Hairy Rocks..Is a Lawn Mower Blenny the answer?

[knowthemath]

I have been having a major algae crisis. My rocks are covered in hair algae with a film of red slimy algae laying on it. I purchased an emerald crab a couple of months ago that I love. He's the most interesting thing in the tank. He's a hard worker, but can't keep up with the algae. Thursday I got a lawn mower blenny. All of the red algae is gone, but I do not see any difference in the hairy algae. Will the blenny eat it?

[@LVIN]

the blenny will obviously help but you can also try trimming down the source of the nutrients that feed the algae.
how big is your tank?

[knowthemath]

Check my specs. I don't think I'm overfeeding, but I'm never confident about feedings. I have a percula that we call Mr. Mouth. He usually eats every bite. My crab is always waiting for the leftovers.

[@LVIN]

"Janitorial Staff: Emerald Crab, Peppermint Shrimp, Mexican Red-leg hermits,
Cerith, Astraea and Nerite Snails"
Your Mexican Red-Leggeds and Cerite/Astrea/Nerite Snails should take care of the problem, depending on their number. I do have an LMB that helped me win a battle against hair algae. But I am not sure how it affects your bio load. Maybe the others can clear it up for you.

[knowthemath]

This morning half my tank was again clear of the red slimy algae. When I came home at 3:00, my emerald was feasting on the LMB. :sad I'm not sure what happened. I don't know if the LMB was actually doing the cleaning, somebody was.......I never saw him very active from the time I brought him home on Thursday. Another mystery from the deep blue sea.

If the tank is cleaned again tonight, I'll know he had nothing to do with it. I'm a little concerned about purchasing another LMB......I didn't think the emerald was aggressive enough to kill.

[@LVIN]

Sorry to hear about your loss. I agree with you on the emerald crab's not too aggressive on the LMB. Anyway, glad to hear your algae problem's on check now. I have an emerald and LMB in my 55 but it never happened to me.

[wayne]

Nitrate, phosphate, how much circulation, what are you feeding and when

[OrionGirl]

Red slime sounds more like cyano bacteria than any algae. Different set of solutions entirely, and very few critters will help. Search on cyano bacteria.

[knowthemath]

It's definitely cyano bacteria. I received a new crew of snails in last week about the same time as I purchased the LMB. Every morning the tank is pretty clean so the LMB was not doing the cleaning.

I still need something to conquer the battle with the hairy algae.

[gamecockks]

when I had cyno a few years back in my smaller tank, I turned the lights off for about 5 days if I remember correctly. You may turn them on for a couple a few minutes a day to feed the fish. I also covered the tank with a blanket to keep the light out. It took care of the cyno. I'm sure it will probably help the hair algea too, but not like the cyno. Also tangs will rip up that hair algea in one - two days. NO CHEMICALS! Hope that helps.

[knowthemath]

I don't think my corals would appreciate the darkness. I have reduced the light to about 8 hours a day. Think I can go less?

[gamecockks]

Oh hell yes....you can reduce the light to way less and with that cyno you should. What kinds of corals do you have? If you have sps corals, they are the only ones that are a little touchy and even they will be fine without light for a period time (couple days at least). Try going a couple of days without your lights. Then look to see if some cyno has been reduced. Leave the lights on then for maybe a few hours, 4 or 5 and then cut them off again for a couple of days. That cyno needs light a lot more than those corals. Just my experience, take it for what its worth.

[knowthemath]

I have several new sps which are still acclimating. They 've been in the tank for a couple of weeks and have not started showing their colors yet, so I'm not sure I should go without lights.

[gamecockks]

Wow....couple of weeks and no color yet? Hmmm...all of mine started showing color within 2 days. Well, good luck.

[knowthemath]

Everybody is okay except for my acroporas. They are both pale green.