Sea Hare for Hair Algae.

[Knight_Solaire01]

Hello, everyone.

I was just wondering if any of you have sea hares and if so, are they good at getting rid of hair algae? Due to the way my apartment is set up I can't really keep my tank from sunlight, even indirectly, without keeping the blinds shut(which I would rather not due with seasonal depression and sunbathing cats). My lawn mower blenny is a slacker and is more keen to eat the brine shrimp for my sea horses than to eat the vast amount of hair algae that is growing. Are sea hares a good solution?

 

[The Night Driving Avenger]

Sea Hares are awesome but the one i had did nothing about hair algae. i managed to get rid of it using a chemical called Razor from Brightwell Aquatics, got it off ebay

 

[Knight_Solaire01]

Sea Hares are awesome but the one i had did nothing about hair algae. i managed to get rid of it using a chemical called Razor from Brightwell Aquatics, got it off ebay

I will research that as I am unsure how it will effect my seahorses.

 

[spacey]

Vibrant + NoPox

 

[Sharkbait19]

I got rid of my hair algae simply by pinching it off the rocks, then netting the floaters out of the water. Then the crustaceans took care of the 5% I missed. It was a tedious process, but an effective one.

I suppose the solution depends on how much hair algae you are dealing with. For me, it covered my whole tank. My tank, however, is a nano reef. The only problem that comes out of manual removal is to expect lots of die off and an ammonia spike following. Otherwise, it’s a simple solution. I, too, was going to get a sea hare, but was told that a better method is just remove and then reduce lighting. I haven’t seen much algae since, and I didn’t really even have to reduce the lighting.

Another solution is simply letting it run its course. I’ve had plenty of algae blooms that have just disappeared after a while because they starve themselves of nutrients. Hair algae is less likely to do this though, so you may need to get in there and scrape some of it off the rocks.

 

[jeffrey750750]

Way back when I tried a sea hare for the same thing, he chowed that hair. He only lived about two weeks though.

 

[Knight_Solaire01]

I got rid of my hair algae simply by pinching it off the rocks, then netting the floaters out of the water. Then the crustaceans took care of the 5% I missed. It was a tedious process, but an effective one.

I suppose the solution depends on how much hair algae you are dealing with. For me, it covered my whole tank. My tank, however, is a nano reef. The only problem that comes out of manual removal is to expect lots of die off and an ammonia spike following. Otherwise, it’s a simple solution. I, too, was going to get a sea hare, but was told that a better method is just remove and then reduce lighting. I haven’t seen much algae since, and I didn’t really even have to reduce the lighting.

Another solution is simply letting it run its course. I’ve had plenty of algae blooms that have just disappeared after a while because they starve themselves of nutrients. Hair algae is less likely to do this though, so you may need to get in there and scrape some of it off the rocks.

Yeah that is what I am afraid of, an ammonia spike. I am already dealing with a nitrate(and small amount of nitrites too) on a well cycled tank with corals. My goronia are actually dying as a result.

 

[Sharkbait19]

Yeah that is what I am afraid of, an ammonia spike. I am already dealing with a nitrate(and small amount of nitrites too) on a well cycled tank with corals. My goronia are actually dying as a result.

That's understandable. Manual removal is simply the quickest method, but also the dirtiest. That's why I did it just before a water change when I siphoned out all the die-off. Of course, my leathers and new torch are suffering because of the uncontrollable ammonia (which is a huge headache) but I am also lucky to have a fast CUC to sweep up most of the die-off. I would personally avoid chemical bombing the tank if you can-- It can put ill effects on your corals.

 

[330Bob]

Sea Hares are awesome but the one i had did nothing about hair algae. i managed to get rid of it using a chemical called Razor from Brightwell Aquatics, got it off ebay

Ive tried hermits, emerald, various snails and they are very weak on removing hair algae. The best by a factor or 100x is the sea hair. You can't keep them long as they will run out of food. I put two in a 300 gallon tanks and they ate ALL in under 10 days. Like hoovers.
Then you have to give them back to the fish store as the will die without enough food. I rented them.

I think I had one that was a picky eater of out 6 i tried. Don't bother with hermits to get rid of hair they are terrible vs sea hairs.

That said GFO is better so you never get the hair in the first place.