Help please i have a problem!

[jc germ]

So I noticed on Friday that I’m starting to grow algae green algae
witch sucks

cos I have never really had a problem with algae before
any way I went away the weekend and when I came back from the weekend I see it has taken offer my 3m tank and is spreading fast its long green hair algae I have a cleanup crew hermits and some snails but they can’t keep up
with the growth I have cut down on the lighting a bit and now I wait to see what’s going to happen this morning at 4am on my way to work where I am now

I just had a quick look and I think it is worse than last night is there anything else I can do to get rid of this algae and fast because it’s really not a good sight thanks in advance
Germ

 

[btldreef]

Originally Posted by jc germ
http:///forum/post/3169019
So I noticed on Friday that I’m starting to grow algae green algae
witch sucks

cos I have never really had a problem with algae before
any way I went away the weekend and when I came back from the weekend I see it has taken offer my 3m tank and is spreading fast its long green hair algae I have a cleanup crew hermits and some snails but they can’t keep up
with the growth I have cut down on the lighting a bit and now I wait to see what’s going to happen this morning at 4am on my way to work where I am now

I just had a quick look and I think it is worse than last night is there anything else I can do to get rid of this algae and fast because it’s really not a good sight thanks in advance
Germ

What size is this tank? What exactly is your clean up crew? What fish? How old is the tank? What/how often do you feed? What is your flow like?
Just curious, do you make your own water? Hair algae is sometimes associated with tap water..

 

[jc germ]

It is a 3m 1500L,about 15 hermits ,20 turbo snails, bi color blenny , a regal tang ,scopes tang, clown tang , black ribbon eel ,snowflake eel 2 tomato clowns, 3 stripe damsel ,2 cleaner shrimps , 2 camel backs , 2 spiny lobsters
tank is just over a year now, i feed once a day but a small portion , yes i do make my own water!

 

[coastie5685]

research on nudibranches, seashares, sea cucumbers. one of the listed eats green hair algae and only green hair algae. once it is all gone... get rid of the thing or else it will die from no food source. thats your best bet. nothing else will eat the green hair algae despite what cuc you have.

 

[jc germ]

thanks for the replys where i live i have never seen a cucumber in any shop here so ill have to order it online wont a emerald crab eat the hair algea????
and if so how many can live together

 

[jc germ]

here are a few picks of the algae hope you all can see it was taking photos of my black ribbon "eelio hombres migos" but can see the algae

 

[skate020]

i cant see the hair algaeproblem in them photo's lol.
best bet is to do wat coastie said.
if your LFS doesnt have one, ask them about it, they should be open to orders. for instance, you ask for example, a annularis angelfish, next time they make a order they should include that, if you place a small deposit.
you could do this with the sea hare/cucumber or w/e, then once the problems gone, try get a U/V steriliser, should stop it growing back

 

[jc germ]

LOL LOL LOL

it is there its hard to see but it is there
ill have a chat to him and ask to get it for me with the next order
thanks

 

[flower]

+1 on a good algae eater, I think I see why you have it...your room where the tank is sitting... by the looks of the picture, is very bright and sunny...I can see the reflection of a sunny window.
Get some heavy curtains that you can close when the sun is brightest, or cover the tank for that time. Natural sunshine is a major hair algae feeder.

 

[btldreef]

A good algae eater may work. You need to cover that window like Flower said.
Also, if you're making your own water, do you test it before it goes in the tank or do you just trust it? How old are the canisters in the RO/DI unit (unless you're using straight tap, please tell me you're not doing that)?
Did I read correctly that you have two camel back shrimp in a tank with coral? They eat coral.
I'm surprised the bicolor blenny isn't eating most of it.
Try changing your water flow.

 

[jc germ]

I’ll see if I can make a plan with the window, yes I do test my water I have a big canister I make water in with flow and a heater so its usually bout 2-3 days old before I put it in the tank and the same temp!!
yes I have too camel backs and have never had a problem with them eating corals as I feed them daily with a piece of hake or calamari and they seem to leave them alone but I do keep a very close eye on them
Bennie the blenny is eating some of it I just think there is too much for him to handle

thanks for the tips ill try to change the flow aswell

 

[btldreef]

Originally Posted by jc germ
http:///forum/post/3169519
I’ll see if I can make a plan with the window, yes I do test my water I have a big canister I make water in with flow and a heater so its usually bout 2-3 days old before I put it in the tank and the same temp!!
yes I have too camel backs and have never had a problem with them eating corals as I feed them daily with a piece of hake or calamari and they seem to leave them alone but I do keep a very close eye on them
Bennie the blenny is eating some of it I just think there is too much for him to handle

thanks for the tips ill try to change the flow aswell
You are very luck with the Camel backs.

It may also be worth it to try siphoning out some of the algae. This has worked well for me in the past. Normally if you can siphon out a decent amount, the CUC can catch up again and keep things under control.
I've seen a couple people that after no cleaning the container they keep their water in for awhile, they end up with more algae in their main tank due to the dirty container holding the water for days. You may want to scrub the container down. Just a thought.

 

[jc germ]

thanks never really thought about that its empty now so will give it a good wash after work and clean everything that could have algae on it or in it is there any other way to remove the algae of the rock besides a cuc

 

[btldreef]

Originally Posted by jc germ
http:///forum/post/3169532
thanks never really thought about that its empty now so will give it a good wash after work and clean everything that could have algae on it or in it is there any other way to remove the algae of the rock besides a cuc

Siphon. You might be able to use a piece of algae scrubber (like you'd use to clean the glass) and GENTLY wipe off a little bit.

 

[jc germ]

sweet ill try it thanks for all your help

and input

 

[shortbusldtang]

I'm going thru the same problem... I was told to find out what problems I have with my water, either high nitrates, phosphates , too much light (window) tap water ( I use r/o) over feeding... .... Figure out what is feeding it to make it grow so rapidly. As far as cleaning it up... I shut all my filters off but leave my power heads on and se a tooth brush to gently scrub rock off...... net or siphon as much out as possible and then after about a half hour pull the pre filters off your powerheads and clean what they have caught off .... After that I turn my filter back on and wait till next month to clean again.. I'm still battling this I was told a dolabella sea hare is best for this problem. Unfortunately mine died right after I purchased him.... GL

 

[abeandlulu]

What type oflight do you have? How old are your lights? Your light cycle? what are you phos.?

 

[jc germ]

I have T5 and Mh I replaced the globes about a month ago and that is when it started! now that I think of it when I got the lights I bought some L rock too one of the rocks had a little little algae on it would that spread like wild fire?