# green hair algae



## royy (Jan 4, 2010)

Calcium 452 
Alkanity 10.56 dkh 
Ammonia 0
Nitrate Nitrite 0 
Phosphate 0.05 

One head of my hammer coral isnt opening for two days  
And getting alot of green hair algae. 

Using phosguard to absorb phosphates/silicates 

What am i doing wronf? 
Tank has been running for 4-5 months (2-3 months were cycling)


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## thmh (Mar 17, 2011)

Do you have any tangs to control your algae? Also how is your flow? 

PEWPEW!


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## royy (Jan 4, 2010)

I have two voyagers, mp40 (lagoon mode but not at full power) and three random wavemakers (id say my flow is pretty good) i dont have any tangs. Do you recommend a good one?


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## thmh (Mar 17, 2011)

You have plenty of flow, I do suggest getting a yellow/purple tang and a tomini (bristle tooth tang family). 

PEWPEW!


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## altcharacter (Jan 10, 2011)

or get some emerald crabs, they love the stuff


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## smcx (Mar 31, 2012)

The last two emeralds I had didn't touch my GHA


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## altcharacter (Jan 10, 2011)

thats because they had something to eat other than the Gha, starve them and they'll feast on it.


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## smcx (Mar 31, 2012)

All I'm saying is you never know. I actually only feed once weekly in trying to get rid of the algae.


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## J_T (Mar 25, 2011)

Where did the rock come from? new or used?


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## Flexin5 (Nov 12, 2011)

cut back on lighting. what kind of water are you using? RO/DI? if it's a older machine then maybe the filters need to be changed and that's why your getting phosphates.


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## royy (Jan 4, 2010)

I am using RO/DI. And i think its that too  

I purchased a tang, a turbo snail and three other snails along with three crabs. 

How do you know when filters need to be changed? Use a TDS meter?


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## PACMAN (Mar 4, 2010)

Tds meter will help to figure out if rodi unit is not performing effectively.

Sent from my SGH-I747M using Tapatalk 2


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## rickcasa (Dec 7, 2011)

J_T said:


> Where did the rock come from? new or used?


Rocks are the most likely source of phosphates. I had 3 sets of rocks seeding in a 120 all exposed to the same low and short period light conditions. After 1 month, the rocks I had acquired used from kijiji was covered with HA and no HA on the other 2 sets of fresh uncured Marco rocks and LSF live rocks.


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## Flexin5 (Nov 12, 2011)

royy said:


> I am using RO/DI. And i think its that too
> 
> I purchased a tang, a turbo snail and three other snails along with three crabs.
> 
> How do you know when filters need to be changed? Use a TDS meter?


a tds meter is the easier way and more accurate in my opinion. you could always make some RO/DI water and then test for phosphates to see the condition of your filters...but if it's been a while, might aswell change them out, couldn't hurt anything.


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## royy (Jan 4, 2010)

Just checked my "RO/DI" water are 1 for phosphates.. 
Its time to change that! 

Thanks guys! 

Is it werid that my tank water (0.05) is less than my RO/DI water? LOOL


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## wtac (Mar 17, 2006)

royy said:


> Just checked my "RO/DI" water are 1 for phosphates..
> Its time to change that!
> 
> Thanks guys!
> ...


Not that strange as the PO4 is being utilized by the GHA. Hopefully from here on in the it will start to fade away. At least it's GHA and not Bryopsis .


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## royy (Jan 4, 2010)

So do i just replace the ro membrane or the other stuff too? Sorry noob question.


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## royy (Jan 4, 2010)

Are the RO membranes universal? Can i put a BRS one into my Aquafx?


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## wtac (Mar 17, 2006)

RO membranes are universal for our purposes. 

Just make sure that you order the correct GPD membrane to match the flow restrictor rating already in your RO/DI unit. If you aren't sure, remove the old RO membrane and it should have a label with the GPD rating. If there is no label, order the correct flow restrictor with the RO membrane.

HTH


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## royy (Jan 4, 2010)

Thanks i appreciate your support man. Do you have any reccomendations? My ro membeane is 100gpd - but the Aquafx is 79.99 -_- 
Im looking for a cheaper and better alternative?


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## Flexin5 (Nov 12, 2011)

royy said:


> Thanks i appreciate your support man. Do you have any reccomendations? My ro membeane is 100gpd - but the Aquafx is 79.99 -_-
> Im looking for a cheaper and better alternative?


now i'm not sure if this will work, but it is a 100gpd ro membrane.

http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/100-gpd-reverse-osmosis-membrane-ge-osmonics.html


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