Long Green Hair Algae outbreak - HELP!

ck_503

ck_503

Member
My 12 gallon JBJ Deluxe nano has been up and running for close to 10 weeks now. Over the past couple of weeks, long green hair algae has started to overtake my whole tank. It's on the rock, and even on the zoo rocks and mushroom rocks that I have in there. It's taking over my tank. How do I get rid of it without hurting the few corals I do have in there. I also have a clown in it as well that I don't want to work. Tell me what I should do to get rid of this annoyance. Thanks.
 
tatoush

tatoush

Member
scarlet hermits are good for hair algae.... I had the same problem and as soon as I put the hydor flo nozzle on my problem seems to disappear. My hair algae problem is almost gone.
 
tatoush

tatoush

Member
I don't have any pics of the Hydor Flo nozzle but I am sure that if you enter it in the search tab above then you will probably come up with some.....Also watch out for overfeeding.
lev.
 
pclown

pclown

Member
How often are you doing water changes?
What type of water are you using? You need to only use RO, Distilled, with RODI water (perferred), for water changes and top offs. Cut back on feeding, and use a phoshate remover. Phosban works great for me and is considered the best by many). You may also cut back on the lighting just a couple hours for a week, but the other things need to be corrected. It will not hurt anything.
 
pclown

pclown

Member
Oh, hermits will help and a Lawnmower Blenny will have great feast as well. Once done you can take him back if you dont like him.
But you will need to fix the cause of the problem and whatwhat I stated in my first post should help with that.
 
pclown

pclown

Member
What type of clean up crew do you have?
What water scource are you using for top offs and water changes?
How old are your lights?
Are you using a Phoshate romover?
 
fishyapol

fishyapol

Member
i dont know if someone said this already but here it is.. i've had the same problem too fof about a year... florida turbo snails helped they are small so they can get between your rocks and all the small places; mexican turbo and big and will go to town on them; place the two or three on the bad place and they will go to work.. they will do the job just give them some guidance,, yah get a emerald crab especiall for the hair around the zoos and other corals because you do not want it to get out of control on your corals.. "bad"... algae blenny works. get a small one so that he is not to big for the tank; and the latest thing i pick up was some electric blue crabs or they are also called blue knuckle crabs" they look cool" they have been in there for about 2 days now and from time i put them in there they went right at it.. just be careful because when they get big they will tryto take over the other snails shell... and the method that should always work is to pull as much hair off just be CAREFULL... after that go in with your fish net and pick up all the loose hair floating around... one more thing how is your water temp.. make sure it is not too high,, you might want to cut down the lighting also.. go to like 5 -6 hours a day.. that will also help multiply your corals.. some not all.. well give that a try.. goodluck
 
toddh

toddh

New Member
I have the same tank as you :joy: and i also had a bad hair algae problem :mad: . i got an emrald crab and some turbo snails but they just didn't help that much. I cut my lights back to about 7 hours a day for a while and it cleared up in about a week.
if you work all day like me then have your lights come on about 4 pm and go off at 11pm that way when you're home you can enjoy your tank and when your at work your not missing any thing by the lights being off.
 
L

lbaskball

Guest
If I were you, I would cut down on the lighting because its not like you have corals that need intense lighting. You should be okay with running 7hours of lighting for a week until the hair algae problem goes away. Make sure your nitrites and nitrates are near zero. You can do a lot of control by controlling the lighting!
 
jakebtc

jakebtc

Member
Not sure if anyone else said it but you need to scrape this stuff off with a razor blade and net it as you go. while it's in your tank you're not going to have much beneficial growth of anything other than hair algea lol
 
ck_503

ck_503

Member
this is all great advice and I've already adjusted the amount of light temporarily until the problem decreases. Thanks!
 
zerocool

zerocool

New Member
Well this is what I have read for Hail Algae ( I hope I don't get in trouble).
Hair Algae is fueled by intense lighting coupled with dissolved nutrients, such as Nitrate and Phosphate. This hair algae thrives on high water movement. The Former is achieved with purified tap water, stepped-up water changes, vigorous Protein Skimming, while the latter is achieved through careful monitoring of food items that are introduced to the system and by stocking the system at appropriate levels.
Introducing Macroalgae, such as the various Halimeda and Caulerpa species, to the mini-reef can also assist with nutrient export. Macroalgae is grown either in the main system or in a refugium and is routinely pruned to keep its growth under control. The macroalgae takes up the nutrients that would otherwise fuel hair algae and pruning effectively removes the nutrients from the system.
If this doesn't help, you can use the Astraea Snails and Mexican Red Legged Hermit Crabs.
 
fanker

fanker

Active Member
well hair alge is a plant now a bacteria so it photosynthisises and grows off of to much lighting. so less lighting times (like 7-8hours a day) and more water changes
 
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