Hair algae.
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Rover
Active Member
From my experience, none. *cough*
I've been told turbo snails might. And a lot of snails will get it when its still small. But once it actually grows long enough to be a nuisance, I don't believe there are many snails or critters that'll put a dent in it.
Turbos , turbans , Astria, tuxedo urchin. Sometimes crabs.
As stated above , somtimes with long thick patches , you have to toothbrush first and the snails will keep it down.
As stated above , somtimes with long thick patches , you have to toothbrush first and the snails will keep it down.
Porpoise Hork
Well-Known Member
Add coraline to that, as well as their amazing ability to shift your rockwork , tick off zoanthids, and move your corals around for you.
I found that doing a fluconazole treatment and a tang usually does the trick.
Rover
Active Member
Fluconazole worked great for me, up until the point I stopped treating fluconazole. Pretty much came back exactly as it had before. That is how I know I've got an underlying issue, which I suspect is phosphate leaching from the rock and probably overfeeding on my part.
U
User1
Guest
Turbo snails have worked for me in the past. The problem with this particular snail is that if it falls down it really can't get back up without some assistance. Especially in those odd places that nothing is near it for its food / pad to catch on. So if you miss it - it is certain death or food for a opportunistic feeder or hermit looking to upgrade his home. Few other snails work and a few searches will provide some more accurate information such has trochus but beyond that they all do their own thing in the end.
I've also heard of urchins but have not used one. I've always used the larger turbo snails when my algae is bad along with trochus and it cleared it. I'm on month six of my upgrade and getting the green algae on my Pukani rock. Not really hair but it is a thick green mat and while my Lt. Tang is working on it, it won't be able to control it alone. So I'll be adding some snails, emerald crab, and probably one more tang either a Kole Tang or Fox Face Lo if not a tang. I'll also get a urchin - wanted to try one for a while now.
TL;DR - Turbos have always worked the best for me with previous issues. Just stay on top of checking if they fall to right their clumsiness.
I've also heard of urchins but have not used one. I've always used the larger turbo snails when my algae is bad along with trochus and it cleared it. I'm on month six of my upgrade and getting the green algae on my Pukani rock. Not really hair but it is a thick green mat and while my Lt. Tang is working on it, it won't be able to control it alone. So I'll be adding some snails, emerald crab, and probably one more tang either a Kole Tang or Fox Face Lo if not a tang. I'll also get a urchin - wanted to try one for a while now.
TL;DR - Turbos have always worked the best for me with previous issues. Just stay on top of checking if they fall to right their clumsiness.
Porpoise Hork
Well-Known Member
I never had an issue with Turbos falling or unable to right themselves. My issue with Turbos was they like urchins are bulldozers. I was regularly having to remount various corals even ones that were well secured to the rockwork when I had them in my 40g. Astreas on the other hand, it seems I am always having to reach in and flip them back over. Urchins will typically scour your rock clean, so if you're hoping for coraline to cover the rock, don't get an urchin. Emeralds are fantastic for bubble algae, but if there is insufficient food for them, they can start munching on your corals. The best addition to your tank since you have a Tang already is the Foxface. The combination usually are good enough to control most nuisance algae issues. An interesting observation I have seen with my yellow tang and foxface is how they regularly stay very close to one another throughout the day. I would recommend going with the one spot instead of the Lo as they are less likely to nip at corals and do not get quite as large as the Lo does. The One spot can easily be kept in a 75-90g where the Lo can get up to 10" or more and really needs a 120-200g + to provide ample grazing area and places for it to bed down at night.
grassy_noel
Active Member
Going to throw in a word of caution against tooth-brushing hair algae. I would recommend doing this outside of your tank, in a bucket of salt water.
I had a pretty bed hair algae issue on a few of my rocks. I tooth-brushed them inside the tank and a couple weeks later I also had a hair algae problem on my sand bed and all my other rocks. The brushing sent tiny strands of algae flying all over the tank, which landed and established themselves in new places, especially because I already had favorable conditions for GHA to grow.
If you're going to remove GHA from the rocks while still inside your tank, I would do it with a small siphon tube, pinching tufts of the algae between your thumb and the tube so they get sucked out immediately after being pulled.
I had a pretty bed hair algae issue on a few of my rocks. I tooth-brushed them inside the tank and a couple weeks later I also had a hair algae problem on my sand bed and all my other rocks. The brushing sent tiny strands of algae flying all over the tank, which landed and established themselves in new places, especially because I already had favorable conditions for GHA to grow.
If you're going to remove GHA from the rocks while still inside your tank, I would do it with a small siphon tube, pinching tufts of the algae between your thumb and the tube so they get sucked out immediately after being pulled.
Tastee
Valuable Member
I have spent a lot of time in the last 3 months dealing with my GHA issue and agree with you, but have a bit to add.
Firstly you need to address the root cause as best you can. In my case I had a major spike of overfeeding due to a week away and an over-zealous AFS, but that was not the real root cause. The more fundamental root cause was an excess of nutrients. Initially I tried to control Phosphates using PhosGuard and then LC (Phos-Correx), after that one dimensional approach caused it’s own problems moved to NoPoX. The latter let me manage both NO3 and PO4 which I feel is important - they must be in balance whatever levels you are targeting.
Whilst I did this I continuously manually removed GHA. Once I got it under control however, and I still had a fair bit of GHA in the tank, I moved to the toothbrush. Manually removing got me so far, but the rest stubbornly kept growing. Once I stabilised nutrients and started with the toothbrush I quickly dealt with the rest. I did not have much problem with new outbreaks - presumably because I now had my tank in a place which was not conducive to GHA growth and the strands either died or were eaten by the CUC.
Where possible I took loose rocks outside the tank and scrubbed them in tank water in a bucket, then replaced them. Where I couldn’t remove the rock however I scrubbed in place.
Until I started the toothbrush I was in a holding pattern for a month. 3 weeks of targeted scrubbing and 2-3 times weekly cleaning of socks and skimmer and I am nearly GHA free.
