curious about green hair algae

[jrb384]

just curious exactly causes it. I dont have any in my tank at all, all my water checks out fine, BUT... I have 1 turbo snail that is covered with it. Its probally almost 1 inch lond now off of his shell. WHERE DOES IT COME FROM? and any idea why its only on his back?
wierd wild stuff.
thanks.
jb

 

[salty rick]

Green Hair Algae is just one of the many types of algae that can occur in aquariums. This is usually a sign of high nitrates or phosphates. These two are like fertilizer to algae. Also, running your lights a long time during the day promotes growth. Turbo and Asteria snails eat grenn hair algae. Sounds like to me they are doing a good job of keeping it in control. I would say the reason it is growing on the snails back is that it is the only place it can't reach to chow down.