Friggin Hair Algae

[fishoholic]

Originally Posted by i2as kass

Lawnmower blennie dont eat hair algea unfortuantly They are more prone to picking off little diatoms and not so stringy algea from rocks :P
Levi

Our lawnmower blennie ate all the hair algea in our tank, however I think they move around to fast to be a good choice in a seahorse tank

[TheReefGuy]

Apparently they spill sand over corals and sand will stress corals.

[Delphinus]

Seahares??

Yes, corals don't appreciate being buried in sand. But if that's happening then the corals are not in a good spot. I've been in the hobby nearly ten years and have kept 4 or 5 seahares in with corals and not once did I ever lose a coral because the seahare stressed them out with sand.

Here are the problems with seahares:
- they starve once they eat all the hair algae.
- they usually die in powerheads or pump intakes.
- they are large and will likely bump into things. But, the flip side is that this problem is not unique to seahares. Same problem will exist for snails, urchins, abalones, fish, .. you name it: if it moves, it will bump into things. You owe it to yourself to attach frags to heavier pieces of rock otherwise things will move around on you, guaranteed. Glue them frags down!!! After all, isn't it a reefer's motto "I glue live animals to rocks!!" ??

If you notice sand covering a coral, take a turkey baster and shoot the sand off.

I guess there's another reason BB tanks have an edge over sand tanks. (Having said that, 2 out of 3 of my reef tanks still have sand - although I've finally seen the light and am not going to bother with sandbeds anymore after these tanks..)

Originally Posted by TheReefGuy

Apparently they spill sand over corals and sand will stress corals.

[bv_reefer]

-will scarlet reef hermits and other crabs starve and die if algae isn't present
or will they start feeding on detritus again and be ok?? -cuz i wouldn't mind starting off with half a dozen scarlet reef hermits around week 2 of cycling...

[marie]

crabs will eat anything, but as long as they have enough to eat they should leave the living animals alone

[bv_reefer]

-ok thx again, will they nip @ anemones by any chance?

[marie]

Originally Posted by bv_reefer

-ok thx again, will they nip @ anemones by any chance?

Not likely