Sharkey18 July 25, 2009 Share July 25, 2009 Hey all, I have green hair algae growing on my sand. It is little tufts of algae attached to very small pieces of rocks / crushed coral. Because it is attached to the substrate, it is too heavy to vacuum out and picking it out by hand or tweezers is too hard. My algae blenny keeps the rocks looking pristine but won't won't touch the stuff on the sand... My phosphates and nitrates are not measurable (salifert kit) but probably becasue the algae is using it all up.... I also have some algae on the glass but the blenny keeps it under control so i don't care. The stuff on the sand is starting to grown on my zoas etc. I have turned down my lights to 6 hrs per day and have reduced the amount I am feeding. Any recommendation on critter control? I have not added any clean up stock in a while so sand critters are pretty slim... mostly just some hermits. Thanks for the help! Laura Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poor_reefer July 25, 2009 Share July 25, 2009 I have a newer tank (6 months) and I still get some brown algae on my sand, which is a coarse live sand I bought initially. I have a brittle star, had an urchin (had to get rid of it because it stripped my rocks of coralline), hermits, a sea cucumber and snails. Nothing I have confronts the algae sand problem, so I just make sure to churn the sand myself every time I do a water change to get some gunk out and rotate the sand. I am sorry I can't give you any specific advice, but just wanted to let you know, in my experience, there is no silver bullet. If you find one let me know though! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharkey18 July 25, 2009 Author Share July 25, 2009 Thanks! Wish there was an easy answer. I think I'm going with picking it out by hand, reducing food and lights and covering sand with rocks temporarily to block light.... maybe some snails too.... Laura Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coral Hind July 25, 2009 Share July 25, 2009 I recommend getting a couple of queen or fighting conch snails. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reefmontalvo July 26, 2009 Share July 26, 2009 Toss in about 10 Scarlet hermits, they love hair algae. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mling July 26, 2009 Share July 26, 2009 A Sea Hare will eat all the hair algae u have, only problem is that if you have a small tank, it might starve to death after all the algea is gone. I moved mine from my 16G to the 156G after is wiped out all the hair algea in less than a week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharkey18 July 26, 2009 Author Share July 26, 2009 Thanks everyone! Laura Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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