hair alge!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[richierich2000]

ok I am on a mission my tank is out of control with hair alge I am trying to find out what will help the best?
I have a
150 gallon tank
275# l/r
turbo berlin skimmer
kent ro unit 60h-is with di
I have 50 crabs
almost no snails left
foxface,yellow tang,cole tang,sailfin tang,alge blenny
so fare nothing has helped it is taking over !!!!!!!!
what would help me a bigger or additional skimmer? like a berlin xl turbo skimmer
or nudibranch and some more crabs and snails?
please help

 

[twoods71]

What a pain in the but this stuff is, believe me I know.
This link below may help you a little.
<a href="https://www.saltwaterfish.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=12&t=009964" target="_blank">Click on me !!!!</a>
Good Luck !!!

 

[mr.bubble]

I think you should get a cupcake urchin because i've heard that they eat algea like crazy. For my problem with alge i just got some crabs, a couple tangs, and some shrimp and that seemed to work. also cut down on a lot your lighting! if you have your lights on more than 12 hours, the alge grows crazy and it is a pain to get rid of!

 

[mr.bubble]

I think you should get a cupcake urchin because i've heard that they eat algea like crazy. For my problem with alge i just got some crabs, a couple tangs, and some shrimp and that seemed to work. also cut down on a lot your lighting! if you have your lights on more than 12 hours, the alge grows crazy and it is a pain to get rid of!

 

[hondo]

your clean up crew is pretty small for a 150. Sounds like you could use 75 - 100 snails. Other than that what are your nitrate and phosphate levels. This is what the algae feeds on and until you get these reduced your tank is just an algae farm (I know as I'm currently fighting this same battle). also might want to look at your lights as when the bulbs age the spectrom changes and suddenly you get hair algae and other unwanted things growing in your tank.

 

[richierich2000]

where can you get a cupcake urchin? my levels have been very good for the last 6 week I have been doing a water change everyweek like 30 gallons
my lights are
2 12,000K metal halides 400 watt each
2 48" 110 watt each blue
2 60" 140 watt each 50/50
the halaide are not even 2 weeks old
and the blue is less than six month same as the 50/50
I am thinking about getting so micro alge and putting it in my sump I am putting in another skimmer the berlin xl turbo and I am going to get some more crabs and nudibranch
snails eat alge? on rocks what kind is the best? I ordered the monster like 2 months ago and just about all of them died off. any tricks to keeping them alive?

 

[dwindles]

I would go with the turbo/margarita snails...I had "mad" hair algae in my 90g, I put them in (along with some hermits and a few emerald crabs) and in less than 5 days at least 90% of it was gone. Plus they're fairly cheap.
Sounds like a lot of people I've spoken with are having algae problems this time of year??

 

[mr.bubble]

you can get a cupcake urchin down at Apex Aquariums or Aquatic outlet down on manchester for about $20. GREAT DEAL!!! Urchins are one of the best algae eaters but when the algae is gone, they die fairly fast.

 

[dirtybilge]

I think you light is over kill, get rid of two VHO tubes and use two 250W MH's instead of the 400's and 75-100 turbo sails will do wonders, My new flame angle eats algea all day long!