Hair algae

[tlmelton87!]

Hi all. Im a little new to salwater aquariums ive had my 32 gallon reef tank for about 3 months. ive currently had an explosion of hair algae. Just wondering what fish would be best to control it. I currently have to black storm clown fish about 20 turbo snails and narcissus snails and one emerald crab. I have a LFS where i live but hardly ever stocked with what i need. Ive been debating on ordering online but not sure what site to deal with and also if i have to quarantine the fish before i put them in my tank. Please help.

 

[edsbeaker]

Hi all. Im a little new to salwater aquariums ive had my 32 gallon reef tank for about 3 months. ive currently had an explosion of hair algae. Just wondering what fish would be best to control it. I currently have to black storm clown fish about 20 turbo snails and narcissus snails and one emerald crab. I have a LFS where i live but hardly ever stocked with what i need. Ive been debating on ordering online but not sure what site to deal with and also if i have to quarantine the fish before i put them in my tank. Please help.

Hello and welcome!
Sorry you are having this problem. Unfortunately in that size tank there aren’t many fish options for you. Most need a bigger one. You could consider an algae eating blenny, like a starry blend. And, yes, if you want to make sure disease doesn’t get in I would quarantine.

Another option that you could try is a tuxedo urchin. Lots of people have successfully used them for this purpose.

Have you identified the cause of the algae outbreak. Correcting whatever is causing that would be the best bet moving forward.

 

[Fish Fan]

Hi all. Im a little new to salwater aquariums ive had my 32 gallon reef tank for about 3 months. ive currently had an explosion of hair algae. Just wondering what fish would be best to control it. I currently have to black storm clown fish about 20 turbo snails and narcissus snails and one emerald crab. I have a LFS where i live but hardly ever stocked with what i need. Ive been debating on ordering online but not sure what site to deal with and also if i have to quarantine the fish before i put them in my tank. Please help.

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

 

[Fish Fan]

Hello and welcome!
Sorry you are having this problem. Unfortunately in that size tank there aren’t many fish options for you. Most need a bigger one. You could consider an algae eating blenny, like a starry blend. And, yes, if you want to make sure disease doesn’t get in I would quarantine.

Another option that you could try is a tuxedo urchin. Lots of people have successfully used them for this purpose.

Have you identified the cause of the algae outbreak. Correcting whatever is causing that would be the best bet moving forward.

^This is spot-on advice, in my humble opinion. You should try to figure out what's causing the algae to grow so rapidly. Quite likely it's that your system is running high in nitrate and phosphate. It could also be from your water if you're using tap water, for example.

Agreed there's not a whole lot of algae eating fish for this size tank, but you can absolutely embrace inverts. The Nessarius snails are detrivores, and won't directly eat your algae, but urchins, snails, another emerald crab or a couple pothos crabs, etc.

If you need a place to order Clean Up Crew (CUC) members, I like ReefCleaners:

Reef Cleaners - Clean up Crews and Macroalgae

We specialize in algae eating invertebrates, natural filtration, and algae solutions for saltwater aquariums.

www.reefcleaners.org

Also agree that QT'ing fish (and honestly inverts too!) or purchasing from reputable vendors who pre-QT is the best way to avoid a costly and heartbreaking outbreak of some kind of fish parasite in your tank.

Good luck!

 

[Savage Henry]

I’m keeping a tank about your size and went through all this.

Are you also keeping a sump? If so, I’d suggest you get some chaeto macro algae.

I would suggest reducing your cuc. I now only have two Naasarius snails at most. I’d reduce those turbo snails down a lot as well.

I bet when you measure nutrients they are probably low figures because the hair algae in an absorbing it all? I think the chaeto will help compete with the hair algae.

If you can remove some of the rock, put it in a bucket and scrub off the algae with a toothbrush.

I found Stomatella snails helped clean my rocks once I was through the hair algae phase.

And, don’t worry too much, the hair algae phase will pass. You then have other issues you’ll have to deal with.

 

[Fish Fan]

I’m keeping a tank about your size and went through all this.

Are you also keeping a sump? If so, I’d suggest you get some chaeto macro algae.

I would suggest reducing your cuc. I now only have two Naasarius snails at most. I’d reduce those turbo snails down a lot as well.

I bet when you measure nutrients they are probably low figures because the hair algae in an absorbing it all? I think the chaeto will help compete with the hair algae.

If you can remove some of the rock, put it in a bucket and scrub off the algae with a toothbrush.

I found Stomatella snails helped clean my rocks once I was through the hair algae phase.

And, don’t worry too much, the hair algae phase will pass. You then have other issues you’ll have to deal with.

I agree with most of your post, but I'm genuinely asking why you would reduce algae consuming clean up crew critters here?

 

[Kasrift]

Hello and welcome!
Sorry you are having this problem. Unfortunately in that size tank there aren’t many fish options for you. Most need a bigger one. You could consider an algae eating blenny, like a starry blend. And, yes, if you want to make sure disease doesn’t get in I would quarantine.

Another option that you could try is a tuxedo urchin. Lots of people have successfully used them for this purpose.

Have you identified the cause of the algae outbreak. Correcting whatever is causing that would be the best bet moving forward.

Spot on. I have a 32 gallon as well, tuxedo urchin is the way to go.

As for fish, algae Blenny will be more fastidious about the whole eating algae thing. Starry blenny seem to be lazy and wait for food (from personal experience and reading up). Other things for a small tank could be salt water Molly. I added two to my 10g for algae control. Hector and Raindford gobies will peck at algae all day, but are tiny mouths and don't make a huge impact.

I'd also try Mexican turbo snails and ox tongue Nerites.

 

[Savage Henry]

I agree with most of your post, but I'm genuinely asking why you would reduce algae consuming clean up crew critters here?

Only because for you to be supporting that number of snails in such a small tank I was thinking, what are they eating?

I was over feeding my tank to make sure my snails got fed. The only reason my tank remained algae free (it looked sterile) was probably because I had a tonne of Stomatella snails cleaning the rock and glass plus I had the chaeto pulling out the nutrient. Consequently, my chaeto grew really quick.

 

[Fish Fan]

Only because for you to be supporting that number of snails in such a small tank I was thinking, what are they eating?

I was over feeding my tank to make sure my snails got fed. The only reason my tank remained algae free (it looked sterile) was probably because I had a tonne of Stomatella snails cleaning the rock and glass plus I had the chaeto pulling out the nutrient. Consequently, my chaeto grew really quick.

Thank you for you're reply here!

I do believe I follow your train of thought

Though with respect I think there may be a disconnect, friend Snails like Nassarius and some others eat detritus including pretty much anything organic from left over fish food, to fish poo, to things that die in your tank.

But many other snails like Astrea, Cerith, and Nerite, for example, do eat algae. These are a pretty solid addition to a tank that has algae problems, in my humble opinion.

I believe you may be correctly realizing that if the CUC critters don't have enough to eat, they will indeed starve, which is a problem in and of itself. But I do believe that most would advise adding some algae eating inverts like snails given that the OP seems to have a tank full of algae for them to feed on.

Otherwise, I would't argue with your above reply, and I hope my reply back helps

 

[Savage Henry]

At the end of the day it comes down to removing the nutrients that is causing the algae growth. I think Chaeto or some other nutrient transport is the better way to go for such a small tank.

 

[Fish Fan]

At the end of the day it comes down to removing the nutrients that is causing the algae growth. I think Chaeto or some other nutrient transport is the better way to go for such a small tank.

Fair enough, friend

Thank you again for you replies here!

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

Can we see a tank picture to see what we are dealing with?

Algae grazers will help keep algae in check, but the major effort is up to you. You need proper filtration, proper flow, and weekly water changes with manual algae removal.

 

[Savage Henry]

Bear in mind the tank is three months new and so will go through different phases of algae growth so I would be hesitant to over do it with cuc (including fish).

 

[Savage Henry]

There was one time during my tanks evolution when it was full of one type of algae or another and I was thinking this is crap, but things progressed.

I think we get a bit disillusioned cause you see these tank builds that look absolutely fabulous.