Hair algae problem

cale_tino

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What would be the best way to get all this hair algae under control? I have a refugee I’m running Cato, and I’ve also cut down on feeding I don’t have the best clean up crew just because it’s hard to keep up with the fish eating the hermit crabs and such. I do a 50 gallon water change about once or twice a month it’s about a 200 gallon system. just seems to grow back.
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hellokevin

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i got a 3 tiger conch that cleaned my entire 30 gallon tank in about a week. now there's pretty much no algae on the sand (and rock), and i'm afraid they'll go hungry.

all 3 of my tiger conch climb rocks, and two of them are even able to climb on the glass
 
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cale_tino

cale_tino

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i got a 3 tiger conch that cleaned my entire 30 gallon tank in about a week. now there's pretty much no algae on the sand (and rock), and i'm afraid they'll go hungry.

all 3 of my tiger conch climb rocks, and two of them are even able to climb on the glass
OK, I’ll look more into thanks. I have about four fighting conchs and they are great for the sand. They just don’t climb the rocks or anything.
 

hellokevin

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For the rocks you can also try a tuxedo urchin, mine ate a lot of hair algae, but was also a bit picky about which sides of the rock he would eat from. Mine also didn't move from one rock to the next, he kinda just stayed on one rock
 

ChrisfromBrick

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with that amount of hair, no cleanup crew except maybe an urchin will take it down. You have to pull out your rocks, scrub them clean with a toothbrush or wire brush, and keep an eye on nutrients. This will be a daily task for you, not weekly or bi weekly.

What are your nutrients at?
 

jhadaway

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FluxRx is great as well but you will def need to pull as much out as you can. You will also need to pull out the cato for the duration. I kept mine in a 5 gallon for a few months. Check your light duration and spectrum. Maybe pull back on whites.
 

Bugger

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Even if you scrub. Do it with hydrogen peroxide. Get a spray bottle. Take out the rocks spray only 3% dollar store stuff or pharmacy. 3 minutes and return to tank. And get a clean up crew. It will quickly return. I don't know about those urchins they mostly eat coralline algae. You need something that eats it for sure lettuce nudi or hermit crab
 

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