How to remove hair algae easily

[MissInk]

Originally Posted by Reeftanker3295

My turbo snails dont touch my hair algae. My scarlet hermit crab eats more HA then both my turbo snails combined

I had an absurd amount of hair algae in my tank until I bought a dozen scarlet hermits and an emerald crab. Now I barely even see a trace of it. They're so awesome.

[motorslave]

Betting on any animal to remove algae, aptasia etc is a gamble. Some will some wont even in the same species.
If you really want to get rid of the stuff, limit nutrients added to the tank, maximize export of nutrients and keep up on effective husbandry. Period. You can also run phosphate remover like Phosban or Rowaphos. I would not recommend the liquid mentioned as it can not be tested for and is actually in the water column. Phosgard etc needs to be run properly and I would recoment only as needed.
To get the existing out, do a water change, take old water and save ina bucket, pull rock piece by piece and scrub it with a brush and then replace it. If your phosphate issues in the tank aree in check then you'll be in good shape.
there are no magic bullets in this hobby, sometimes it comes down to physical work being the best method.
Been there, done that.

[Doug1]

I have to agree with Motorslave to look to the original source of the hair algae issue. Its either poorly cured /not "cooked live rock, and or feeding the tank way more than it needs causing N/P to saturate everything. Turbo snails can be usefull, BUT Keep in mind that the LFS sells whatever the wholesalers send them and labeled as such. THere are several varieties of turbos, some better than others, I would recommend a variety from several different stores or a mix from a good vendor, but again I agree with the shortcomings of biological mowers. Any thing you add to eat algae,cyano, etc, is going to poop, and the net reduction is like 10-20% of biomass compared to expelled waste, which is to say if you have an overload of funky algae and you add a boat load of mixed species snails or heaven forbid, Crabs, bottom line is for all the algae they consume, they are going to dump 80-90% of that back in the form of waste(POOP) so you need to filter the dickens out of the tank, either by Aggressive skimming and a combination of physical ( filter sock, cleaned daily) and a really good skimmer, as well as maybe a phosphate reducing compound.
Personally i would chip your coral frags off the rock and restablish them and yank out the old rock and "Cook IT" in the dark, as well as take and rinse the hell out of your semi course "Live Sand" all the excess foood nd fish crap in their is a detriment

[Reeftanker3295]

Thanks for the honesty guys, but i know haha ive limited everything i could, only fed once every 3 days a tiny bit, 5 gallon water changes every 4 days, manual removal, limiting light period and removing the bioballs was the only thing that helped. Im going to be cooking this rock from christmas time until march 3rd because thats when i'll be upgrading and i want clean rock for my new tank!

[motorslave]

Reducing the photo period is a cover up. Not a fix. Cooking the rock is a great idea. You have limited the addition of nutrients and now, IMO there are two pieces left in the puzzle. First is export, i.e. a strong skimmer set up properly and in suck a position in the system to take full advantage of its capabilities. net is you. Husbandry habits are crustal. Use of a turkey baster of power head to blast o the rock before every water change is a huge help in keeping things clean, Stay up on water changes of course but depned on them as a fix all or sole means of export.
Also consider your flow, look for dead spots where junk accumulates. Is there flow under and behind the rock? Flow in places you cant reach? use flow to you advantage, it is an outstanding cleaning tool. My tank has no dead spots and about once a month (or longer) I siphon out two spots in front that equal about a tablespoon of detritus and n equal amount in the sump. My secondary sump/water change tank has very slow flow allowing suspended junk to settle. Works like a charm.
Flow is one of the best cleaning tools around IMO.

[Reeftanker3295]

Im going to cook the rocks in 3 months so if it grows back from me scrubbing the rocks ill just deal with it for a little while. Will my fish be ok for like 3 months without LR or should i cycle the bioballs in like 2 months and just add them to the sump for bacteria while there is no LR then later on take them out?

[cutietwo]

If you have fish like clowns, damsels, or basslets they should be fine with no live rock. other ones such as tangs, blennies and the likes like to have the rock to feed on in between feedings.