Hey everyone,
Little by little my Star Polyp is being taken over by hair algae... from within! Months ago I battled a severe case of hair algae in my tank. I literally scrubbed every piece of live rock I owned with a toothbrush, under hot water. There was only 2 pieces of rock that I could not clean in this manner, one was a rock that hosted my yellow colony polyps, the other, my Star Polyps.
It has been nearly 7 months now, and little by little the hair algae between the little purple stems of my Star Polyp is starting to spread. I pick at it as best I can with my fingers when the light is off so that I do not damage the corals inside, I am very careful. But I can only pick off so much, I cannot get my fingers between the stems, so I can never get all of it.
The hair algae is now starting to take over some of the smaller stems, and my Star Polyp is not opening up as much as it used to.
What can I do to help it?
Does anyone have any suggestions on how to remove the hair algae from within the stems?
I thought about using a pair of tweezers, but I am not sure how long I can keep it out of water while I clean it up... does anyone know how long I can keep the Star Polyp out of water?
Water params:
Amonia, Nitrite - 0
Nitrate < 10
calcium 400
Phosphate undetectable
Ph. 8.2
Salinity 1.024
Little by little my Star Polyp is being taken over by hair algae... from within! Months ago I battled a severe case of hair algae in my tank. I literally scrubbed every piece of live rock I owned with a toothbrush, under hot water. There was only 2 pieces of rock that I could not clean in this manner, one was a rock that hosted my yellow colony polyps, the other, my Star Polyps.
It has been nearly 7 months now, and little by little the hair algae between the little purple stems of my Star Polyp is starting to spread. I pick at it as best I can with my fingers when the light is off so that I do not damage the corals inside, I am very careful. But I can only pick off so much, I cannot get my fingers between the stems, so I can never get all of it.
The hair algae is now starting to take over some of the smaller stems, and my Star Polyp is not opening up as much as it used to.
What can I do to help it?
Does anyone have any suggestions on how to remove the hair algae from within the stems?
I thought about using a pair of tweezers, but I am not sure how long I can keep it out of water while I clean it up... does anyone know how long I can keep the Star Polyp out of water?
Water params:
Amonia, Nitrite - 0
Nitrate < 10
calcium 400
Phosphate undetectable
Ph. 8.2
Salinity 1.024