Hair Algae....

[Stidham]

How do I get rid of it? I've got it bad in my 10g FOWLR tank. :cry:

[reavesinc]

turbo snail, emerald crab, red legged hermit

[Stidham]

I've got snails and crabs in there, but they don't seem to be able to keep up. Maybe I'll get some more.

It seems to improve if I don't have the lights on.

Thanks.

[BeelzeBob]

get a FW black or dalmation molly. drip acclimate for 2-3 hrs.

in a 10gal, 1 molly will strip the hair algae in less than a week.

then you can address what is causing the algae to thrive, phos, NO3, too much poo... etc

[Subliminal]

ro/di.

[Reefscape]

The main thing with hair algae is that it can have a few causes..To name a few, they are excessive nutrients via over feeding, high nutrient levels in your new water or lighting.

A few questions for you to start with...


How long have the bulbs been in place and what type of lighting is it?
Whar are your current water parameters for Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate and phosphate?
What foods, how much and how often is your feeding regime?
Do you use RO water and what are the nitrate and phosphate levels of this water?The best thing to start with is to remove it manually by oulling it out of the tank by hand. What you need to be carefull of when doing this is that you keep all of the clump in your hand and not let it float away in the tank, as all you will be doing is spreading the issue..A good idea is to have a good bowl of water next to you to put the clump in and to keep your fingers clean for when you go back in the tank for the next clump. Get as much out as you possibly can in each session. Do this daily to get it down to a manageable ammount that your clean up crew can effectivly handle and start to control while your getting to the root cause of "why" the algae out break has occured.

Hopefully, by providing the answers to the above questions, we can help to pin point what is actually causing the issue and deal with it. It will take a good while to over come this, depending on the level of algae growth. This pruning is something that you will have to keep on top of..

Hope this helps a little

Niko

[Grins]

and when you pull it out freeze dry it and send it to me :clap:

[Stidham]

Thanks for the help guys.

[Marcus Fenix]

and when you pull it out freeze dry it and send it to me :clap:
planning on making some sort of wacky wig for the Halloween party I see :rofl:

[Grins]

Nope, the tang goes through nori like mad and there isn't but the ocassional piece of hair algae in the tank anymore.

[BeelzeBob]

no one believes me.

but a molly will take out more hair algae than you ever could by hand.

then you can addres what the cause of that algae is more readily, because the levels of no3 and phos etc, will not be affected by the the algae absorbing it all.

then when your tank is SPOTLESS (and it will be) they can go to the sump, back to the LFS, or anyother thing you want to do w/ them as a RESPONSIBLE HOBBIEST

[Grins]

It seems a bit wrong to get one with the intention of not keeping it unless it is a scenerio like a group getting a sea hare to share and pass along to the next reefer.

[BeelzeBob]

hmm. thats a good idea. i personally keep mine.

but honestly, its a lot better than cycling a tank with damsels. which is pretty common practice.

so using a fish aint all that bad. might get their hopes up though.

(i think they're cute in a reef)

[Grins]

I suppose it could always be lunch for Bane

[BeelzeBob]

i was hoping you wouldnt catch that....

[Stidham]

Might have to grab me a mollie this weekend. :dance2: Oh yeah, no algae! oh yeah. :dance2:

[BeelzeBob]

youll be plesently supprised. also, youll get attached to the lil guy. theyre like funny cute.

like a fat lil toddler whos stuck in the cookie jar.