Hair Algae...sucks

[trendsmash]

I've been having a problem with plain old annoying green hair algae...in weeks past part of my 55 reef has turned into a 'jungle.' My blue-legs just don't seem to be cutting it, and though I have read that Mexican red-leg hermits are an excellent choice, I'm hesitant to mail-order them because I believe one of my LFSs must have some sort of reef critter that will munch on hair algae. Anyone have any suggestions?

[naser]

stop feeding your tank so much..i went through the same thing...two things less food means less nutrients.. and less light means less photosythetec time for your grass to grow.. i even turned mine off for 2 days. flip them back on and get a tooth brush and get rid of as much as you can. sound like work well it is...... bye

[aaronc1130]

This is how i treated my tank:
Brush off hair algae by my hand with toothbrush!
Buy a lot of turbo snails or astrea snails to clean up the remaining hair algae!
Pay attention on your tank, if algae grows back, kill it!!!
Do 5% waterchange frequently

[Rick O]

The above advice is excellent. I have found that the only way to remove what is already there is with a toothbrush and snails. It takes lots of snails though. For a 55 I would go with about 75. I know that sounds like a lot but that or more is what it takes.

If you can, remove the rock to scrub it so that the algae doesn't remain in the tank. I used a bucket of tank water from a water change to rinse the algae off after scrubbing.

After this nutrient control is the key to preventing it's return. If you check the archives I'm sure you will find many more suggestions for nutrient control.

Rick

[naser]

forget the snails adding 75 snails to your system with hermits eating them and lets say fifteen dying...you just gave the hair alge more nutrients to eat... water quality is the key not more snails.

[Alice]

Of course water quality is key here but I disagree on not adding snails. Ditch most of the hermits and add the snails. Stay away from the astreas that tend to flip over and die, from the big turbos who make a real (stinky) mess when they die and go with Trochus who do a great job of eating algae.

You can also add some calupera to the tank to help take nutrients away from the hair algae and harvest the calupera has a means of nutrient export. Hand removal is probably your best bet at this point, however.

Just my $.02,

~Alice

[jlreese]

Hi -

I once had the same problem, here is what I did to get rid of it:
1. Pulled it out
2. Water changes (to reduce Nitrate levels)
3. Decreased light
4. Added a phosphate sponge
5. Added Trocus snails, Mithrax Crabs, and a Yellow Tang
6. Added Macro Algae (sump)

That got rid of it ALL! Now I am able to feed the tang with my harvest of algae from the sump. He is very fat and happy!!!

[Powrplay]

if the algae has grown to "a jungle". Snails and hermits may not effectively remove substantial amounts to make a difference. Try using Yellow Tangs. IF the Tang/s eat the algae in your tank, you'll be very happy with the result in a short amount of time. HTH....my Tang is just doing just awesome!

[flip]

I had the same problem. I bought a jeweled blenny (aka lawnmower blenny). And all the hair algae disappeared within a week. I only have about 6 snails and 6 hermits and this has been adequate for my 55.

The blenny is a good fish to have, lots of personality and is reef safe. It also cleans the glass and eats flake food.

[Alice]

Welcome Flip! And you're right; lawnmower blennies are great fish.

~Alice

[inlandreef]

Are there any other nifty blennies like the lawnmower? I've got a red hair algal overgrowth. Yes, red hair. Not slime, thank goodness.