hair algae

[Metznreef]

i have a hair algae problem in my tank. i did a search and some people said said scrub the rocks but i don't want to do that because i could lose some life off the rocks. others said hermits but my hermit doesn't touch it. should i get a couple of turbo grazers to see how it goes? are they efficient hair algae eaters?

[Christopher Marks]

Well, you really need to find the cause of the hair algae and take care of that, or else you will be eternally plauged with it

 

Turbo grazers *might* eat it up though. Have you thought about getting an emerald crab or something like that?

[Metznreef]

i have no ammonia, nitrites, or nitrates. light cycles are about 11-12 hours a day. i have heard that emerald crabs mess with corals some. is that true?

[tinyreef]

ime the emerald crabs are not to be trusted, frankly crabs aren't to be trusted in general. that red-legged hermit's a slacker.

 

the blue-legged are great! they're smaller too which saves your bioload. i'd get around five blues for a 10g. you'll see improvement within a couple of days.

 

chris is correct about the source of the hair algae. you may want to review how much nutrients you are importing into the system.

[gobies]

My zebra-legged hermits took care of most of my algae, and the turbo finished the job.

[Metznreef]

well i just added two turbos today, hope they help.

[Jennifer]

I just recently fended off an impressive crop of hair algae...I didn't want to disturb anyone or anything by removing rock; what worked well for me was to simply pull off what I could, using tweezers and a small bottle-type brush. Once it was more sparse the scarlet reef hermit and the turbos seem to be keeping it well in control. The scarlet would go all postal on it every once in a while regardless of the height and denseness...he even had a little hair "cave" for awhile; makes me wish I had a decent digital camera to have captured the moment!

 

Also, a nano pioneer friend of mine (we're talking almost a decade of experience), swears that controlling the levels of phosphates is of the utmost importance in nusiance algae control. I went the less technical route.

 

I am assuming that this a natural part of the maturation of my tank. Now that the hair algae is under control, I am having a population spike in the way of small fan worms and the like...water quality is doing great, even the heat hasn't been much of a problem with the aid of my trusty desk-top fan.

[jay2k2]

why not try and get a protein skimmer could be caused my excess nutrients in the water?

[gobies]

Originally posted by Jennifer

Also, a nano pioneer friend of mine (we're talking almost a decade of experience), swears that controlling the levels of phosphates is of the utmost importance in nusiance algae control.

 

Ah. Good info. I have a Fluval 1 internal filter in my tank, with Seachem PhosGuard in the little media chamber. I also had a soda-bottle skimmer in my tank when I was getting it going.

[Jennifer]

I'm not exactly sure what kind of phosphate "sponge" he uses, but he says that's the only way to control the levels. He also told me that relying on hermits, turbos and such to control the algae is all well and good, but reminded me that those critters don't control the phosphate, they simply cycle and then excrete what was contained in what they were eating. He went on to say that phosphate levels in natural reef habitats are almost always near zero, and most tanks are WELL above those levels...interesting, huh?

[Metznreef]

could i run phos-zorb in my protein skimmer?