Hair algae problem

[pogi pants]

Ok, I'm fighting with a large amount of hair algae for the past 3 or 4 months now. I'm trying to find out what other ways i can try to get rid of this.
Here is my livestock
-lawn mower blenny
-blue damsel
-2 ocellaris clowns
-falco hawkfish
-foxface lo
-porcupine puffer
-kole tang
-choclate chip starfish
-sandsifting starfish
-BTA
my foxface and my kole tang both don't eat any of the hair algae. my lawnmower only eats the small new growth.
my aquarium is 125g with a 55g fuge. i have about 200lbs of lr and i have lots of macro in my fuge along with phosphate remover.
ever since i added mh's this hair algae prob just blew up really bad and hasn't gone down since.
any help would be awesome
thanks

 

[geoj]

Slowly reduce the amount you are feeding and the fish will graze more. Try and get coralline algae to out grow the macro algae and if you don’t have any get some Astraea snails.
PS: I did not check to see if your fish would eat snails

 

[pogi pants]

i don't have a prob with my fish eating snails. i have a problem with my snails just deciding to fall down and die

 

[o2ngk]

Hair algea especially the long one is usually a sign of high phospate and nitrate in the tank. None of your live stock will trim down those hair algea because they only eat the new one.
So first check your nitrate and phospate level. I know you will probably say it's check at 0 or something low. The fact is those hair algea problem did not start overnight. You have been watching it grow for sometime. Plus being low reading now, won't cut down the hair algea by tomorrow. As a matter of fact it will continue growing because of simply it is a living thing and there is light.
Second, check your light .. reduce the "on" time if you can .. yellow light spectrum such as sun light or light bulb in the room that shine through the tank may contribute the growth of the algea. Block the sun light if you can or if it's from a light bulb in the room, try to sync your mh light timer with when the light bulb in the room usually turns on.
Third .. go to local harware store and buy a metal brush to brush all those hair algea from the rock .. yes, this is the only way if you don't want to see those hair algea anymore. You may be doing this (brushing off) if you don't watch the 2 rules above.
As far as your snail falling & dying, usually it is because of water temp. Try to maintain the temp within 2 degree fluctuation if you can.
Good luck.

 

[earlybird]

What kind of water are you using, RO or tap?

 

[pogi pants]

there's really no problem with yellow light spectrum because the light in this room is hardly on. my lights r on about 12 hrs a day. sometimes 14 if i get home really late. i'm going to check my nitrates and phosphates in a little while.
now, about the wire brush. i have some aiptasia and if i scrape the hair algae off the rocks with a wire brush, will it cause a huge outbreak of aiptasia?
i do use ro water.
now my water temp won't fluctuate as much now because i've turned on my heater due to the coler temps of the season. so now i don't think my snails will fall and die now.

 

[earlybird]

You should have your lights on a timer. Consistency is very important in this hobby. My lights are only on for 10 hrs and I have them all on timers. Nitrates and phosphates fertilize the algae but lights make it grow. I'd cut your lights back for a week to about 6 hours. If you continue to do water changes with phosphate and nitrate free water and reduce feeding I'm confident you'll see a decrease in algae.

 

[jonfletch01]

I've got the same problem.. went and bought a royal urchin... that thing is eating the crap out of the green hair..

 

[sporty99]

dude if you have your lights on for 12- 14 hrs a day thats your problem right there. i agree with the guy above. cut your lights back to 4-6 hrs a day and youll watch the hair algae dissapear.

 

[pogi pants]

i haven't seen a big enough surge protector timer anywhere yet. i need one with 3 plugs on the same timer, 2 on another, then 1 on it's own. have any of u seen one?

 

[threed240]

I use a Coralife Dual timer. It has a total of 8 outlets. Some people don't like them, but I have had mine for over a years with no troubles. Just make sure you put a drip loop in the cord to prevent salt creep from getting in the timer. This could cause corrosion, and possibly a fire.