What's gonna eat this algae?

[jvision]

I've got some algae starting to creep into my system. I'm thinking that I don't have enough hermit crabs (about 6 in a 37+10g sump). Here's some pics:





Is there something small and peaceful that will take care of this?

I'm planning on lighting up the sump for some macro - I'm guessing that this will help a lot, too.

[ElGuappo]

No sure excatly but im thinking a sea hare will do it i have one i a 34 gallon reef tank and no bother either way with him he is barely noticed. only thing is once he eats all the algae you might have to start supplimenting him . they eat at a great pace. take a look at mine i will add a pic right now. i have one because my tank is over run with algae i cant get rid of. mine is barely 2 inches but will grow to 4 or 5 .

[Der_Iron_Chef]

Is it really coarse? Looks like it could be bryopsis...which is difficult to eradicate. There's a thread on Reef Central about raising Mg levels to get rid of it.

[ponokareefer]

I tried a number of different critters before a short spine urchin took care of it for me.

[Aquattro]

I have a bit of that, I found some snails that just chow it down. Kinda like turbos but with spikes around the base of their shell.

[Myka]

That is hair algae (bryopsis). It is NOT hard to get rid of provided you do everything right. The only time that I have ever seen hair algae be a real nuisance to eradicate was from "dirty" live rocks that leached phosphates.

Hair algae is caused mainly by excess nutrients;phosphates and nitrates primarily or any combination of low calcium, alkalinity and/or magnesium. It can also be caused by old bulbs as well as several other less likely problems.

In regard to excess nutrients, you may or may not actually have any nitrate or phosphate readings. This is because the algae is eating it as fast as your tank is producing it, so there isn't any left in the water to show up on your test kits. It's all being held by the algaes! Macro algae in the sump should help quite a bit for this. As well as cutting down on feeding (including liquids like phyto etc). Make sure there aren't any dead spots in your tank for detritus to settle and break down.

Your calcium should be at least 400 ppm. I aim for 400-425 ppm. Alkalinity should be 8-10 dKH to help prevent hair algae, although many people operate their tank both above and below these numbers. Magnesium should be 1350-1400 ppm. All these numbers are very important for your corals in their ability to grow their skeletons, so you should have your numbers in these ranges anyway as I see hard corals in your photos.

MH bulbs should be replaced every 12 months, T5 bulbs every 8 months, and PC and NO bulbs every 6 months. This is because the spectrum changes; slowly fading from the bluer end to the redder end (yellow) which promotes algae growth.

So, here's some questions you need to answer to help you with your hair algae. Please don't leave any out:

How old is your tank?
How often/what size waterchanges?
What kind of course water? (RO, RO/DI, tap, etc)
What temperature is your tank?
What kind of filtration? What medias do you use?
What kind of lighting?
How long do your lights run each day?
How old are the bulbs?
How many of what kind of fish?
What do you feed? How much? How often? (Include liquid foods)
What are your water parameters? (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH, calcium, alkalinity, magnesium)

Let's start there.

Originally Posted by reef_raf

I have a bit of that, I found some snails that just chow it down. Kinda like turbos but with spikes around the base of their shell.

Those are Astraea snails. They shouldn't eat bryopsis. You likely have green turf algae.

[Aquattro]

Originally Posted by Myka

Those are Astraea snails. They shouldn't eat bryopsis. You likely have green turf algae.

No, it's not bryopsis, but the snails are not astrea either. Never seen them before.

[Myka]

Originally Posted by reef_raf

No, it's not bryopsis, but the snails are not astrea either. Never seen them before.

Do they look like this?

[imisky]

most of my algae disappeared on me when i started to dose a source of carbon into my tank (vodka,sugar,vinegar) except for one type which i dont know what it is...its red and looks like hair algae.

i would do a combination of manual removal/using animals/ dosing carbon to let the bacteria take up the NO3 and PO4

[tang daddy]

are you using rodi water that helps too.