Hair algae removers for smaller tanks.

[Chicken_Biscuit]

I have a 13.5 fluvial tank that’s been running for 5 months-ish and I’ve always had hair algae issues with this tank. I keep the water a bit dirty on purpose since it’s my LPS and softies tank. What’s the best invertebrates or fish to get rid of the hair algae? I’ve tried getting rid of it by hand, brush, siphoning out. But no matter what I do it stays and I’ve had no luck with lettuce nudibranchs and obviously I can’t get a sea hare or tangs in here. Thanks!

 

[BiggF!sh]

I have a 13.5 fluvial tank that’s been running for 5 months-ish and I’ve always had hair algae issues with this tank. I keep the water a bit dirty on purpose since it’s my LPS and softies tank. What’s the best invertebrates or fish to get rid of the hair algae? I’ve tried getting rid of it by hand, brush, siphoning out. But no matter what I do it stays and I’ve had no luck with lettuce nudibranchs and obviously I can’t get a sea hare or tangs in here. Thanks!

What are your phosphates and nitrates at? Maybe fixing those will help. I’m also pretty sure hermit crabs eat GHA

 

[Sophie"s mom]

Yes, blue legged hermits eat GHA, so do pitho crabs.

 

[JTP424]

+1 for pitho crabs, straight up brutes with GHA. Plus they're a bit cooler than hermits IMO

 

[VintageReefer]

Pitho are risky. I had 2. Caught one eating acans. Relocate him to another tank. Other one I didn’t see for a while. One day my 5 head holy grail torch is closed up. Didn’t know why. Next day still closed. I examine and the pitho is in the branch work of the grail and picking at the coral. I took him out too

 

[Sophie"s mom]

+1 for pitho crabs, straight up brutes with GHA. Plus they're a bit cooler than hermits IMO

Yeah , I love watching my pithos, they are very cool

 

[Sophie"s mom]

Pitho are risky. I had 2. Caught one eating acans. Relocate him to another tank. Other one I didn’t see for a while. One day my 5 head holy grail torch is closed up. Didn’t know why. Next day still closed. I examine and the pitho is in the branch work of the grail and picking at the coral. I took him out too

Yeah, I try to make sure mine stay well fed, I put nori on a rock with a rubber band and they go to town on that

 

[Chicken_Biscuit]

Little update. I got a few more hermit crabs to go to town on it. I’ll do a water change and pluck as much as I can out of it. Phosphates are .08 and nitrates are 5.

 

[mnsean]

Little update. I got a few more hermit crabs to go to town on it. I’ll do a water change and pluck as much as I can out of it. Phosphates are .08 and nitrates are 5.

is urchin bit too big for you? Hermits do a good job but I notice only urchin and tangs get longer ones. Vibrant works well along with good cuc. Key is keeping cuc healthy and happy. Make sure to have some slightly lager shells around. You have lot to eat, they will grow out and will need new shells faster than you think… also try polyfilter when cleaning. Let tank run with poly filter when you clean so any algae will get locked in there and just toss it once it’s slightly green/dirty.

 

[Chicken_Biscuit]

is urchin bit too big for you? Hermits do a good job but I notice only urchin and tangs get longer ones. Vibrant works well along with good cuc. Key is keeping cuc healthy and happy. Make sure to have some slightly lager shells around. You have lot to eat, they will grow out and will need new shells faster than you think… also try polyfilter when cleaning. Let tank run with poly filter when you clean so any algae will get locked in there and just toss it once it’s slightly green/dirty.

Funny, I literally added poly filter yesterday. And what’s cuc? I think a tuxedo urchin might work since I’ve had one in my big tank for a few months and have stayed small. About the size of a golfball

 

[VintageReefer]

Funny, I literally added poly filter yesterday. And what’s cuc? I think a tuxedo urchin might work since I’ve had one in my big tank for a few months and have stayed small. About the size of a golfball

CuC = clean up crew
Just generalized term for all your shrimp, hermits, snails, urchins, whatever

 

[Kigs15]

I got a black molly in my IM15 and she's a monster. It's actually ridiculous. I started to feed less and she went savage. I swear she thinks she's a tang.

 

[Chicken_Biscuit]

CuC = clean up crew
Just generalized term for all your shrimp, hermits, snails, urchins, whatever

Oh lol. Never seen that before. I have a bunch of snails and hermit crabs but I’ll pick up a tuxedo urchin next time I head to the shop.

 

[Chicken_Biscuit]

I got a black molly in my IM15 and she's a monster. It's actually ridiculous. I started to feed less and she went savage. I swear she thinks she's a tang.

I’ve never thought about adding a molly. Tho I’ve shifted away from freshwater fish years ago and only keep bettas worth a try.

 

[sfin52]

Cue Brandon and rip clean

 

[brandon429]

there's been a revolt lately on those lol

I have to wait until the tanks are nearly on the verge of breakdown, as a last ditch effort, before I can sell folks on rip cleans nowadays. people prefer messing with tank params more than they do manual cleaning

that one rock above isn't too bad, I'd have removed it and fixed it externally vs messing with the water params or adding guess cuc's to make ten million waste pellets in the system and fuel the dinos/cyano of 2025.

(the implication is that current popular methods for handling algae turns most people's reefs into mixed invasion swamps in a few months and we can see it in any of the dinos threads stickied up top, or in the majority of help thread posts here)

to rip clean a nano removes it's algae but also insulates it against dinos and cyano problems a few months after the initial algae challenge.

 

[shakacuz]

court jester goby
molly(saltwater)
tuxedo urchin + pincushion urchin
blenny (tail spot or bi-color)

and an assortment of hermits, and snails.

some options :)

 

[mnsean]

I have a 15gal tank with some Christmas moss, anubis nana petite, and ludwigia red. Stocking is 5 amano shrimp, 5 galaxy rasboras, 2 sparkling gourami, 1 hillstream loach, 1 dumbo guppy, 3 pygmy cories, and 2 nerite snails. I'm having problems with hair algae on my ludwigia. I managed to trim most of it but it wont go away. i've decreased the light from 8hrs to 5hrs, I'm adding liquid carbon as an algaecide since it's safe for inverts, and I've stopped adding fertilizer. It seems to only be gowing on my ludwigia and the wood. I'm not sure if that's because the ludwigia is weaker or not.
ph: 7.5
Gh: 180
Kh:between 40 and 80
NO2: 0
NO3: 0
Ammonia: 0 ppm

Maybe organic PO4 in wood? Try blowing around ludwigia and wood? This is what I did.


1. add polyfilter - change it every few days until algae in control
2. blow off scape - lots of nutrients on the rocks for algae
3. add tibs pod (? Do your research, tigger pod I believe stays in water column so doesn’t do anything but food for you etc)
4. Change UV bulb
5. Add urchin (from my experience they are super temp sensitive) this guy is GHA killer. Yes they will attach decor and bulldoze things over so get a smallest one possible.
6. If all fails add vibrant as directed with all of those steps. BRS has step by step from least intrusive to most def need to be careful.

 

[Chicken_Biscuit]

Cue Brandon and rip clean

I do it everytime I do a water change but they’ll be small areas I can’t get my fat fingers into so it just spreads from that.

 

[VintageReefer]

Algae-eating Fish and Invertebrates: Introduce algae-eating fish or invertebrates into your tank that naturally feed on hair algae. Some popular options include Siamese algae eaters, otocinclus catfish, Amano shrimp, and nerite snails. Keep in mind the size of your tank and compatibility with existing inhabitants when selecting algae-eating species.

Aside from nerite snails, these are all freshwater inhabitants not saltwater