Covering Hair Algae

[Mrcote1]

I have been battling a massive hair algae outbreak for far too long now. My Nitrates are 24ppm and phosphates are 0.4ppm.
I know nutrients are my issue and im slowly working on lowering them (just put cheato in my sump and I cranked up my skimmer).

But the hair algae I have has some crazy roots. No matter how hard I scrub it, or pull on it I absolutely cannot get the large majority out.

I know I will beat it eventually (this isnt my first tank), but I have been thinking about a potential method of covering the hair algae with a small black sheet of something and moving it around the tank over the course of a month to kill it off by cutting off light for a few days.

Has anyone tried anything like this, and if so, what did you use to cover the algae?

 

[Mrcote1]

 

[fish_collector]

Oh my! Another tank with dry rock and gha issues. I'm sorry to say you've let the gha get way out of control. You may have to remove rocks and manually kill it with peroxide. You can try using Reef Flux (fluconazole) but there are no guarantees. It made my gha battle much easier but did not eliminate it completely. There aren't too many herbivores that will eat it although some report urchins make a difference. You can beat it but it's tough when it covers every inch of your rocks. Controlling nutrients will not have any effect on gha, it will grow from nutrients locked up in the substrate it is growing on.

Reef Flux is relatively reef safe but do you own research and form your own opinion, I can't tell you nothing will be harmed from it. It's not an algaecide, it's actually a fungicide that is commonly used in our aquariums to kill bryopsis (which it does quite well), it will work on gha a good part of the time if dosed correctly.

 

[Sam7]

Get a seahare and it will clear your algae problem in no time. Then find someone else having the same problem and let them borrow it.

 

[Mrcote1]

Get a seahare and it will clear your algae problem in no time. Then find someone else having the same problem and let them borrow it.

I bought a sea hare and it didnt touch it, then it died like 2 weeks later I assume from starvation. I have 2 urchins that will occassionally eat it and have bought dozens of snails that eat it the first day or two then stop

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

IMO your nutrients are too high, and with bad algae, the nutrients would actually be much higher than the test will show.

 

[kevgib67]

I would definitely try a sea hare again. My son’s newer 55g was covered and in just under three weeks was completely clear of gha. I had some patches and put it in and in a week I put it back in my son’s so it wouldn’t stare. He is supplementing with nori and algae wafers but I think he will end up returning it. I also had success dosing 3%hydrogen peroxide directly into the tank a few years ago.

 

[Subsea]

I would definitely try a sea hare again. My son’s newer 55g was covered and in just under three weeks was completely clear of gha. I had some patches and put it in and in a week I put it back in my son’s so it wouldn’t stare. He is supplementing with nori and algae wafers but I think he will end up returning it. I also had success dosing 3%hydrogen peroxide directly into the tank a few years ago.

When I dosed 3% peroxide at 1ml per 10G, the protocol was to dose for 10 days during lights out. I performed this on 5 year mature system with many amphipods. By day 5, I discontinued treatment due to loss of pods.

 

[2Sunny]

I have never had an outbreak as severe as yours, but I do have hair algae in my tank, but my one Mexican turbo snail keeps it under control. This video is what got me to try a Mexican Turbo . . .

 

[fish_collector]

IMO your nutrients are too high, and with bad algae, the nutrients would actually be much higher than the test will show.

Not trying to debate but rather some good conversation, I know you are an experienced hobbyist , but I hear this a lot and it really makes no sense. If one runs nitrate and phosphate tests and gets a result of X, then that is how much nitrate and phosphate is in the water. If it were higher as you stated then the test results would indicate that. I believe what you are describing would perhaps be more of a situation where the algae is consuming the nutrients before they can accumulate, and without the algae present the nutrient values would indeed be much higher. It would be a case of import/export balance. An algae scrubber could take the place of algae in the tank if it was that easy, right?

I would definitely try a sea hare again. My son’s newer 55g was covered and in just under three weeks was completely clear of gha. I had some patches and put it in and in a week I put it back in my son’s so it wouldn’t stare. He is supplementing with nori and algae wafers but I think he will end up returning it. I also had success dosing 3%hydrogen peroxide directly into the tank a few years ago.

I recently had a fish in QT due to a velvet scare, and as a precaution I dosed H2O2 into the display because studies had shown it helped prevent a bigger outbreak. I dosed 15ml 3 times a day in 120 gallons of tank water for 14 days. Although it ended up that my velvet scare wasn't velvet, the H2O2 dosing had a big impact on the algae population in the tank. The brown that would grow on the shallow sand bed (I'm assuming probably a form of dinos) is no longer present and the rocks are actually much cleaner. I stopped dosing prematurely because it was having an impact on microfauna in the sump. Knowing this now, I wouldn't dose much more than 1ml/8 gallons 3 times a day. There's some really good unbiased info on humblefish regarding H2O2 treatments, maybe here too I haven't searched for it.

When I dosed 3% peroxide at 1ml per 10G, the protocol was to dose for 10 days during lights out. I performed this on 5 year mature system with many amphipods. By day 5, I discontinued treatment due to loss of pods.

Yep, my experience as well.

I have never had an outbreak as severe as yours, but I do have hair algae in my tank, but my one Mexican turbo snail keeps it under control. This video is what got me to try a Mexican Turbo . . .

The Mexican turbos are hit or miss, they are some lazy creatures for sure. Mine will eat for a day or so and then stay in one spot for what seems like a week to rest .
I won't buy the standard Mexican turbos anymore, they often don't survive for very long. A friend of mine suggested the Zebra Mexican turbos as a better alternative, and after I found a shop that had them, his suggestion was 100% accurate after having them a year now. They've doubled in size and are good at eating algae. Zebras do get big though and are bulldozers. I'm not so sure they'd eat long strands of gha though.

I've found if you manually pull it out so it's shorter, there is a better likelihood that something will eat it.

Sorry for the multi quote and putting together a novel. I'm long winded at times (most of the time).

 

[slingfox]

With that kind of outbreak you probably should pull out the rocks and scrub them since not many CUC members will eat algae that long (sea hare as suggested may help).

What do you feed and how often? Do you use filter socks or a Reefmat?

 

[vetteguy53081]

Cant see hair algae in pics but need a close up to assure it is hair algae and not bryopsis which is a stubborn form of algae and grows quickly.

 

[fish_collector]

I zoomed it in, it's totally gha.

 

[Mrcote1]

Yea every rock is almost 100% covered in hair algae.

I also cant pull the rock unfortunately as they are all cemented together and probably weight 100 lbs per structure.

Ill have to try and track down some xebra turbos. My experience with mexican turbos is the same. They eat a tiny bit, then sit in the sand for 2 weeks.

I do Manual removal like every 2 weeks but most of the hair algae roots are so strong i cant get it out even with a brush.

I have 15 years of reefing and this is my 5th tank, but I never had an algae outbreak even close to this

 

[fish_collector]

Yeah gha is a tough one.

 

[mcarroll]

It seems like hair algae should be a more straightforward topic these days, but it never is... so much old information, mythology, and just plain bad advice all circulating together.... with a little bit of advice that actually constitutes what you should do in there "somewhere."

Your primary mistake, maybe the only one was letting the algae get out of control. (not nutrient levels, not lighting, etc. ) I'm pretty you have not been thinking of yourself as the number one member of your cleanup crew. (you are, btw.)

Secondarily consider the number of cleanup crew (herbivorous snails specifically) you have. For a loaded tank with a bad algae outbreak, upwards of two turbo snails (or equivalent) per gallon would be called for!!

Going forward, almost nothing will eat mature stands of algae.... once it is established it pretty much becomes unpalatable to everything. Even if it were palatable to your snails, their mouths (tongues really) are insignificant to the task. They don't have any teeth to chew. They actually lick the algae off the rock so it has to be fresh sprouts for them.... Their job is actually to keep the rock clean once it's clean. In the wild larger herbivores would mow down these patches… Sometimes even non reef fish come through the reef to eat the algae that are really unpalatable – that's never gonna happen in a home reef tank, so that's YOUR job.

You will have to get in there manually and pull out all of the standing crop of algae by hand.

At the same time start beefing up your cleanup crew so they can keep the areas clean that you work on. I would probably add somewhere between five and 10 at a time and see how it goes for a little while before you decide to add more.

Also, I would add a UV sterilizer and possibly also a micron filter (see Marineland) as these will cut down on the number of algae propagule's circulating in your tank and slow down the spread back into the areas you clean... maybe even eliminate spreading entirely.

If you've never manually handled a bunch of algae like this, don't panic.... do it just like the guy in this video and it really won't be so bad I promise:

(the other advice he gives in the video is more specific to his tank… Don't worry so much about that. Just focus on how he's getting the algae out of his tank.)

If you still feel overwhelmed, make sure you don't work on it for any more than 20 minutes at a time, limit your cleaning activities to specific discreet patches of the reef no bigger than about 2 in.². When you're done with each patch gently move a snail into that patch and then either take a break or move onto the next 2" x 2" patch. And make sure you hit it every day, because the algae will not be taking any breaks.

 

[Gone Reefin’]

I’m going to also go with sea hare. I know you’ve tried it, but I think you received a poor specimen. Look for the mottled gray one, not too big (and old). Their lifespans are not long in captivity. I’ve battled GHA, bubble, bryopsis, and ulva over my reefing history and GHA has been the easiest to eradicate thanks solely to sea hares.

Be cautious though, once it’s gone, be ready for another species to come. The hares are not effective against bubble in my experience. Watch for the split down the back. Do not purchase a specimen with this as death follows in less than a week.

 

[Subsea]

It seems like hair algae should be a more straightforward topic these days, but it never is... so much old information, mythology, and just plain bad advice all circulating together.... with a little bit of advice that actually constitutes what you should do in there "somewhere."

Your primary mistake, maybe the only one was letting the algae get out of control. (not nutrient levels, not lighting, etc. ) I'm pretty you have not been thinking of yourself as the number one member of your cleanup crew. (you are, btw.)

Secondarily consider the number of cleanup crew (herbivorous snails specifically) you have. For a loaded tank with a bad algae outbreak, upwards of two turbo snails (or equivalent) per gallon would be called for!!

Going forward, almost nothing will eat mature stands of algae.... once it is established it pretty much becomes unpalatable to everything. Even if it were palatable to your snails, their mouths (tongues really) are insignificant to the task. They don't have any teeth to chew. They actually lick the algae off the rock so it has to be fresh sprouts for them.... Their job is actually to keep the rock clean once it's clean. In the wild larger herbivores would mow down these patches… Sometimes even non reef fish come through the reef to eat the algae that are really unpalatable – that's never gonna happen in a home reef tank, so that's YOUR job.

You will have to get in there manually and pull out all of the standing crop of algae by hand.

At the same time start beefing up your cleanup crew so they can keep the areas clean that you work on. I would probably add somewhere between five and 10 at a time and see how it goes for a little while before you decide to add more.

Also, I would add a UV sterilizer and possibly also a micron filter (see Marineland) as these will cut down on the number of algae propagule's circulating in your tank and slow down the spread back into the areas you clean... maybe even eliminate spreading entirely.

If you've never manually handled a bunch of algae like this, don't panic.... do it just like the guy in this video and it really won't be so bad I promise:

(the other advice he gives in the video is more specific to his tank… Don't worry so much about that. Just focus on how he's getting the algae out of his tank.)

If you still feel overwhelmed, make sure you don't work on it for any more than 20 minutes at a time, limit your cleaning activities to specific discreet patches of the reef no bigger than about 2 in.². When you're done with each patch gently move a snail into that patch and then either take a break or move onto the next 2" x 2" patch. And make sure you hit it every day, because the algae will not be taking any breaks.

Kudos to sage advice.

We are the biggest member of our clean up crew. Our job is to be a good steward of a complex ecosystem. And, when required, we roll up our sleeves and “get involved”

 

[fish_collector]

It seems like hair algae should be a more straightforward topic these days, but it never is... so much old information, mythology, and just plain bad advice all circulating together....

True! Like so much of the advice given on this forum, a lot of it is inaccurate and is just old info that has been passed around and regurgitated time and time again. When it is brought up that there might be a better way to do something, everyone gets combative and wants to debate which never has a good ending. But oh well that may never change. Good advice in your post sir.

 

[Mrcote1]

Thanks for all the advice everyone! I just got back from LFS. I got 2 good sized sea hares and 4 more giant turbos. I do remove as much as I can manually every 2 weeks. I need a 2nd person to help me otherwise I would do it everyday.
I watched that video and yea probably 80% of my hair algae is so strongly attached I cannot pull it off the rocks with my hands or tweezers. So I may do some research on that phosphate Rx