Hair Algae

[carolinethedog]

Ok, I now had 2 or 3 small pockets of hair algae turn into 7-8, what's the best way to get rid of this stuff? I have added 10 more blue-leg hermies and 4 scarlet leg and done a 15% per week for two weeks now.

 

[carolinethedog]

bump...noone with any tips on hair algae?

 

[perfectdark]

Sea Hare... or Lettuce Nudi...both will eat it. But if you dont supplement their diet they will die once the algae is gone. Eliminating the cause is just as important as getting rid of whats there.

 

[blazehok68]

remove as much algae as you can by hand, do a 50-60% water change. get a ton of hermits and snails. then, KEEP UP ON MAINTENANCE. consistant water changes, slow down on your feeding and test your water frequently.

 

[shobby]

I have been fighting hair algae for the past year and a half, if not longer, I noticed though, that I have been making water changes almost every other day, 3 gal, and the algae is just about gone. I had to do the water changes because my nitrates jumped up, now I have cut back but the water changes helped get rid of my algae problem as well.

 

[flower]

Originally Posted by BLAZEHOK68
http:///forum/post/3045704
remove as much algae as you can by hand, do a 50-60% water change. get a ton of hermits and snails. then, KEEP UP ON MAINTENANCE. consistant water changes, slow down on your feeding and test your water frequently.
This is important...Never do more than a 30% water change at any one time, and only once week at most, unless there is some kind of crash emergancy, like ammonia spikes of greater than 0.25! Hair algae is not such an emergancy. You will kill off the good bacteria by doing to large of a water change. Get what you can by hand and get a critter that eats it...stop over feeding. Only use RO water for top offs.

 

[nycbob]

if u hv been doing it for over a year, then just get a dolabella sea hare. it will eat all of it within a week. the ro water and underfeeding and turning off lights r ok at controlling it, but will take forever. get a sea hare and u r done. sea hare is natural anyway. there is algae all over the reef in the wild. its the tangs, urchins and the grazing animals that control it.

 

[carolinethedog]

OK...the dola sea hare sounds good. Question: #1 would the coral bandeds (I have a mated pair, usually pretty mellow) bother it? #2 Once it eats all the hair algae, can it survive on algae like my other snails? #3 Is this one of those things that if it dies in my tank it is highly toxic?

 

[nycbob]

i hv one in each of my tanks. ur cbs wont bother it. it will survive on other algae afterward. u can always supplement it with veggie. wont pollute ur tank assuming ur filtration is good and hv a good cleanup crew. the whole is to enjoy this hobby, and go crazy bc of hair algae. u wont need any sandsifter btw, bc the sea hare will stir it.

 

[carolinethedog]

Sounds great

Only prob I have is that none of my LFS have it for some reason. I would order it from this site, but they are out of stock. Would a lettuce nudi work? Any other sea slugs? Or is the dolla the only way to go? Thanks for help.

 

[dodgerblue]

How long do you run your lights? I reduced my lights in my nano from 14 hours to 8 hours a day and it got rid of the hair algae.

 

[nycbob]

lettuce nudi wouldnt work. and they dont live long in captivity. just wait it out until they hv it again on this site. reducing the light from 14 to 8 hours wouldnt get rid of hair algae, but will reduce it a bit. it was probably more than just reduction of light that contributed to the demise of the hair algae.

 

[tax lady]

I found some for sale on another site. My question is: are they safe with pep shrimp and other inverts? Seems like when I researched the nudibranches they were not safe with something or another, can't remember what.
Anyone know ??
I have a 24 gal aquapod, 2 clowns, pep shrimp, serpent star, diamond goby, and lots of corals. Also will get crabs and other shrimp.
??

 

[tax lady]

I found some for sale on another site. My question is: are they safe with pep shrimp and other inverts? Seems like when I researched the nudibranches they were not safe with something or another, can't remember what.
Anyone know ??
I have a 24 gal aquapod, 2 clowns, pep shrimp, serpent star, diamond goby, and lots of corals.
??

 

[kniquy]

i myself had fought the hair algae problem for about two years, I changed lights, reduced time and feeding completely cleaned all my live rock and it never seem to go away. After many failed attemps i did try this algaefix marine. It is safe for use with corals. I really didn't want to use something but it was my last effort. It worked amazingly well and it was 100% cleared up in a matter of two weeks. I have stayed on top of my water changes now and really no sight of hair algae at all. I have to say that now that i can see my tank and rocks again I am much more motivated to keep it looking good.

 

[blazehok68]

Originally Posted by kniquy
http:///forum/post/3053794
i myself had fought the hair algae problem for about two years, I changed lights, reduced time and feeding completely cleaned all my live rock and it never seem to go away. After many failed attemps i did try this algaefix marine. It is safe for use with corals. I really didn't want to use something but it was my last effort. It worked amazingly well and it was 100% cleared up in a matter of two weeks. I have stayed on top of my water changes now and really no sight of hair algae at all. I have to say that now that i can see my tank and rocks again I am much more motivated to keep it looking good.

i used the algaefix also, and it did work to an extent. you still have to remove big clumps of the hair manually. it doesnt just dissapear on its own. i also noticed that some of my LPS corals were all shriveled up for a day after dosing.