Originally Posted by
meeks101
http:///forum/post/2712707
The soft hairy algae on the rocks, not the hard to get off kind but the easy kind. I have about a 55 gallon tank.
honestly nothing besides large mexican turbo's and sea hares (neither may be suitable) eat that stuff. you may get a indiscrimanent rabbitfish that will eat it. lawnmower blennies and tangs wont make a dent in it even if they do eat it.
you should try a iron based phosphate removal media (TLF phosban, magnavore phos-lock, dr foster and smith phospure or rowa rowaphos) preferably in a reactor (I just have it in a media bag stuffed between dividers in my sump but the water HAS to pass thru it to reach my return pump). the prices are different (phospure cheapest but only available one place and rowaphos most expensive) but they are the exact same thing other than rowaphos being shipped moist(use the one you can get cheapest locally or online).
manually remove the hair algae as much as possible (I usually scrape it off with a butter knife often grading off a good portion of aragonite off the rock with it. out the tank and dunked in bucket of saltwater is best), large water change and run the media. If it comes back strong or unmanageably with the media and freshly mixed water then there is probably a problem with the supply water, salt mix or food/feeding habits (assuming your nitrates are low. phospate test are fairly useless when you have an algae problem since the algae is harboring much of it and most test kits arent that good).