Green hair algae

[fkshiu]

Green sea hare (dolabella auricularia)

Just remember to pass it on when you run out since it will die if you don't. I've got one mowing the lawn now as I type.

[BlueWorldAquatic]

Sea Hare and Scopus tang worked well in my personal tank. I also noticed my Brown Bar (Dragon) Goby was tearing it off quite readily.

Ken

[mr.wilson]

You need to eliminate the source of the hair algae problem which is usually excess nutrients arising from one or a combination of any of the following...

1) Frozen food isn't adequately rinsed to remove phosphate.
2) Algae is allowed to die off or strands are severed.
3) Substrate needs to be vacuumed.
4) Rock needs to be sprayed with powerhead or baster to remove detritus.
5) Source water is not zero TDS (add RO/DI unit).
6) Phosphate removal system is inadequate (add iron-based binder).
7) Not enough carbon used or allowing it to stay in the tank too long.
8) Over-feeding.
9) Not enough reef janitors (herbivores & detrivores).
10) Inadequate protein skimming.
11) Inadequate refugium nutrient export.
12) Not enough water changes.
13) Inadequate mechanical filtration.
14) Over-active biological filtration (remove wet/dry filtration if you have it).

After you have found and eliminated the sources, you can raise the magnesium (K level) in your tank to 1500 and the algae will die off in less than a month. If you don't keep on it, it will come back.

[Myka]

I agree to find the source of the nutrients instead of putting a bandaid on it by adding a fish to eat the algae. There is lots of easy to read information in the algae link in my signature. Lots of different approaches to lowering nutrients.

[naesco]

Take a look at the size of the guys tank before recommending a tang.

The regal is omnivorous. It is the only tang that is a meat eater.
If you saw it in algae it was searching for meatly morsels in the algae.
Simply put the yellow and regal tang are not good options.

A sea hare is a good option if you take the time to acclimatize it and feed it algae or return it to the lfs when the algae is done.
Don't let it starve in your tank.

The best option is to clean up your water problem and you will find that the algae problem will go away over time.

[gobytron]

Originally Posted by Myka

I agree to find the source of the nutrients instead of putting a bandaid on it by adding a fish to eat the algae. There is lots of easy to read information in the algae link in my signature. Lots of different approaches to lowering nutrients.

Haha...
I wonder what mother nature would call this bandaid solution...lol

I think it's cool that you can have something of a functioning ecosystem in your tank with a natural food source for one of its inhabitants...


Hair algae sucks though...lol
i get little sprouts every now and then that i just pluck carefully...

was thinking of an emerald crab though...?

[fkshiu]

I don't see how adding a creature to eat the hair algae is a "bandaid" either. If that we're the guess your entire clean-up crew would be a "bandaid" solution. It is merely one in a combination of methods that can be used to tackle the problem.

[aquajeep]

my 75 gallon has gha slowly taking over.ive tryed to lower nutrient levels but did not work.i have a green emerald 7 bl hermits12 snails but snails only clean glass hermits up to 2 inches from sand bed and i never see the emerald unless he sheds. do sea hares climb rock.?half my rock is covered in nice green bristle like algea then gha on top.not much to hold on too.yellow tang looks like a better choice for picking between polyps...but i heard they pick on my xenia and anthelia.??

[Myka]

Originally Posted by gobytron

Haha...I wonder what mother nature would call this bandaid solution...lol

Originally Posted by fkshiu

I don't see how adding a creature to eat the hair algae is a "bandaid" either. If that we're the guess your entire clean-up crew would be a "bandaid" solution. It is merely one in a combination of methods that can be used to tackle the problem.

I was mainly referring to adding large or potentially large fish to system for algae control. A balanced clean up crew is essential. Algae is a sign of obvious excess nutrients for one reason or another. You may add a fish or other critter to eat it, but if you carry on with your regime the algae will be back as the nutrients continue to rise. You need to learn to adjust your habits in order to vanquish the algae for the long run. Adding a giant poop machine like a Tang or Foxface to a tank that is already overloaded with nutrients isn't always the best option. People end up putting fish and critters onto their system without really thinking about it too much just because "it will eat the algae". All too often you see big fish crammed into small tanks for this reason. That's why I call it a bandaid. Imo, get rid of the algae first, then add fish.

[Canadian]

You know, I can certainly appreciate that generally the cause of hair algae is excess nutrients. And that typically the excess nutrients are caused by some poor husbandry.

However, people seem to be really quick to attribute the problem to someone's husbandry without getting all the information.

I find the most often misdiagnosed cause of hair algae is poor liverock. Over the last 10 years liverock has become more and more poor in quality. Additionally, LFSs generally have really poor "curing" practices. Liverock is tossed in a vat with some meagre flow and everything on the rock decays and clogs up the liverock. So most hobbyists are buying nice, big, expensive chunks of phosphate to start out their reef tank - great start! Unfortunately, most newbies don't read about "cooking" and despite great husbandry practices and top notch equipment they find themselves battling hair algae in short order.

When the problem becomes too much to bear, they post online after numerous failed attempts to get the problem under control. Inevitably they post that their test kits read zero phosphate and zero nitrate. They might even be astute enough to observe (if they have them) that their SPS are rather pale in coloration. Then some "well intentioned" hobbyist suggests they have to have phosphate and nitrate or the algae wouldn't be growing - "it's just being pulled out of the water by the algae so your test kit can't read it" or "your [insert brand/type of test kit] isn't very good and isn't capable of reading values below x".

With this phosphate laden liverock remaining in their tank they're going to fight a long, arduous battle. The phosphate is slowly leaching out, and you'll often see detritus being expelled from the liverock just like you would see in a vat with "cooking liverock". Unfortunately the tank is well lit and there's already hair algae there so it traps the organics being purged from the liverock and continues to fuel the algae's growth without it ever making its way into the water column. This can go on for years and all the while you'll test your water and continue to be befuddled by the fact that you're adhering to every good husbandry practice under the sun with no measurable phosphate or nitrate and yet this insidious hair algae continues to grow while your corals suffer from a lack of nutrients.

The take home message: Start with clean liverock. And if all else fails to correct the problem should you have started your reef tank with yucky liverock, start again with clean liverock. We, myself included, far too readily accept paying thousands of dollars for equipment and carefully planning out our equipment layout and design and then go on, without so much as a second thought, to just purchase whatever liverock is readily available and toss it in our "kinda well thought out tanks" only to become frustrated.