Hair algea with diatoms on it??

FloatinBy · Mar 26, 2018

Ok believe this to be hair algea with possibly diatoms on it? Thought dinos but was ID as hair algea. How do i treat it?
Its on rick and back glass. Microscope view is at 1200x fyi.

pH 8.3
Ammonia-0
NitrIte zero
Nitrate zero
Phosphate 0.25
Mag 1400
Alk 9.3
Cal 440

Brew12 · Mar 26, 2018

FloatinBy said:
Ok believe this to be hair algea with possibly diatoms on it? Thought dinos but was ID as hair algea. How do i treat it?
Its on rick and back glass. Microscope view is at 1200x fyi.

pH 8.3
Ammonia-0
NitrIte zero
Nitrate zero
Phosphate 0.25
Mag 1400
Alk 9.3
Cal 440

You have a few options.

You can add snails or fish that will eat it.

You can use a chemical treatment like Fluconazole.

Or you can use a bacterial treatment like Vibrant.

FloatinBy · Mar 26, 2018

Brew12 said:
You have a few options.

You can add snails or fish that will eat it.

You can use a chemical treatment like Fluconazole.

Or you can use a bacterial treatment like Vibrant.

I have 5 nassarus snails, 30+ ceriths, some trochas snails and some turbans pluse 2 sallyfoot craps amd 2 emeralds. Its a 100gal tank. I also have a yellow tang and a long spine urchin but nothing seems to interested in it.

Brew12 · Mar 26, 2018

FloatinBy said:
I have 5 nassarus snails, 30+ ceriths, some trochas snails and some turbans pluse 2 sallyfoot craps amd 2 emeralds. Its a 100gal tank. I also have a yellow tang and a long spine urchin but nothing seems to interested in it.

That seems odd for hair algae.
I'm a big fan of Vibrant by UWC so that is what I would personally try first.

I wouldn't suggest against going with Fluconazole though. The only reason I would consider recommending this first is that the only macro algae I have had that nothing would eat was bryopsis. And what you have doesn't look like bryopsis to me.

So pro's and con's.

Vibrant: Works on hair algae faster. Takes much longer on bryopsis. If you can't keep nitrates up and phosphates exported it can lead to cyanobacteria. A good skimmer is a must. If you buy a bottle you can switch to a maintenance dose with the remaining product and keep your glass cleaner longer.

Fluconazole: Works much much faster on bryopsis. Can take a little longer on hair algae. Can't run chemical filtration like GAC for 2 weeks. Works better if you don't run a skimmer for at least the first few days. Product use is one and done since you will buy the number of pills you need to break open.

Of course, I left out another possible option. If you don't already have one, set up a fuge or algae turf scrubber to try and switch to growing algae outside of your DT.