what eats hair algae?

[entice59]

my hair algae is actually growing on my sand bed, is there anything that eats hair algae? emeralds? sally light foots? my blue legs just avoid the sand bed now and my snail never goes on the sand bed

 

[tigershark]

I know that some emerald crabs will eat it but I have heard they are picky, some will eat it and some wont.

 

[wrassecal]

I posted the same qustion, I'm having a bit of a problem with it too. Sometimes turbos, certain crabs etc will eat it if you harvest it short, but not mine. So you have to figure out what is causing it. Could be phosphates, silicates etc. Also, you can add some macroalgae to compete with it. I'm trying all of the above.

 

[ddt]

I had the same problem, I got a Sally Lightfoot, several Emeralds, snails, etc. What worked was time and a little effort. I picked at the hair for about 2 weeks and that got it to manageable levels and have not had a problem since. What I mean by pick is to pull everthing out that I could get and then fish it out with a net.
I had always used RO/DI water so phospates were not a problem. I considered it a normal part of the tank maturing and kept it under control until a balance was reached. JMO

 

[entice59]

same here, i used to use tap water, but now i switced to RO water, hair algae only started to pop up when i used RO water, do you know anything about how large sally light foots and emerald crabs grow up to be?

 

[attml]

Lawnmower Blennies, Yellow Tangs, Pygmy Cherub Angels, Emerald Crabs

 

[wrassecal]

Well I've got the emerald and the tang, their not having any of it. I'm going to trade some caulerpa for a sally lightfoot at lfs today.

 

[pstanley]

My Rainford's Goby eats it all day long but he is so small he doesn't do much towards eliminating the algae.

 

[mlm]

Try to brush it off with a toothbrush and the snails will then be able to take cae of the stubble.

 

[krishj39]

Entice, yup, once again, the answer to your question is a toss up. many types of animals have been known to eat it, but that doesn't mean the one you buy will. I have a lawnmower blenny, and hair algae is the only thing he WILL eat. I have 2 emerald crabs, and both will eat hair algae. It seems they usually eat algae during the day, grabbing what they can by reaching out from their hiding spots, then during the night they switch to scavangers, looking for detrius and such. My mexican turbos, and regular turbos will both eat hair algae, although they prefer it if it is short, less than 1/2 inch. Anyway, sorry there isn't a guaranteed answer to your question, but I thought I share what was working for me.

 

[entice59]

sadly, i cant fit a lawmmower blennie in my tank or else i'll be pushing the bioload too far with my shrimp and fish, i really wanted one too. Plus dont they get pretty big and will out grow my tank?
krishj39, yeah again its a mix, but i'll give emerald crabs a try and a sally light foot. Anyone know how big they will grow? and what they primarily eat? my blue legs will attack my scarlets if i add another, it already has happened