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Green hair algae question.


johnny85

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My cycle seems to be over now. Everything is at 0 except the Nitrates which is about 40ppm. My brown algae turned to green and now some green hair algae. Whats the best CUC for that. Wanting a reef safe CUC if possible.

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Snails. Ceriths, nerites, turbos. Tuxedo urchin if your tank is going to be largeish (30gal or more) and you don't mind small objects possibly/probably being moved around.  Scarlet or dwarf blue leg hermits, maybe, if you provide plenty of empty shells for them to move into (so they don't attack your snails) and are prepared for them to possibly eat the occasional snail. Also, yourself- pull out the big tufts to shorten them so the snails can eat them. If you don't have a good LFS near you, check out the ReefCleaners website.

 

Your nitrates are a little high. You want to have nitrates and phosphates present so your corals and algae (because you do want algae, just not lots of pests) can grow, but that amount will definitely encourage an algae surge. 

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Do a 50% waterchange which will drop them by 50%. This is a common thing to have after cycling.

 

You need nutrients in the tank but getting nitrate down is best.

 

Phosphate is often blamed for algae but in my experience I have had phos as high as 0.27 and had no algae.

 

Yet when my nitrates go above 5, I get algae.

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My PO4 is 0.25+ ppm and NO3 is >50ppm.

 

I have nothing but massive amounts of coralline algae anymore.  No green algae is visible (tho I'm sure still present as nubbins around the tank).

 

Manual removal helped....but adequate cleanup crew was the difference that kept the algae from growing back.

 

Cleanup crew is still kicking....they mostly all hide during the day, which is interesting. 

 

I have mostly turbo snails, but some Astreas too....a few hermits and maybe a few emerald crabs left too, but I don't see any of the crabs with any regularity.  Used to, though.

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1 hour ago, mcarroll said:

My PO4 is 0.25+ ppm and NO3 is >50ppm.

 

I have nothing but massive amounts of coralline algae anymore.  No green algae is visible (tho I'm sure still present as nubbins around the tank).

 

Manual removal helped....but adequate cleanup crew was the difference that kept the algae from growing back.

 

Cleanup crew is still kicking....they mostly all hide during the day, which is interesting. 

 

I have mostly turbo snails, but some Astreas too....a few hermits and maybe a few emerald crabs left too, but I don't see any of the crabs with any regularity.  Used to, though.

I always believed in the phosphate causing algae because that's what's been believed and preached for yrs.

 

Until I experienced it for myself.

 

When I had 0 phos and low nitrates(not intentionally) I had algae outbreaks and little coral growth.

 

I then suffered dino's after 4 yrs and when I started phyto dosing, seeded pods, and got my phos up, I have had a cleaner tank and more growth.

 

It's only when my nitrates go a bit higher and phos drops that I end up with algae(not a lot but definitely there)

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Sea hares are not a good algae control measure, because once they eat all the algae (which they'll do very fast), they starve. Maybe if you have someone else who'll take it after it's eaten your algae, but still. Better to buy a reasonable amount of cleanup snails that you'll keep for the rest of their little snail lives, and supplement with manual removal as needed.

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If you don't have any algae, keep a very close eye on that blenny. Many of the algae-eating blennies need to eat a lot of algae to stay healthy and well-fed.

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