. i've gone in and scrapped it off the rocks before and it grows back within a week or so.

any suggestions?

little more info..........

i do have a uv sterilizer but isnt hooked up
and my light cycle is... 175w mh 10hrs and (2) actinic's 12hrs
bulbs are about 1 month old... tank has been running for about 4 months now.... bi-weekly 10% water changes.... remora is pulling great skimmate

please help

It sounds like you are doing everything right.... which makes me think maybe your source water isn't as clean as you think it is. I would start by running a test for nitrates and phosphates on the tank itself, on the the ro make-up water, and on the clean mixed salt water. Are you using any additives? Perhaps something you are adding is not disigned for a reef tank... phosphate buffers? When you say you are not over feeding... can you quantify? What fish/corals/critters are in the tank? What is the general set-up of the tank? Deep sand bed? Where did the rock come from? Was it cured already, cured in the tank? Did you change all the water afterwards? Has this tank ever been totally/nearly free of hair algae? If so, did it happen after any specific change in routine?

Hair algae in an indicator one thing: excess nutrients. I wonder if your RO unit is faulty.

Hopefully we can get to the bottom of this... it sounds like you have invested in quality equipment and should be able to fix this.

I'll test all the water and get back to you...

Livestock: 1- Firefish (2"), 1- Six Line Wrasse (2"), 2- Sandsifting Stars, 7-10 Hermits, 7-10 Turbo Snails.

30lbs of LR, 30lbs of LR that was dried and dead... both cured in tank and waited 2 weeks after levels reached 0 to add anything. 2-3" LS Bed. About a month or so after it cycled it went through the "new tank syndrome" of algae... i cleaned it out and then went about 2 months of no algae or very little. Just recently in past month its been heavy algae. Its started once i got the 2 fish about a month ago. When i feed... i put in a mix of formula 2 and frozen brine.... i add just a little at a time so there isnt much that isnt eaten. Recently the fish will eat around the formula 2 and just eat the brine shrimp so there is a bit of formula 2 that isnt eaten. I hear its not to good to feed just meat all the time b/c they will start to loose their color. So i still add a little formula 2. I'm not using any additives. The R/O unit i got is a 6 stage unit off of ebay, one of those that are $100 (theres about 100 auctions for them). Reliable sources that have the same R/O units have tested their water and comes back with 0 levels on their R/O water.

You didn't mention corals...
you don't need a metal halide light
if you don't have corals...

defineatly get more scavengers
...we have coral safe urchins and sea Hares
in stock

also is there media in the filters?

I dont have any corals... yet.... i got the mh b/c i'm planning on getting some. I'm new to SW so I didn't want to buy expensive corals until I knew I could keep stuff alive.

The only filter media I have is on the sump pump. And I've cleaned that out every 2 months.

Will Urchins and Sea Hares eat this hair algae?
Should I hook up my UV sterilizer?

sorry typo......

the only filter i have is on the return pump in the sump. no media in the filter.

I dont have any corals... yet.... i got the mh b/c i'm planning on getting some. I'm new to SW so I didn't want to buy expensive corals until I knew I could keep stuff alive.
TURN THE HOURS PER DAY THE HALIDE IS ON WAY BACK,
THE LIGHT IS GROWING THE ALGAE.

The only filter media I have is on the sump pump. And I've cleaned that out every 2 months.

Will Urchins and Sea Hares eat this hair algae? YES.
Should I hook up my UV sterilizer? ONLY FOR 2 WEEKS AFTER YOU BUY NEW FISH.

An urchin or two and limiting the light should indeed help. Although, when you get corals you will want to run the lights with a photo period of about 10 hours. So, you still want to figure out where the nutrient (nitrate and phosphate) source is. Do update us when you get the the water tested.

As for the formulas two, if they don't eat it, don't feed it. And certainly not with the brine shrimp. I would suggest feeding a quality mysis shrimp (more protien, less ash, shells, etc.) and a high quality small pellet at different times. There should be no food left. Are you feeding the frozen from of fomula 2? I found that a large portion of this food turned to a dust that my fish arn't interested in, lots goes to waste. I bet if you find nitrates and phosphates in the tank that you can't attribute to the sourcewater... that cutting out these foods and going with mysis and something like New Life Spectrum should be beneficial. I would also avoid dumping the "juice" in from your frozen food.

It seems like the algae coincided with starting to feed... but it could be a coincidence. The prefilter on the pump is a source for nitrate... remember, the stuff that gets trapped in it isn't gone from the system... I would make it a habit to take this off and squeeze it out in your old water during your weekly waterchange.

Does the RO have a DI cartridge that is spent? Depending on the ion content in your source water, this could be ready for a change... checking your makeup water will tell you.

Again, sounds like you have done the required research and are doing everything right... but there are nutrients somewhere.

Good luck.
Abby

Abby is wise indeed...
but just turn the damn light off..
better yet
come down to Ned's and buy 12 corals

I've reduced the light... mh = 8hrs and actinic = 10hrs
I was use flake formula 2.
Should I just get rid of the filter on the sump return pump?
The RO/DI unit and cartridges are a month old and has only made about 40gals so far. Also I wasnt having this algae problem when I was using the city water. I live in Cumberland and fellow SW people in Cumberland say that our water can be used.
Should I go and take the LR out and gently scrub the algae off of them?
I will be in today to get a sea hare, urchin, mysis and food pellets.

Now are these 12 corals you want me to get free?
If not I'll have to get maybe just one at a time.

12 corals X $32 = $384.00

1 Metal halide = $500.00

Hey Dan.... thanks for the help today.
I was in there around noon....
I got the urchin, green leather coral and hairy mushroom coral.
Just finished aclimating them.... and they look great!
Got 2 tiny Brittle Starfish hitchhikers from the leather.
Thanks for the help and advice about turning my damn MH off!

2 down..... 10 more to go.... 10 x $32 = $320

make sure your DKH is above 8.
mexican hermits do a great job of eating algae
as do turbo snails.
regards chris