Hair algae

[Aaron Stillwell]

Hello all. My nitrate and phosphate are within range but still having issues with hair algae. Been trying my hardest to scape off the rock without killing coral. 
 

Added a new clean up crew last week and it’s making a difference (but not enough). 
 

is there anyway to quickly get rid of this stuff?

[DaJMasta]

Herbivores as management (fish, urchins, snails, crabs) is usually the best option and manual removal can help things get jumpstarted, especially when there's a lot of buildup.  Flucanozole treatment is also effective, but while it's generally considered reef safe, there is certainly plenty of evidence that it does disrupt some things and will require a settling period again after treatment before everything is back in balance.

 

How big is the tank?  How bad is the algae?  What's normal range for the parameters?  What herbivores do you already have?  Could get you some more targeted advice.

[YHSublime]

What are your nitrate and phosphate levels? 

 

You could also up your water changes on top of manual removal. 

[John-Solo]

I turned off all my pumps while i manually removed as much as I could then try to get what ever was floating around with a net before I would do my water changes. I also stocked extra snails and emerald crabs. After a few months it was all gone. But I only have a 28gal cube so it’s a bit easier to manage.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[davidm]

While I am a big fan of water changes, carbon and skimmers...sometimes it keeps so frustrating......when I reached that point of frustration in my tank in my office in DC I used reef-flux antifungal treatment and it saved me from braking down the tank.

 

[nburg]

I think the 2 best non-fish hair algae eaters are mexican turbo snails and tuxedo urchins. hermits will work but you need a TON of them. I am not a fan of using chemicals and had great success with Mexican Turbos.

 

 

[RW09903]

It was a long journey but I was able to successfully combat hair algae over the course of a year and a half. It might seem like a long process, however, quick fixes aren't often the answer and there may be other underlying issues. Here are a few things that worked for me:

 

-Pinch and siphon the hair algae off the rocks and glass into the sump, filtering the water through a mesh filter sock to capture and remove the algae.

 

-Utilitarian fish/Inverts. I have a tang gang + foxface lo and a few tuxedo urchins. From my observation, they both prefer shorter hair algae, and didn't touch the long pieces. 

 

-Use GFO to lower phosphates. I used 1/2 the recommended amount of GFO for my tank size. I ran it through a fluidized reactor. Even though the readings for phosphates may be with range, there was likely additional phosphates available, as the algae kept coming back.

 

- Change the feeding regiment. I use to dump a mix of frozen and pellets, daily. The food would swirl throughout the tank and some would travel down the overflow and breakdown in the sump. I still feed daily, however, I cut back on the amount pellets I feed. The phosphorus content in pellets are higher than with frozen. 

 

- Use filter socks or something to trap and remove waste. After I installed a filter roller, this process became easier compared to swapping out filter socks biweekly. It helps to keep waste from breaking down in the water column. 

 

[YHSublime]

Phosphates might appear to be in range bc the algae is consuming it, fyi. 
 

OP, what size is your tank? I agree with RW, quick fixes are not going to solve the underlying issue, and they had some great advice. If it’s a smaller tank, it’s harder to control with fish like tangs. 
 

like NBurg was saying, the right inverts can fix it. Reef Cleaners will provide you a package customized to helping!