Hair algae

ibobvt · Feb 22, 2013

Good morning all. My wife and I have had our 46 gallon bow reef tank up since August of last year, and so far so good. Fish and corals are doing great. We had some red slime algae, but treated it with Chemical-clean, and its totally gone now. The issue we are still having is some hair algae, it's not in mats, but in tufts growing in several places in the tank, kinda like moss balls. I vacuum some of it out during routine maintenance, but can never seem to gain on it. We have some turbo snails. Any recommendations.

Budman's Corals · Feb 22, 2013

ibobvt said:
Good morning all. My wife and I have had our 46 gallon bow reef tank up since August of last year, and so far so good. Fish and corals are doing great. We had some red slime algae, but treated it with Chemical-clean, and its totally gone now. The issue we are still having is some hair algae, it's not in mats, but in tufts growing in several places in the tank, kinda like moss balls. I vacuum some of it out during routine maintenance, but can never seem to gain on it. We have some turbo snails. Any recommendations.

Lawnmower Blenny maybe? less feeding,lower light exposure till gone..

good luck

mike007 · Feb 22, 2013

Also you might try an urchin they like to eat algae. And i agree with budman less feeding lower nitrates and phos.

dorky · Feb 22, 2013

Yes I agree with them but be careful with which urchins. Some of them are reef safe and some are not. I can't think of any nano algae eating fish that is suitable for ur size tank.

lofty78 · Feb 22, 2013

dorky said:
Yes I agree with them but be careful with which urchins. Some of them are reef safe and some are not. I can't think of any nano algae eating fish that is suitable for ur size tank.

Yeah, I was going to say my sailfin and kole tangs do a great job of keeping it in check, but 46 is too small. I actually like having some of this in my tank as it is a natural look, but unchecked it could get out of hand... Emerald crab may be an option, but they hand get a little handy with smaller fish when they get bigger.

dorky · Feb 22, 2013

lofty78 said:
Yeah, I was going to say my sailfin and kole tangs do a great job of keeping it in check, but 46 is too small. I actually like having some of this in my tank as it is a natural look, but unchecked it could get out of hand... Emerald crab may be an option, but they hand get a little handy with smaller fish when they get bigger.

Well I have a Red Sea sailfin in my 40g but don't judge me lol it smaller than 2in. I only have three fish so it fine. As for crabs be careful wat type of crab u put in ur tank. Emerald crab is good when they do their job lol

Budman's Corals · Feb 22, 2013

dorky said:
Well I have a Red Sea sailfin in my 40g but don't judge me lol it smaller than 2in. I only have three fish so it fine. As for crabs be careful wat type of crab u put in ur tank. Emerald crab is good when they do their job lol

I think emeralds are really just good for Bubble algae.they might pick on the hair but if the hairs to long they will leave it be...

WHAT!!!!!! u have a Sailfin in a 40

just kidding..when it gets bigger more reason to upgrade

GratefulReef · Feb 22, 2013

Are you using RODI water, what are you water params? Less feeding and less light can help too.

dorky · Feb 22, 2013

budman said:
I think emeralds are really just good for Bubble algae.they might pick on the hair but if the hairs to long they will leave it be...

WHAT!!!!!! u have a Sailfin in a 40

just kidding..when it gets bigger more reason to upgrade

Hey hey now I said don't judge me lol yea I'm definitely will be upgrade in about a year or two so I can get more tang. I was lucky to have this type of Red Sea this small. All my lfs don't carry em so I was like umm screw it n get em while I can lol n sry for sidetracking ur thread. Just remember to get some turbo snail they eat it clean off the rock.

fragmatic · Feb 22, 2013

As you know there are lots of opinions. My take is I don't see any mention of a refugium. I run two and make it a point to run more intense lighting on them so they go absolutely algae nutz and consume most of the algae food. I had a serious problem until I started doing this aggressively. I still have to scrub the glass to keep it clear, but my LR is no longer plagued by algae.

.... now I've done it, ..... I'd better go bang my head on some wood after posting that.

Budman's Corals · Feb 22, 2013

fragmatic said:
As you know there are lots of opinions. My take is I don't see any mention of a refugium. I run two and make it a point to run more intense lighting on them so they go absolutely algae nutz and consume most of the algae food. I had a serious problem until I started doing this aggressively. I still have to scrub the glass to keep it clear, but my LR is no longer plagued by algae.

.... now I've done it, ..... I'd better go bang my head on some wood after posting that.

Does ibovt run a fuge?

Budman's Corals · Feb 22, 2013

dorky said:
Hey hey now I said don't judge me lol yea I'm definitely will be upgrade in about a year or two so I can get more tang. I was lucky to have this type of Red Sea this small. All my lfs don't carry em so I was like umm screw it n get em while I can lol n sry for sidetracking ur thread. Just remember to get some turbo snail they eat it clean off the rock.

Like the tang,,They are great algae eaters...

Pappy · Feb 22, 2013

Ok....tangs will not eat hair algae, nor blennies or emerald crabs. As suggested earlier def cut back on feeding. I had a hair algae issue and tried everything (all listed above)...the only thing that kept it in check was running gfo in a reactor and a seahare . Good luck

Budman's Corals · Feb 22, 2013

Pappy said:
Ok....tangs will not eat hair algae, nor blennies or emerald crabs. As suggested earlier def cut back on feeding. I had a hair algae issue and tried everything (all listed above)...the only thing that kept it in check was running gfo in a reactor and a seahare . Good luck