Green Hair Algae

[Hi there]

Hello everyone, I have been in a losing battle for a long time with long green hair algae in my 38 gal mini reef tank. It is choking out my corals, it grows to two inches long on any snail or barnacle in there (looks like they have afros). It is on every piece of equipment. I have been advised to do the following: Emerald Crabs (9 of them), Astrea snails, Bristletooth Tang (one), long spiny sea urchine (one). Phosphate remover canister using PhosBan. My phosphate level reads 0. I am going to just tear this tank down as I have tried everything I know, including brushing the live rocks really good under FRESH water. I think the problem is in the sandbed (about an inch deep). Any other thoughts before I tear it down?

 

[craigybaby37]

ime no expert on getting rid of hair algea but i would say dont shut the tank as you wont learn how to fix the problem. ive seen pictures on this forum and various others of people tanks who are in the same state as yours and they manage to get rid of everything.

Just wait for one of the many experts on here to give there advise and ime sure if you follow it correctly you'll defeat the hair algea.

 

[bobf]

When you have an otbreak of algae at this sort of level, you just can't trust the phosphate readings you get from tests. This is because the algae present will be eating a whole load of phosphate and by doing so create the impression that the actual levels are okay. They only read low because theres a ton of the stuff being processed by the algae.

Emrald crabs, sea hares, algae blennies and the like will help control/reduce the algae some, but that's really just treating the sympton, not the cause. There are many good threads on here about dealing with algae outbreaks of one form or other but all tend toward the same conclusion - algae need food and light - an excess of either will promte algae growth.

You need to look closely at things like water quality (RO or tap water, phos levels in tap water if used, etc), feeding/overfeeding, has somebody/thing died, is your tank receiving direct sunlight at some part of the day, are the lights on too long, are the bulbs due to be changed - I believe halides begin to shift toward the red end of the spectrum as they get older, which in itself aint good for controlling algae. Increasing water flow can help too, or rather reduced water flow makes it worse.

I had this problem and managed to get things under control by changing the bulbs in my setup and adopting weekly water changes and basically ripping a load of it out by hand. Still have a little but only here and there, not covering every surface as it was earlier.

Not worth giving up, just need to try a few basic steps.

Good luck.

 

[littleme1969]

Blue leg hermits!! get a couple of dozen and leave them too it, once its gone cut down the number so you dont have to supplement their feed. They eat the stuff like its going out of fashion. But its also good to sort out the problem, lights water chemistry etc should all be tweaked if poss to help keep it under control. But you cant beat a good clean up crew

 

[n3ont3tra]

Don't give up.

What fish do you have in there?
How long has the tank been set up?

 

[tropicalwaters]

i had the same prob a month ago, i got chaeto and stuffed a chamber full of it. it competes with the hair algae for nutrients. My algae and cyano disappeared within a couple of weeks, and thats considering my tank gets sunligth. worth giving a shot before tearing down the whole tank.

 

[Hi there]

Don't give up.

What fish do you have in there?
How long has the tank been set up?

I'm so glad I got this thing to work. I am not computer illiterate, but don't know how to do some of the basic things on here. So, I hope this reply gets to you.

I have a pair of Tomato Clowns, 1 Bristletooth Tang (sold saying he would rip the algae right out by the roots. Ha!), and one Banghai Cardinal. I do not overfeed. I use RO water with a premium salt mix. It has been up for about 8-9 months. The lighting is a T-5 (2 Actinic Blue & 2 white lights). They are on timers and set about six inches above the water. The white lights come on for about 7 hours, the blue before and after. I have blue leg and red leg hermit crabs in there somewhere. They can be located by looking for moving shells that have Afros. It is hard to see thru all the algae. Also had a cleaner shrimp and 2 peppermint shrimp that have disappeared. The clownfish like to nest in it like an anemone and have layed eggs at least twice that I know of. Fry actually hatched once. Now the long spike spiny sea urchin is dying after doing absolutely nothing. I always hate to say this but I am rather lax on the water changes as I have 3 other "more important" tanks that we have had problems with, but have pretty much solved their problems. Plug here for the combo UV/Ozinizer They are expensive but we will go to any limits to save our fish. It has saved my Powder Blue Tang from ich and I think is working on the cynobacteria in the 120 gal. Anyway, I think the problem is in the sand because since I don't do water changes very often this also means I don't vacuum the gravel either and there are lots of spots I can't reach because of all the live rock. Sorry to be so long-winded.

What about if I take the fish and corals out and put them in a pure tank, turn the lights off in the hair algae tank but keep the water flow and heater on? And they would not get nutrients from feeding. After the algae hopefully finally dies, I can clean out the tank and start over.

i had the same prob a month ago, i got chaeto and stuffed a chamber full of it. it competes with the hair algae for nutrients. My algae and cyano disappeared within a couple of weeks, and thats considering my tank gets sunligth. worth giving a shot before tearing down the whole tank.

Hi, thanks for responding. I would like to know what a chaeto is and what kind of chamber do you fill it with?

 

[n3ont3tra]

If I were you I would get some turbo snails. Turbo snails will usually eat hair algae. Also have you tested the TDS of your RO water?

Oh and chaetomorpha (spelling?) is a type of macroalgae. Lots of people use it in their refugiums as a nutrient export, because it grows very fast.

 

[jeasko]

one way which may help (even on reef systems) is to black the tank out for 3 days by turning lights off and covering with thick blackout material, the corals will be fine (providing they are not already suffering) but more importantly there will be no light for the algae to feed on, algae needs 3 main things to grow, phosphate silicates and lights (there are other things that will aid its growth but these are the 3 main things)

If your phosphate levels are showing 0-trace then id be inclined to black out the tank for 3 days then reduce your lighting times for a while while adding some of the CUC mentioned above.

but also there is no substitute for water changes as this will help export some of the unwanted matter in the water thus improoving the water quality and reducing food for the algae.

Stick with it

 

[tropicalwaters]

yes, chaeto is a type of microalgae- it looks almost like a tough green brillo pad. I put in the back chamber of my aquapod, but if you have a refugium you can add it there. You migth also want to put it in a media bag, if you dont have a chamber to put it in. It works by using the extra nutrients that your algae is thriving on. You can find it in many online retailers or even at your local lfs- you dont need that much because it grows quickly.

 

[sophos9]

I think the truth here is that your husbandry has been poor which has given the bad stuff a good foot hold. If its really that bad then get a good sized water change ready, get a toothbrush and brush your rocks clean - your water quality will be crap.

Get a fine mesh or sieve and remove the strands from the water column - stir the substrate and clean the rocks again, repeat the sieving operation.

Once its removed, conduct the water change... let it settle and check it again near the end of the photo period tomorrow - if there is evidence of regrowth, repeat all the above.

Then... get you husbandry established and maintained so you dont have to repeat!

Chaeto is a macro algae, dont put it in a mesh bag - it will die off pretty quick and add nutrients to the water column. Blue legs are great but can be fairly brutal with corals, like in nature - hermits, blue knuckles etc etc are rarely found in reef environments