Green Hair Algae

signman

Member
I NEED HELP WITH GREEN HAIR ALGAE IT IS TAKING OVER MY TANK. ALL OF MY TEST ARE IN THE GOOD SIDE. BUT THIS IS TAKING OVER MY TANK, AND IT LOOKS BAD, BUT FIRST OFF I HAVE 2/250 WATT 14K M/H LIGHTS. THE TANK IS A 75 GAL. AND HAS BEEN SETUP FOR 10 MONTHS. IT HAS A 20 GAL SUP WITH A PROPEIN SKIMMER. I WILL SEND A PICK SOON THANK YOU
 

dskidmore

Active Member
You accidentally left caps lock on.
How old is your tank? If this is a new tank, a bloom of algae is expected, and most likely will pass. You don't even need to read the rest of my post if your tank is new and this is it's first algae bloom.
Most test kits are not precise enough to detect the nutrients fueling the algae. After all, all those nutrients are being converted into new algae as fast as the algae can.
You have a few options:
1) Starve the algae of light. Turn your lighting down to only a few hours a day. Your corals may not be happy with this, but they should be hearty enough to weather it for a little while.
2) Starve the algae of nutrients. Plant some macroalgae that looks attractive in your main tank, or something known to be a fast grower in your refugium. The macroalgae will compete with the hair algae for the nutrients in the system, most likely the macroalgae will win the fight.
3) Get something that eats it. I'm not going to be too specific here, as I'm not very knowlegable about marine animals yet, but if you do some seaches on the forum, you'll find specific crabs, snails and fish that will help eat the algae.
 

barry cuda

Member
My LMB is starving to death in a tank filled with hair algae...he looks like Kablamo's did and I'm afraid he isn't going to make it either. Don't count on them eating hair algae. I've had good success with a combination of reduced lighting, reduced feeding, and manual removal.
Also, what source are you using for water? If it's tap water, there's a very good chance it contains nitrates and phosphates that are fueling the algae growth. You might try RO water if you aren't already using it.
 

rossim

Member
Might want to test some other levels as well. Phosphates for example. Emerald crabs will eat whats currently in the tank. They cleared all the hair algea and bubble algea from my tank in two days.
 

acez28

Member
i have one that too that doesnt eat the hair algae. Dont know what its eating but i grew faster than any other fish i have and appears to over eat whatever its eating. I only have one patch thats about the size of a golf ball.
 
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