Hair algae problem

reefrobber

reefrobber

Member
Hey I just did a water change and now I have a mess of green hair algae. Does anyone have any tips for getting rid of this stuff. Thanks
 
texasex

texasex

Member
The only thing I can say is, EMERALD CRABS!!! My hair algae was getting out of control, I only have a 29 gallon, and lots of hermits, which hardly touch the stuff, and the day I put in my emerald, the stuff started disappearing! He has completly cleared on of my live rocks of the stuff! He gets into places that I never dreamed he could, and he doesn't even look twice at my mushrooms!
 
texasex

texasex

Member
Sorry, I forgot to mention, since this popped up after a water change, you really should check the water for phosphates! That, Nitrates, and lighting are the three components that help feed the hair algae. (I hope I remembered that right, anyone correct me if I am wrong!) Remove them and you should get it under control! Good Luck! :happyfish
 
jsburk0

jsburk0

New Member
I had that same problem when I first started my tank. I added an algae blenny and it was gone in a couple weeks.
 
reefrobber

reefrobber

Member
Thanks guys. Texasex, you remembered the three feeders of algae correctly. I am planning on getting emerald crabs a nitrate sponge and possibly an algae blenny ( thanks for the suggestion jsburk0). Bid Boy69, I do believe that the results would vary based on your phosphates and nitrates as well as lighting. A smaller amount of lighting would decrease the algae growth, but phosphates and nitrates are the other factors in making hair algae, so really it depends on how much of each you have. Thanks again.
 
farslayer

farslayer

Active Member
I put a rabbit fish in my FO tank to take care of the hair algae. That sucker tears into it and is a pretty cool fish to watch, he nibbles like a bunny.
 
reefrobber

reefrobber

Member
Source of algae=too much lighting+nitrates from my dragonet
I checked the nitrates and they are a bit high so I am purchasing the nitrate sponge. As for the rabbitfish,I don't think it would fit inside of a 35 gallon tank, and besides I am doing a certain project inside my tank that requires me to have no fish, so scratch the lawnmower blenny, but part of the project is to see what effect my project has on invertebrates, so I am going with the emerald crabs and a nitrate sponge. Sorry about the run-on sentence.
Thanks.
 
texasex

texasex

Member
If it is a phosphate problem, water changes! Maybe you are changing as often as you should, or as much as you should. Also, check the water that you are using for the changes. Tap water can have high levels. Use bottled water! I use the Pacific Water that is already ready to go!
 
fastmarc

fastmarc

Member
If it is a phosphate problem, try and track the source of it.
Also, there are some good phosphates removers avaliable in addition to water changes.
 
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