Hair Algae Problem

B

BigScott

I have a mass amount of hair algae growing in my tank, mainly on the back wall. For some reason it doesn't seem to be attatched to the rocks. What are some suggestions to get rid of it? Livestock suggestions? I would prefer not to use another chemical as I just got done with a chemiclean treatment. Thanks for all of your help.

BigScott
 
when i had the issue, i loaded up on blue leg and scarlet hermit crabs and did a 3 day lights out after i manually pulled what i could. it worked nicely. do you have a fuge?
 
I have a sump only. Right now I don't have space for a fuge, I hope I can get one built in soon. I have a yellow tang and a lawnmower blenny as well right now. I do need more crabs and I don't have any snails right now. I'll get some of both in the next day or so. Any other ideas?
 
If you have a 140, you have room. A fuge can be part of your sump, so it would replace your current one. Having macro algae growing down there really helps because it will out compete it.
 
I would check your nitrates to see if they are elevated. If you are doing regular water changes then the issues is probably detris accumulating someplace in the system. If this is the case and you are able to remove it you can follow up with a water change and then manually remove as much of the HA as possible. Should get you on the road to fixing the problem.
 
Bulk reef supply reactor with carbon and GFO and some snails. Also cut back on feeding. Limit nutrients and the algae will go away.
 
Add an Algae scrubber to your system...you can make them yourself cheap (and effective) or buy ready made. They are very effective and great for keeping nutrient levels low in high load systems.
 
When I had an hair algae outbreak I loaded up on hermits. They did the job in a decent amount of time, but once the algae is gone you need to make sure you give them something else to eat. After the outbreak I started running half nitrite pellets and half pho pellets in my reactor. So far my pho has not been above .03. I also cut back my feeding to everyother day and on the off days I feed algae. Don't know if it will work the same for you, but I haven't had an outbreak since. Hope you can get it down though that stuff is a pain.
 
The algae needs fuel to grow. Cut the fuel, get those critters that eat it and out compete the GHA and you'll be on your way. I found that a bio pellet reactor aside from macro algae does wonders for my tank. I have tons of fish in a mixed reef, and tend to overfeed. I keep things under control with the above steps and changing lots of water 20-30g a week on my 120g with 35g sump. I would get away with less if I fed less, but that's just me. If I want lots of fish this is waht I must do.
 
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