Scrubbin Algae

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plasticine

Guest
I have a slight hair algae problem that I am currently working on, and it has been suggested to remove it by hand where you can.
Any tips on the best way to "scrub" the rock? Should I remove it from the tank and do it by hand? Toothbrush? I really don't want to kill off what is left on the rocks.
 
At one point, I was so fed up with my hair algae I took a piece out, and scrubbed it with a toothbrush and ran it under freshwater. Lucky for me nothing died. I wouldnt reccomend this. BTW, it just grew right back.
Just so you know, it will just come back. Hair algae is being fed by something in your tank, in example, phoshphates,nitrates or other impurities.
(off my soapbox now)
To answer your question, IMO the best thing to use is a turkey baster, and your hands if possible. Leave it in the tank, and just try to suck it out with the baster. You could also use some type of a feeding stick or somethign to help. HTH.
If you want to find out how to serioulsy rid your hair algae, do a search on hair algae on this thread. Many people have asked and gotten ansers, I am one of them. I also posted a thread about how I went about getting rid of mine, and I posted some pics of it. Search for "finally conquered hair algae".
 

fishkiller

Active Member
Here's what worked on the tank at the store (325 gallon). Make some kind of chamber to hold a good bit of carbon and phosguard. We used a 1 ft long 3 in diameter piece of pvc and fit it onto a rio 3000. We used floss b/t the carbon/phosguard and the end caps. After that, you can go in and do a water change, pulling hair algae off the rocks at the same time. But you may want to be able to control the flow on the hose you are using. I just got the siphon going and plugged the hose w/ my thumb until I needed it to suck out a piece of hair algae. This way, you don't run the chance of removing too much water or running out of time to manually remove this crap. Get a lot of crabs and algae eatin mofo's!! They will eat the shorter stuff that hasn't been pinched off. Give the whole thing a couple weeks before you see a dramatic difference. Hope this helps.
 
P

plasticine

Guest
I will try that., I have been trying to be more aware about how much food I am putting in the tank and I have lowered my lighting time. I will see how it all goes , thanks
 
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