Hair Algae

[fishybait]

i setup my tank reef about 2 years ago
i am still very badly suffering from hair algae nothing seems to get rid of it
any ideas?

 

[kkyyllee]

are you using ro/di water? or tap?

 

[fishybait]

ro water

 

[kkyyllee]

how bigs ur tank and whats in it?

what are your water parameters?

 

[Lynden]

Lawnmower blennies are excellent at removing this algae.

 

[fishybait]

it is 4ft Rio 240
with one clown
one maroon clown
two small chromis
a yellow tang and a coral beauty

i don't no what my water parameters are

Lawnmower blennies are excellent at removing this algae.

i had a lawnmower blennie but it died

 

[rictheredneck]

its best to try and figure out why its growing all the time are you using rowaphos? if not id suggest it, but Ive never used it myself but some people swear by it. we had a prob with hair algae so we purchased a sea hare for our Rio 240 and it ate all the hair in about a week but you have to watch them with power heads, preferably stuffing the inlet with sponge. also they dont live so long if you haven't seen it a few days I'd start looking try and buy the smallest specimen which in theory should be the youngest but its pretty much guaranteed that the hair will disappear very quickly in that case they will need some help with food like seaweed sheets, i presume you will have some for your tang. but like i say try and identify the problem first. oh and they crap tons!

 

[SkiFletch]

I'd start with a phosphate remover (rowaphos or phosban) and get an algae blenny.

Then I'd consider changing foods, vaccuming your substrate (if you don't allready), and examining your lighting and flowrate.

 

[fishybait]

thanks for the advice

 

[hubbard_shark]

i got a lawnmower blenny like a week ago, since ive been battlin the hair algae in my tank, which has gone down, yet my blenny seems to not wanna eat the hair algae. he seems to just eat around it, anyone know why? or what's up?

also ski, i know uve told me things bout lettuce nudibranchs, r they worth it?

 

[Lynden]

My guy used to eat it by the chunk, ripping it up. He could clear a sixth of the tank of it in one day, but of course it grew faster than that.

 

[SkiFletch]

IMO, if you're gonna try a soft-bodied, mobile algae eating invert (which would require intake foam on your powerheads), then why not just get a sea hare?

 

[hubbard_shark]

im thinkin im gonna buy one, have him mow down the alage and sell him back maybe. i just dont want him to shot dye into my tank, since i have no protein skimmer

 

[SkiFletch]

im thinkin im gonna buy one, have him mow down the alage and sell him back maybe. i just dont want him to shot dye into my tank, since i have no protein skimmer

Well, just don't really hurt him bad. Its HARD to get them to squirt. I tried in the wild