what eats green hair algea?

[richie1742]

my tank has built up a lot of green hair algae, what kinds of inverts will take care of them?
thanks on adv.

 

[sundance1]

Definatly a sea hare,but once the algae is gone make sure you have someone who has some to take it off your hands.

 

[richie1742]

sounds convincing but ill pass, i dont think i will find any at the lfs.. im looking for maby a crab, i heard emerald crabs will do the job. am i wrong? thanks for the help though sundance1.

 

[hagfish]

You're probably going to have a hard time really fixing this unless you fix the source of the problem, which is high nitrates and/or phosphates. Some critters may reduce the hair algae a little, but you probably won't make a permanent dent in it until you remove the excess nutrients.

 

[dacia]

If you get some xenia or anthelia in your tank, they will use up the nutrients that the hair algae needs to live, and thus, cause the algae to die off.
I would also suggest placing some macros in a refugium, I just don't know your set-up.

 

[aquafox]

I had a massive hair algae problem....sally lightfoot crabs wear the stuff out. Everyone is right, you do have to eliminate the phosphates but the catch 22 is that anything you put in to kill the algae off is going to be battling the fact that when the algae dies it makes more phosphates....I had better luck with a few sally lightfoots and a phosban reactor.....my tank is free and clear of all hair algae now. I actually have to feed algae to my tank residents because there is none to eat. Good luck and and happy algae eliminating!

 

[fishieness]

Originally Posted by richie1742
my tank has built up a lot of green hair algae, what kinds of inverts will take care of them?
thanks on adv.
good water quality :hilarious

 

[harndog]

I got some lr that had hair alge my tank is always 0 accross the board but I do have about 5 to 8 emerald crabs and a sally lightfoot and they are the trick for hair alge.

 

[aw2]

2 words.....Lettuce Nudibranch.
I had a really, really bad hair algea problem in a small reef I used to keep. NOTHING worked. I bought 4 of those guys and within 2 days, all hair algea was gone.