Best CUC for hair algae?

[leo12345]

I have a pretty severe hair algae problem. I can clean a lot of it manually, and I’m sure there’s an underlying cause that I need to address, but I’d like to get a good CUC anyway since I want one regardless. I was wondering what cleaners you’ve found to work best in your experience.

 

[Fish Fan]

What sized tank? Urchins can be very effective if you have room for them, and secure rockwork.

 

[leo12345]

What sized tank? Urchins can be very effective if you have room for them, and secure rockwork.

29 gal. Worried sea urchin and sea hares would be too affective and starve.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Tuxedo urchin would be fine to add to your tank!

 

[Marc G-L]

Have you considered using some of the colorful and useful macro algaes to compete for GHA's nutrients? Atomic broccoli and the blue macros are a nice touch.
Like trees on land, they also can remove/ incirporate disolved toxic substances into their tissues from your water.

 

[leo12345]

Have you considered using some of the colorful and useful macro algaes to compete for GHA's nutrients? Atomic broccoli and the blue macros are a nice touch.
Like trees on land, they also can remove/ incirporate disolved toxic substances into their tissues from your water.

I don’t have a sump, which is probably contributing to the algae issue, so I can’t add any other macroalgae.

 

[Fish Fan]

I don’t have a sump, which is probably contributing to the algae issue, so I can’t add any other macroalgae.

That poster was suggesting that you try some decorative macro algae that you grow in your display tank.

Not having a sump isn't the issue, many people run tanks without sumps using Hang On Back (HOB) gear or All-In-One (AIO) aquariums

Reach out to @coralmonsters.judy she'll get you set up with a great clean up crew that should help with some of this algae:
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/coral-monsters-stock-list-6-24-26.1162457/

 

[slingfox]

One tuxedo urchin could be okay in that size tank. If you are worried about it not getting enough to eat just give it a piece of nori once or twice a week.

 

[slingfox]

If you have hair algae currently you should manually remove as much as possible, then have the CUC help keep new growth under control.

You should also try various snails and crabs and see which ones work in your tank

 

[hatfielj]

Tuxedo urchin for sure, they are amazing, but I do wonder if they would struggle with longer strands of hair algae. Any of the turbo snails would do wonders with hair algae. They do get big, but you could easily trade them into your LFS when done with them. Trochus snails are very effective and they can reproduce which means you'll never need to buy any again. Some hermits or emerald green crabs would be useful too. Really, I would recommend a large variety of species.
But, don't skip the basics of husbandry...make sure your source water is pure (are you using RO/DI?) and do regular water changes. I think it also helps to blow off the rocks with a turkey baster during algae outbreaks.