Hair algea in a 4 year old tank.
- Thread starter cdemoss01
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Get you hands wet and pull the green air algea out. You don't need to do a reset every time there's a proplem.
Use a power head or a turkey baster to get all the loose stuff off the rocks. Clean your filter the next day. Repeat this a few times to clean things up.
Manage the proplem and look into what is causing it. Algea always finds a way to grow.
Doesn't sound like you have anything competing with algea. Most things will not eat green hair algea like you have. They go after the easy the fresh algea.
You can buy all kinds of things but if you don't put in some work it it will show. I struggled with gha but I don't worry about it much anymore. It got easier to manage after pulling it out and brushing it befor it got really long.
There are some good podcast on YouTube. Reef Therapy and Reef Beef are two of them. Research doesn't cost anything.
I hope this doesn't come out as mean. That's not my intention, I wish I heard this from some one years ago. I'm no expert by anymeans....
Use a power head or a turkey baster to get all the loose stuff off the rocks. Clean your filter the next day. Repeat this a few times to clean things up.
Manage the proplem and look into what is causing it. Algea always finds a way to grow.
Doesn't sound like you have anything competing with algea. Most things will not eat green hair algea like you have. They go after the easy the fresh algea.
You can buy all kinds of things but if you don't put in some work it it will show. I struggled with gha but I don't worry about it much anymore. It got easier to manage after pulling it out and brushing it befor it got really long.
There are some good podcast on YouTube. Reef Therapy and Reef Beef are two of them. Research doesn't cost anything.
I hope this doesn't come out as mean. That's not my intention, I wish I heard this from some one years ago. I'm no expert by anymeans....
OP
OP
Ok thank you! I’ve been trying to but every time I do it it gets so short I can’t pick it off the rock…. Do you think the RX will work?
OP
OP
Thank you for this. I’ve been trying to do the manual work issue is it’s so short and there’s so much of it on the rocks I can’t get it off. It’s on one side of the tank oddly enough and on top of that it’s very short. Thank you for your advice.
OP
OP
I wish I could get a pro reefer to help me out right in front of my tank. A lot needs to be done with the tank and it needs a rescape, algae removal, and water changes. It’s very hard for me to work on it when I feel almost hopeless about it. But ever since I’ve been talking on forums I feel better about it and believe I can make it look better. I thank all the support I’ve gotten so far.
Littlesquishy
Active Member
I'd second the manual removal and addition of an easy macroalgae to compete with nuisance algae. I think the only thing that is a good reason for a nuclear restart is trying to get rid of uronema living in the tank. Try different snails like trochus or astreas. Add a small hermit crab if you want.
I've added a macro algae back in my display tank to grow and stabilize my own nutrients. The one giving me trouble is phosphate. All I got to do is wait and let the macro algae get bigger to be a good competitor against my bubble algae problem.
I've added a macro algae back in my display tank to grow and stabilize my own nutrients. The one giving me trouble is phosphate. All I got to do is wait and let the macro algae get bigger to be a good competitor against my bubble algae problem.
OP
OP
Ive had coraline eat it all but its not growing right now.
reeftankdude
Well-Known Member
Tuxedo Urchins for Hair Algae Control
Hair algae is not just one of the common forms of nuisance algae, it is also among the most difficult to eradicate. Indeed, despite the numerous options
www.algaebarn.com
OP
OP
I haven't been able to do anything for the past week or so. I've just been doing daily maintenance to keep it down.... I am under age of driving... And I cant order anything online. Im relying on my parents to order and drive me places I need to go. Sadly they are very busy so hopefully soon I can get them to take me. Im going to push them to order the Blue RX Flux today. Just wanted you to know I was 10 when i first put together this tank. And I regret the size.
OP
OP
Yes I will try that. I have changed the filter completley and bought Blue Life RX Flux. It seems to be working. Its only been about 3-4 days since I put it in there and the algae is turning white...
tdog
Community Member
Glad to hear the Flux RX has been working well for you too. Just keep in mind, the algae absorbed and held nutrients like nitrate. When they dissolve they may release those nutrients back into the water, which could feed other pest algae. I recommend seeding other beneficial competing things, like phytoplankton to uptake those nutrients and avoid other pest algae’s.
OP
OP
Thank you. Whats next? After this algae is gone what should I do? Restock the tank?
Rjukan
Day Dreamer
Need pics!! Was rooting for you when I started reading this thread.
Mikeltee
Valuable Member
What did you do? I recently bought into the Algae Scrubber racket. I'm over a month in and I ain't produced anything to speak of. I don't have a lick of Algae in my 3 month old sterile though tank and I went from cleaning my glass every 3 days to barely scraping anything over a 2 week period. I guess it's working... I have an oversized UV going too. I just killed it the other day to see if that was the issue. When I say issue I mean Phosphate locked rock... has been .3 for 2 months. I was hoping to grow some turf Algae to export it.
This is 1 month growth. I just rinsed and scrubbed it 2 days ago in tap water. I didn't see any Pods. I did dose pods 2 months ago but my 6-line chomped them all down.
This is 1 month growth. I just rinsed and scrubbed it 2 days ago in tap water. I didn't see any Pods. I did dose pods 2 months ago but my 6-line chomped them all down.
Rjukan
Day Dreamer
That brown algae should scrap off pretty easy, it's like a thin film isn't it? I got one of these at some point a long time ago, and it's amazing for keeping the glass clean and my hands dry haha..
Nano Flipper FLOAT - Magnetic Aquarium Algae Cleaner
Scrub, flip, and scrape unsightly algae away with the new and improved floating Flipper! The new Flipper Float is the ultimate tool for keeping your aquarium glass free of unsightly algae! Flipper's patented design creates the only 2 in 1 magnetic aquarium cleaner that can quickly flip from...
fresh.bulkreefsupply.com
It will make short work of that brown algae and also tough coraline. Kind of pricey tho unfortunately.
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