Removing Green Hair Algae from Coral

[newreefer]

Have a 6 month old nano. All params are good with slight Nitrates (< 5ppm). Have CUC (6 various snails and one hermit).

My problem is GHA just started growing on the stalk of my Candy Cane that's been in tank a couple months! No where else. Will work on eliminating the source.

In the meantime, what should I do with Candy Cane? Pull the GHA off? Can I use a toothbrush to scrub or will this harm CC? Leave it alone - so far the CUC has not taken action.

Thanks

[dmjordan]

manually remove as much as you can. if you can scrub the rest off of the skeleton without damaging the coral than do that also.

[OldManOfTheSea]

You can try by using a soft toothbrush

[buttered loins]

Yeah i would would use a soft tooth brush

[newreefer]

Thanks for all the replies. Figured getting it off stalk and out of tank was best. I used tweezers to pull off as much as I could see, then a soft toohbrush to remove a bit more.

Was very hard to see and did not want to **** off CC too much - I think I got 90% and will monitored and repeat as necessary.

Params good: Ammo/Nitrite/Phos 0; Nitrate 5; SG 1.024; temp 78-79. All pretty steady for a few months. Chg 10% water each week.

Any idea of cause? Tank has good flow and adjusted so CC has more. I feed once per day. Fish don't get all, but I'm sure Nass snail, hermit crab, pompom crab and various bristle worms and brittle stars get the rest.

Cut back on feeding?

[fish guru]

Don't cut back on feeding. Ur phosphates levels r fine so u r doing everything fine. Hair algea is a pain but it is all a part of cycling a tank usually new tanks are prone to get algea infestations. Good thing u acted quickly. Just repeat scrubbing. Also how long do u have the lights on for? I Had a hair algea infestation but fixed it by reducing how long I leave the lights on for.

[dmjordan]

you also have to remember that algaes feed on nitrates and phosphates. with that in mind if you are having an algae problem in your tank than you do have nitrates and phosphates in your tank. your test might show little or nothing but if it wasn't there you wouldn't have an algae problem. what type of food do you feed and how much?