Hair Algae, a Symptom Rather Than the Problem?

[FernBluffReef]

I purchased three sea hares to try and abolish my hair algae. Not all at the same time. I kept trying out of frustration. They all three died and never touched the hair algae IMO, so your mileage may vary.

Time (just under 9 months) and management of nutrients (phosphate) is the only thing that worked for me. I was surprised when I got overwhelmed by hair algae as tank was going on two years old before I experienced the ugly phase. I thought I had it made.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I purchased three sea hares to try and abolish my hair algae. Not all at the same time. I kept trying out of frustration. They all three died and never touched the hair algae IMO, so your mileage may vary.

Time (just under 9 months) and management of nutrients (phosphate) is the only thing that worked for me. I was surprised when I got overwhelmed by hair algae as tank was going on two years old before I experienced the ugly phase. I thought I had it made.

Thanks. I have 2 coming next week. We will see what happens., :)

 

[BeanAnimal]

A recent post by @Hans-Werner in Randy’s Tank and Learn thread inspired this thread.

Could hair algae or cyano be showing up because something else in the tank is dying or breaking down, rather than being the cause of the problem in the first place?

I believe that it can be both a symptom and a cause. We may see it localized when something dies or new rock or substrate added to the system. We also may see it become prolific and outcompete other organisms, taking their place. I think that Han's post has merit.

I am in the midst of a severe hair algae issue. It's depressing and gives me a new found empathy for those struggling with it.

I am not sure how I beat the last bout years ago. The only thing that I did was add a pile of turbo and astrea snails and an urchin with a lot of manual removal. It took a month or two to fully eradicate, but you could actually see the areas that the snails and urchins were working on, like mowed strips of lawn. I am not sure if they, the manual removal or time or a combination of all is what tipped the scale.

I am curious to see how your sea hares work out.

The lettuce sea slugs also sound promising if the sea hares don't do the trick.