I will try to break down your problem and hopefully it will provide help.
"So after buying come corals form a source who will not be named i became over run with green hair algae and bubble algae"
This would have happened anyway as not all rocks are free of hair/bubble algae. Sometimes the algae are inside the rocks and you would not even see it. I would not be overly concerned about where it came from. The longer you are in the hobby the chances are you will get it. The bubble algae have to be removed manually.
This is where your problem lies. As you are trying to remove it and still not able to keep up. Your aquarium has nutrients in the water column that you need to reduce to low amounts.
Plz test the following and you will see where the problem lies.
1. Phosphate?
2. Nitrate?
3. TDS of your RO water ?
4. What do you feed and how often?
5. How many fishes do you have?
Once you can provide the above five informations then it will be easier to suggest the fix.
Adding more cleaning crew in like putting a bandaid , its not the fix.
Manoj hit this one right on the head. Hair algae is NOT from frags - it grows when you have nutrients in the water, as does almost all algae (with the exception of red turf which thrives in clean water). The key and ONLY long term way to rid your tank is very frequent (like 2-3 times a week of at least 10% each time, the more the better) water changes using only r/o water (if you use tap you'll make it worse). Do this for a few weeks, then you can go back to once a week of 10% changes. It will take awhile, but eventually it will go away as it starves. If you have a sump with chaeto that will help to as it uses the nutrients the hair algae uses. Sea hares and snails are temporary fixes - they can help eat it but won't rid it entirely for the long term, in fact getting large quantities makes your problem worse as it ADDS nutrients to the water and you'll have more of a problem down the road.
One final note, if your test kits read zero it does not indicate that they aren't there. The algae ffeds off of nitrates and phosphates, so if they read zero its because the algae is using them all up giving you a false sense that water parameters are ok.
Gfo in a reactor or on a media rack will help for sure. Cut the amount you feed the fish in half, they won't die. Don't feed any frozen foods or things like oyster eggs, phyto, etc. Your coral will be just fine without. I would also consider a two day dark period, again it wont kill any livestock and it wont eliminate the H.A. but it will help get you on top of the algae problem. As stated some big water changes will help also (but if you keep feeding and handling nutrients like you have been the algae will still come right back). Obviously tap water is a no-no, period, it doesn't matter if you think your tap water is phosphate free, the powdered and liquid test kits are junk and a waste of money. JMO.
i lowered my temp and feed less it is going away very nicely actually. i may try that product but ill see how it pans out
from experience with the same problem i found that 24-48 hours of lights out will make a huge difference and also im not sure if this is common but my cleaner shrimp LOVE hair algae when i added them i had about 3 large pieces probably 6x6 with hair about 6" long on my back wall and when i added my first 2 cleaners they swam right for it and twisted them selves up in it and stayed there... the next day when i woke up it was completely gone... ive added a couple frags since then with it on it and as soon as it goes in the tank all 3 cleaners swim straight for it and dont leave till its gone... but then again my cleaners eat pe mysis too haha
Originally Posted by Manoj's Reef
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