hair algae keeps growing

[bobmakespancakes]

I have been doing weekly 2 gallon water changes in my 13.5 gallon tank to help with my algae but it keeps growing! i have watched my crabs and snails and nothing will eat it. my emerald crab literally has it growing on his legs. i really want the algae gone because it makes the tank look ugly but nothing in my tank is eating it. does anyone have any suggestions on how to fix this?

 

[Ippyroy]

You need to manually remove it. The snails and crabs don't eat it it is long. This is a great and proven way to deal with it.

 

[bobmakespancakes]

You need to manually remove it. The snails and crabs don't eat it it is long. This is a great and proven way to deal with it.

ok thank you i will try this

 

[Ippyroy]

ok thank you i will try this

The next thing to try is the ripclean method, but I would do this first. Much easier and works every time. Good Luck!

 

[TriggersAmuck]

Reef2Reef Pest algae challenge thread hydrogen peroxide

What you are really in for: Hand cleaning, hard work siphon and rasp-removing of accumulations and invasions outside the tank and doing massive water changes is 90% of this thread, peroxide is 10%. We almost never dose peroxide into the tank water, this is a you-work-physically-hard as catch-up...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[TriggersAmuck]

You might want to test Nitrate and Phosphate so you have an idea how bad the nutrient situation is. Once you remove the algae you'll want to make sure that you address the conditions which are currently fueling its growth.

 

[ReefBridge]

Another method, that I’ve had success with, but be careful with it is hydrogen peroxide. I had a 13.5 and would turn off the return pump and use a syringe to inject it where the algae is thickest. I would do that once a day. The byproduct that’s left is water, so it won’t poison the water long term.

 

[Futuretotm]

Remember you might get a low reading on the nutrients and that’s because the GHA is consuming it, here’s how I defeated mine:

fluconazole
Peroxide - direct application with pumps off
Vibrant
Nutrient reduction (no more reef roids every other day)
Increased my white light (so fluconazole would work)
Increased ATS with reduced water flow (so fluc won’t kill)
Bought 40+ snails - kept placing them daily into algae
Had a fox face but he didn’t touch any of it

 

[Cbones1979]

You need to manually remove it. The snails and crabs don't eat it it is long. This is a great and proven way to deal with it.

Last time I used phosphate rx it wiped out everything and I got dinos

 

[Ippyroy]

Last time I used phosphate rx it wiped out everything and I got dinos

Phosphate RX and GFO or even carbon dosing can be complicated. You have to be very careful and test constantly so that you do not strip out everything you are trying to lower.

 

[Cbones1979]

Phosphate RX and GFO or even carbon dosing can be complicated. You have to be very careful and test constantly so that you do not strip out everything you are trying to lower.

Yeah. Always use less then recommended imo. I’ve toyed with using now on my 4 month old tank for gha but I remember what happened last time...