Hair Algae: The Best Way, The MANY Ways, To Get Rid Of It....

What have you found to be the best things/methods to beat hair algae? (choose all that apply)

  • Hydrogen peroxide

    Votes: 131 16.6%
  • Lawn Mower Blenny (or other fish)

    Votes: 169 21.5%
  • Manual Removal

    Votes: 363 46.1%
  • Rock Scrubbing

    Votes: 164 20.8%
  • Lowered Phosphates

    Votes: 175 22.2%
  • Tank Blackouts

    Votes: 46 5.8%
  • Urchins

    Votes: 152 19.3%
  • Fluconazole

    Votes: 90 11.4%
  • Granular Ferric Oxide (GFO)

    Votes: 75 9.5%
  • UV Sterilizer

    Votes: 72 9.1%
  • Refugium

    Votes: 179 22.7%
  • Algae Scrubber

    Votes: 63 8.0%
  • Clean Up Crew

    Votes: 326 41.4%
  • Lighting Change

    Votes: 61 7.8%
  • Sea Hare

    Votes: 59 7.5%
  • Vibrant

    Votes: 120 15.2%
  • Other (please explain in thread)

    Votes: 53 6.7%

  • Total voters
    787

brandon429

why did you put a reef in that
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I have a partially offensive causative model for gha problems in reef tanks it works like this: I think all gha invasions are psychological vs botanical in origin


because

in my opinion having an invaded reef is a choice set we can alter at any time. we're not locked into anything, we have choices and that's psychology vs plant rules dominating our tanks.

given todays google power, two clicks and anyone can locate a method that shows absolute hammering of GHA on rocks, one was linked earlier. Cook had no trouble locating the options (a function of being resolved vs indecisive)

that discovery from searches might not solve gha forever, but they're flatly seeing an invaded tank go to not invaded in 24 hours after direct kill models are searched out. its right in front of them.

we either choose to implement what we can clearly see or we choose to wait longer, again the actual plant biology hasn't factored much so far.


about 98% of folks will literally accept a gha invasion until they can guess/find/intuit the cause right off the bat, they only want to work once on it.


they try indirect things via the water, see what holds, and they'll wait days or months hating the invasion waiting and hoping something breaks their way... that's all psych. its hopefulness, fingers crossed anticipation.

in the meanwhile, Cook was not playing around, that's resolved. I still don't have any idea what his params are or if he had bryopsis or gha, doesn't matter, its gone. what if his topoff water was pure phosphate sludge unfit for human consumption

not my issue. getting a total skip cycle tank surgery complete was the issue, now you have a clean reef. simple as that, sorry it amounted to such.


his choice set determines if he's invaded or not.


his reefing ability, intuition, luck, artistry, grazer balance, po4 loading, topoff water clarity, fish performance, lighting intensity and hue determines how long he gets to go in between rip cleans but we have on file what its like to not play around, so therefore all gha invasions are a choice set the plant itself doesn't matter.

let's all discover what the preventatives are in the clean condition vs the wrecked one, my vote.
 

Peace River

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Some people are new to the hobby or don’t know the abbreviations
I have such a pet peeve with people using letters instead of explaining what it is they’re talking about
CUC
How about LOL that one is easier

CUC = clean up crew. :)
 

brandon429

why did you put a reef in that
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LRT don't think I forgot your extreme rippage its coming up after break heh

your rocks look like commanded ruby gems they will be featured in the halls of the resolved.




*I know its not an option for all reefers to take apart and clean things. that wasn't even an option in the rules for 1998/would recycle and kill any reef/so at least we're celebrating the ones who do opt for it
 
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LRT

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Think my algae turf skimmer is starting to work:)
I am starting to see some green on it.
Miraculously there's much less on my rock, racks, plugs, discs and tables.

COME ON GREEN GIMME SOME.. See it? hahaha man those that know. Know this has been an epic battle!
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iMi

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Interesting responses. Goes to show that a combination of methods is key and that one "silver bullet" just doesn't seem to be out there yet. I have had great luck with Red Sea Algae Management thought.
 

twhit030

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Had a huge problem with them for about 4 months finally I said enough is enough. Might not have been the most cost effective but it 100% WORKED. I have a 40 breeder all acros hitting 400 par 6 t5 and two ai’s. I let my cleaner crew dwindle over the months crabs kept eating snails after many trial and errors I finally found the key. First I got 20 trochus snails (remember where I said it wasn’t the most cost effective) and a lawnmower blenny. Then I got in there with a tooth brush scrubbed everything away I could and did a water change trying to take out most of the algae (if you dont do a water change after it comes back with vengeance) then I did a 24 hour black out light period and let the snails go to work! It’s been 2 months sense then and I’ve had a spotless tank sense.

word from experience if you ever see any nuisance algae don’t wait... clear some time out and take care of it ASAP. Also. Trochus snails while expensive 100% worth it they live longer they can fling crabs off them snd they flip themselves upright

currently I have about 15 trochus snails, 6 blue leg hermits and a emerald in there and things are great

believe it or not the lawnmower blenny I got was pretty lazy he didn’t do a whole lot. Good luck all this struggling with this been there done that.
 

weamdog

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Hair algae is a breeze. Ounce of prevention, works on any sized tank.

If that comes up short, a nice sized pipe cleaner brush that you just twirl around like a curling iron. Works perfectly with little mess. Cleanup crew for wax and buff.
 
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LRT

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LRT don't think I forgot your extreme rippage its coming up after break heh

your rocks look like commanded ruby gems they will be featured in the halls of the resolved.
Dude. To get you even more pumped up. Here some pix of same rock I posted yesterday. Already a super noticeable difference in coraline growth in 24 hours.
That being said I can see where I scrubbed to hard and beat up coraline.
You can see where its still wanting to hang out. I have a few more sessions to go over next few months but I solved this riddle for sure.
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ReefGeezer

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I'm trying very hard to get through the hair algae phase in my new 90 set-up without chemicals i.e. GFO, carbon dosing, flucuzole, or other "additive" related fixes. I've removed all the green/yellow/red light I can over the DT... started a Cheato Fuge with intense red light, lowered the intensity of lights in my DT, and greatly increased my clean up crew to include an urchin and a Sea Hare. Beyond that, I'm doing is weekly 10-15% water changes, skimming very wet, and scrubbing the rock where I can. There are very few rocks I can remove to scrub, but I am removing the ones I can and scrubbing them with a weak peroxide/seawater solution. The rest I'm scrubbing with a little pipe cleaner brush on a stick. We'll see how it goes.
 

brandon429

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no that's neat they can keep it in check like that. nice. even reefs of the most pristine settings grow gha to do just that, in very low nutrient waters. there are searchable environmental reads out there that using a wire box to block off grazer access to ANY natural reef will result in gha and invasion cycling in that box. quick


opportunists galore. no natural reef is algae free without grazers that I recall reading about. mines free of gha without grazers because I burned all the plant out with peroxide about thirteen years ago and the coralline keeps it from coming back luckily. if it didn't, id fire blast it out this time. it cant win.
 
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nano reef

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I have some mad GHA going on now. I have found that vibrant helps losen it so it can come off easily. I have been taking out rocks and scrubbing with a tooth brush and within two weeks its back again and almost an inch long! I am wondering if I am dealing with dinos instead because I had it once before and it never grew this quickly! My clean up crew sucks. I have yet to find good snails that do there job! I have a fresh water tank and a mystery snail that I wish was a saltwater snail. That one snail keeps my little 5 gallon betta tank spotless!
 

G Santana

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I am in the midst of this right now, yesterday I spent over two hours pulling enough GHA to fill a red Solo cup to the top.

My tangs won't touch it if it's longer than an 8th of an inch. Snails run from it as well at longer lengths. But my Turbo snails, urchin and lawnmower blenny chow down on the stuff at shorter lengths.

My urchin is just BEAST!!!

Using my algae scrubber, my nitrates are down to zero on the Salifert test kit and phosphates have dropped from over 1 to less than .5

The algae has gone from deep green to gray and every day I find more and more of it in the power heads and filter sock.
This is all out war on GHA.

I will not surrender lol
 

Rosh225

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Hair Algae: The Best Way To Get Rid Of It Is?

Hydrogen peroxide, Lawn Mower Blenny, Manual Removal, Rock Scrubbing, Lowered Phosphates, Tank Blackouts, Urchins, Fluconazole, Granular Ferric Oxide (GFO), UV Sterilizer, Refugium, Algae Scrubber, Clean Up Crew, Lighting Change, Sea Hare, Vibrant etc.

Wait, WHAT?!

There are many reasons as to why you might get an outbreak of hair algae in your tank and along with that many ways that you can also eliminate it. But today let's NOT talk about why you have had a hair algae outbreak but the best ways and methods, you have found, that work best to get rid of it!

What have you found to be the best thing (or combo of things) that finally got rid of your hair algae outbreak?

Before and After by @bwomac44
Untitled-6 copy.jpg
I think the best thing to fight hair algae is to start with a appropriate size tang gang.
 

fish farmer

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Before 2012
2012 GHA reef.jpg


After 2020
reef march2020.JPG


Slacking on water changes, but still slinging feed probably caused elevated nutrients in the top photo....maybe even not switching RO/DI filters.

I started to get serious about controlling my tank again a few years ago. My nitrates were 30 ppm and 1ppm...not a misprint, 1ppm. At the time I had lost the lps and zoas in the top pic, but had added a tiny hammer (my profile pic) which flourished in the dirty water a few years ago. I also started dripping kalk as well.

This is what I did.

Cut back feeding for a bit

Routine water changes, with siphoning/turkey basting rocks.

Manual removal.

Good snails like turbos and trochus, a lettuce nudi was added as well.

Keeping an eye on my RO/DI TDS....noticed a rise in algae when my TDS rose...guess what my town has in it's water...nitrates.

I believe the biggest thing that helped was adding a baseball sized piece of chaeto in my sump. I started seeing doubling of growth monthly for several months. I still maintain a piece there, but it doesn't grow as fast.

I still have some algae growth in my tank, but my nitrates and phosphates have been very low for a long time.

I've also added more flow in that time as well and a different light spectrum.
 

rlamos1

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I have some mad GHA going on now. I have found that vibrant helps losen it so it can come off easily. I have been taking out rocks and scrubbing with a tooth brush and within two weeks its back again and almost an inch long! I am wondering if I am dealing with dinos instead because I had it once before and it never grew this quickly! My clean up crew sucks. I have yet to find good snails that do there job! I have a fresh water tank and a mystery snail that I wish was a saltwater snail. That one snail keeps my little 5 gallon betta tank spotless!
Sounds to me like you need to up your nutrient export game, i.e. scrubber, refugium, skimmer, source water, detritus removal, etc. You have the direct attack steps down. It will always come back after direct intervention unless the root cause is addressed. Also, GHA looks a lot different than dino's. Dinos tend to resemble snot with air bubbles floating up.

FWIW, months of Vibrant alone didn't do much for me other than loosen things up, allow cyano to grow, close up LPS and kill off some SPS.
 

A worm with high fashion and practical utility: Have you ever kept feather dusters in your reef aquarium?

  • I currently have feather dusters in my tank.

    Votes: 79 38.2%
  • Not currently, but I have had feather dusters in my tank in the past.

    Votes: 69 33.3%
  • I have not had feather dusters, but I hope to in the future.

    Votes: 26 12.6%
  • I have no plans to have feather dusters in my tank.

    Votes: 31 15.0%
  • Other.

    Votes: 2 1.0%
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