New Tank....New to Hobby...new to some challenges

[Bearlaw]

Hi All,

So....I have a 40 gallon bow front tank. I have all the live rock, sand etc... my tank has recently completed it's first cycle.

I have:

8 snails
7 hermit crabs
1 green emerald crab
1 scooter blenny
2 clowns.

And it would seem none of these guys consume green hair algae....any suggestionsquestion:

[BlueTang<3]

For green hair algae try mexican turbo snails. Blue world or Marine Aquaria had a few last time i was in.

[fishytime]

first off welcome to canreef!.....as Wes said mexican turbo snails do a bang up job or if you have enough HA you could try a seahare......I must warn you....you will be harassed for pics

[reefwars]

I love my mexican turbos, I just traget them to areas I want gone they do a bangup job , they've gotten stuck in small areas a few times as mine are quite large lol mines got HA growing on it's shell must be what keeps him going kinda like a donkey with a carrot on a string in his face lol

[Lance]

Welcome to Canreef!
Hair algae is common in new tanks. Keeping your water's parameters in check along with manual removal will help. Snails, LM Blennies etc. do a good job as well, but after the HA is gone you have to find something for them to eat.

[Bearlaw]

Hi Folks,
Thanks for the warm welcome. One more small question...will the turbo take the hair algae off the substrate? I used live sand....

Thanks again!

[Murminator]

Originally Posted by Bearlaw

Hi All,

So....I have a 40 gallon bow front tank. I have all the live rock, sand etc... my tank has recently completed it's first cycle.

I have:

8 snails
7 hermit crabs
1 green emerald crab
1 scooter blenny
2 clowns.

And it would seem none of these guys consume green hair algae....any suggestionsquestion:

Did you just buy the tank from Big Als last week?

[reefwars]

While your tank is cycling it will develop algae at differnt times most will go away with time it can take up to a year or so for a tank to stabilize in the mean time just keep good maintanance, Mexican turbos I don't think do sand I know mine don't maybe you need some more flow in areas where algae is building. Give your tank time and don't pick at it to mch let it stabilize on it's own in itsown time

[Bearlaw]

Hi Murm,

Nope - didn't buy it at big al's. Had the tank for almost 3 months now.

On another note...just noticed this morning some of my base rock is starting to turn purple . Thats "Coraline Algae" correct? This thing is finally starting to take off!

[DiverDude]

Trying to cure HA with livestock is like taking aspirin when you have cancer -it may make you feel a bit better but it's doing nothing to cure the underlying problem.

HA is caused by excess nutrients in the water and light. Remove either of those and it will die. Since other things in your tank need light, you're best to remove the excess nutrients

The good news is that in a new setup it's normal to have less than ideal water parameters. Use good water (RO or Ro/DI) and do regular water changes and learn to test your parameters regularly. It'll take a while but it will go away eventually.

I had bad HA when I started and it vanished. Recently, it's back so it means I slipped somewhere.

Manually removing as much as you can will certainly help (it'll make you feel better too !). Putting a Sea Hare in there temporarily (they will starve and die when the HA is gone) will also help. Some LFS rent them so ask around.