Has Anyone Ever Had Hairy Algae and Gotten Rid of It

[ncjetskier]

Has anyone ever had hairy algae and gotten rid of it. If so how? Thanks for any responses.

 

[royalshrimp]

my sailfin tang eats it

 

[caribbean guy]

I did. My scenarion of course may not be yours but hopefully you can find some use from it. I had used tap water (first sin) to set up the tank. After a while the tank cycled and I began to notice large amounts of brown, which I was told was normal for a newly cyled tank. I bought some lights from the LFS where I was told the bulbs are new so you have some months before having to change them (boy was that wrong) Anyway to put a long story short the combination of the tap water and teh old bulbs created an algae outbreak, also to mention the fact that my wife was feedingthem when I was not there and over feeding the tank. So these are some issues that if there are occuring for you, you will have to address at some point in time. What I did was obviously bought new bulbs, did a few water changes and started using Ro water for my changes as well as top off water. For good measure I added a lettuce Nudi ( also because I like the way it looks) and an algea Blenny and so far (knocking on wood) I have not seen any reappearance of the hair algae.
On a side note scrubbing the rock does nothing but makes you tired and frustrated. Also before using any chemicals address the problems that could be contributing to the algea bloom.
Hope I helped and not confused the situation any further.

 

[dburr]

I moved to another tank. While cycling, the rocks that were covered I put in a cooler and staved it of light for about 4 weeks.
It all died off and the pods lived. Setup now for 4 months and clear of hair. (knock on wood).
Dan

 

[nerdy]

I agree sailfin tang!!!!

 

[sggavin]

i had hair algae really bad, after about a week of ripping it off the rocks (dont scrub, it just spreads it) the problem was easily solved.

 

[nas19320]

I too have hair algae but now mine has almost stopped growing. It has receded on the glass. I have done a lot of changes though. Heaving skimming, all new lights, switched to RO/DI water and I feed very little, and a light bioload.

 

[ncjetskier]

Melody, You have (IMO) the type that fish, craps, snails WILL eat. My Hairy Algae is more like a light green fern (when looking at it REALLY close). Nothing so far will eat mine-I tried them all except a Lettuce Nudibranch-which I plan on getting several to try. I tested all parameters this morning and all were fine except low on Calcium-I am working on bringing it up with Kawassa (sp?).

 

[nas19320]

I've heard that a high Alk level and salinity will help stunt growth. Not sure though. You could also try one of the products like AZ-NO3 as a last resort.

 

[kevin j]

If you want a fish to eat it I would suggest a Kole Tang! My father in law had a tank just filled with hair algae and in a matter of one week it was picked clean!!1

 

[royalshrimp]

sailfin. mine is always grazing on the stuff

 

[clarkiiboi]

Dont go adding sailfin tangs--need a big tank!! From your description NCJETSKIER (looking like a fern) my best guess is bryopsis (sp), not hair algea at all. Melody, your green algea also looks more similar to this also. Do a search on this, IMO its worse than hair algea. HTH, not good news, but.........

 

[bdhough]

Sailfins get what....15 inches?
Melody you don't have traditional hair algae. Yours looks alot coarser and harder kind of like caulerpa. But either way its probably a nuisance and growing alot. As far as what eats it, not sure. Try maybe a foxface. Blenny wise lawnmowers and bicolors. And for super snails try either conchs or mexican turbos. All would be ok in your tank.

 

[slytsi4]

When I started getting algae like that I knew it was time to switch the bulbs.. Make sure they are less then 1 year old. Otherwise use this as an excuse to another fish

 

[buzz]

LMB's won't eat it past a certain length. And the type of hair algae is a BIG factor in getting anything to eat it. Standard hair algae wil be eaten by tangs, etc., but the other, described above as fernlike is called bryopsis. It is toxic to fish and inverts, so generally, they won't eat it. Lettuce Nudibranch's eat this as a primary part of their diet. I have two, and they do eat it, but not as fast as I was hoping. There really is no quick fix for hair algae. It takes some time to get rid of it.

 

[jhead]

I added a phosphate filter to my tank about 3 weeks ago and 50% of my hair algae is gone. It has also killed off most of the taxifolia (feather macro) in my tank. It cost me about $30 for the filter and the media and at this rate it should be all gone by the first part of next month. Hair algea is a sign of excess nutrients and the short answer is that you have to get rid of them. Excess phosphates are most likely the cause.
I had it bad, patches of hair algea at least 8" across and 2" deep in places and that's just what I could see. I the color has changed from a dark emerald green to a light pale green and it turning loose from the rocks. It makes the tank look terrible, but it will be worth it in the long run.