Green Hair Algae

[Quev]

How would you guys go about removing this algae from your tank. I was gone for 5 weeks for a business trip ( I didnt have access to internet or ema) and I had my wife looking after my tank ( topping off the ato and feeding my fish) but when I got back I had a huge algae problem. I'm just trying to get some advice on what the best method to remove and control the algae outbreak.

 

[sfin52]

I would pull the rock and scrub it off in old tank water. Tooth brush and elbow grease

 

[cracker]

agreed ! 1st thing is pull out as much as possible scub check out po4/no3 levels . remove & scrub if nesessar. cleanup crew could use more An urchin turbo snail etc.

 

[Quev]

I would pull the rock and scrub it off in old tank water. Tooth brush and elbow grease

Yea I was going to do that with the small rock in the front. I just really didnt want to have to take the 2 big rocks out. Thanks for the reply!

 

[Bob Weigant]

Been there. It may take you awhile to completely get rid of it. As mentioned above start pulling as much as you can by hand and scrub those rocks as best you can

 

[Quev]

agreed ! 1st thing is pull out as much as possible scub check out po4/no3 levels . remove & scrub if nesessar. cleanup crew could use more An urchin turbo snail etc.

I was planning on getting a few turbo snails and a lawnmower blenny. Thank you for the reply!

 

[Reefing Madness]

Get your water params back in line and it will die off, but it will take time

 

[Crabs McJones]

Get your water params back in line and it will die off, but it will take time

This^^ Scrubbing it off will get rid of it for a little while, but if the problem lies deeper, it'll just come back.
Are you using RO/DI water for water changes and top off? How often are you doing water changes? How much and how often do you feed?

 

[Quev]

This^^ Scrubbing it off will get rid of it for a little while, but if the problem lies deeper, it'll just come back.
Are you using RO/DI water for water changes and top off? How often are you doing water changes? How much and how often do you feed?

Yes I only use RO water. I usually do them every other week but because I was gone it had gone almost 5 weeks without one. I did have a friend who is also in the reefing community come do a water test about 3 weeks into me being gone and everything tested normal.

 

[Crabs McJones]

Yes I only use RO water. I usually do them every other week but because I was gone it had gone almost 5 weeks without one. I did have a friend who is also in the reefing community come do a water test about 3 weeks into me being gone and everything tested normal.

Part of the problem is that when you test for nitrate and phosphate, you're almost going to test 0 with algae like that. The algae is taking up the nutrients faster than they can become free floating in the water to show up on the test kit. Do you know the TDS output of your RO water? And its possible that after 5 weeks of feeding but no nutrient export it allowed the hair algae to run wild

 

[sfin52]

Yep sure does stink. Pulled out 80percent of rocks and scrubbed. Snails and such don't like long hair algea. Scrubbing it gives your cuc time to catch up and get the upper hand.

 

[Leadfooted]

I would pull the rock and scrub it off in old tank water. Tooth brush and elbow grease

Same plus add clean up crew that includes 2-3 emerald crabs

 

[Quev]

Yep sure does stink. Pulled out 80percent of rocks and scrubbed. Snails and such don't like long hair algea. Scrubbing it gives your cuc time to catch up and get the upper hand.

Well sounds like I'm going to have a busy day scrubbing. Thank you everyone for the input it's very much appreciated!

 

[Gobi-Wan]

I was planning on getting a few turbo snails and a lawnmower blenny. Thank you for the reply!

Wouldn't recommend a lawnmower blenny for hair algae, at least in my experience. Mine wont touch it. Only eats film algaes. The lazy bum is sitting in fields of hair algae, but wont get that big "blenny belly" unless I supplement his diet with algae tablets. Who knew?