Need Advice here.....please

[flappy]

OK guys and girls,I need some advice here.
About 2 months ago,my tank developed a hair algae problem and I could not find the source of it.I had never had an algae problem before.I tested every relevant water parameter with no leads.
The algae got worse and worse,so bad you could measure the hair algae in 30cm strands.My rock was totaly covered and you could not tell what was rock and what was substrate!
Then about 3 weeks ago,I decided I had had enough and decided to test the TDS of my RO tank where my fresh RO water is.I got the shock of my life.
The TDS of my raw tap water was 60ppm.
The RO water out of the RO unit is normally around 2ppm.When I tested my water straight out my RO unit it was 360ppm!!!
I tested this about 10 times as I could not believe my eyes.I then took off the resin from the RO unit and tested the water coming out the RO unit without the resin,the result was 2ppm.
The conclusion was faulty resin that was leaching back into the water.
I was putting about 250 litres of RO water into my tank per week so you can imagine the result.My livestock is still as healthy as ever.
I ditched the resin but now I was left with 5000 litres of water and loads of hair algae and lots of tears of frustration.
I got some phosphate killer from Palmerc and have been dosing this for the last 2 weeks,it is helping to a point but the hair algae is still growing.
I have tried manually scrubbing it off my live rock and base rock,this takes the whole day but the next day the algae I scrape off seems to settle on new rock and grow,a week after a scrub I have just seeded new rock!!I want to pull the hair left on my head out!
I have been told to dose with Vodka however I am hesitant to go withthese unorthodox methods.
So after spending an untold fortune on my tank on the best German filtration and flow etc I am left with nothing but hair algae.
I feel like taking out all the rock and starting over....if I do this what is the best method to ensure I kill the algae before I put new rock back.
Also any other advice to fix the problem with leaving the rock in?

 

[Alan]

Geeeeeez, hang on i am off to test my RO/DI water quickly...............Flappy the best would be to wait this out and keep adding the phos remover and doing water changes to dilute what ever you got in there, it will eventually subside and die off. How old was the DI resin?

 

[flappy]

The resin and pre filters and membrane were about 2 months old

Geeeeeez, hang on i am off to test my RO/DI water quickly...............Flappy the best would be to wait this out and keep adding the phos remover and doing water changes to dilute what ever you got in there, it will eventually subside and die off. How old was the DI resin?

 

[Kanga]

You could try raising your your magnesium levels to 1600ppm (rais it slowly 30 - 50ppm p/day) and keep it elevated for a few weeks. Seemed to help for me.

Also reduce you Photoperiod, What corals have you got in the tank?

And lastly I may be wrong but I added 2 airstones to my overflow which seemed to help. But thats just my opinion.

 

[Alan]

The resin and pre filters and membrane were about 2 months old

That doesn't sound right, how much water did you run through the filter in that time, did you fill your system, or just use for water changes and top ups? As the resins get used up when water passes through them.

 

[Kanga]

Thats just scary, what R/o unit do you have??

 

[AndreT]

I suggest cut your feeding to 70%, cut your lighting period to 70%, up your water changes, double your carbon and replace weekly and continue using Phosphate remover, perferably in a reactor. You can also look at a liquid phos remover and setting your skimmer to skim wetter. Apparently wetter means removing more phosphate through skimming.

I'm not sure if upping magnesium will help for hair algae. I know people recommend if for Bryopsis. Not being sure what algae I had, I raised my mag to about 1,600ppm. It certainly stunned the growth of the algae and made the tips turn white. Didn't do it for long enough to know whether that specifically was the winning factor.

Good luck!

EDIT: P.S. The liquid Phos Remover is only an option if you have very efficient skimming. As the bound phosphates will be released after 24hours if not skimmed out.