Good clean up critter for hair algae

[Zack]

is some good inverts for the job?? Need to clean up some hair algae

[Sandman12]

I have a lettuce nudi that does a pretty good job. But most of the time he is in front of the power head enjoying the current.

I have heard lawn mower blennyes plow rite threw it. 8)

[Zack]

hey thanks for the help!

[Charles Poole]

Increasing the current in any area that hair algae is growing, will often help to reduce the growth. Hair algae starts to grow in areas of higher nutrient content. Ussually the algae grows on or near the source of these nutrients. Increased water flow in the tank (especially behind the rocks) will help to reduce the need for special hair algae clean up crews. After they eat it all, they die of astarvation, then the algae comes back.

Best way to get rid of it, is to prevent it from growing......

[Zack]

Thanks!
Hope to get it out soon, will keep all you updated.

Yes. This Works, Remove The Hair Algea By Hand And Then Raise The Water Current By It.

[paulsreef]

Zack, first know this happens to many, many people and its one of the main reasons that people quit the hobby. It’s horrible, frustrating and ugly but it will end.

I've used two method's that have worked (I currently have no Hair Algae... knock on wood):

Option 1: get yourself a siphon hose and a pair of tweezers and do the "pluck & suck" method of removal. I've found this only works when outbreaks are very isolated. Alternately, you can get a wire brush and tape it to the end of the siphon hose and do it that way. Just be sure to suck up all the algae or you'll just spread the problem. It’s important to get as much out as you can because the Hair Algae will do two insidious things to survive... feed on itself and trap detritus as food. Its evil, evil stuff. You'll always have some left on the rocks that you can't see, so if there is fuel (nutrients) it will grow. You just have to wear it down.

Option 2: If you can remove the rock, take the offending pieces out and put them in a 5 gallon bucket with water from the tank. Get yourself two other buckets. Fill one with fresh saltwater and fill the other with a mix of RO/DI and Vinegar (I use about 1 cup to a gallon, but you can use it straight). Get some brushes (I've used the wire brushes). Scrub the rocks clean and put the clean pieces in the fresh salt water you made. Once you've transferred all the rock, dump out the green soup that will be in the original bucket, wash it out, and fill it with fresh saltwater. Next scrub the rocks with the RO/DI - Vinegar mix to remove calcium phosphate that may have accumulated on them (the Hair Algae loves this stuff and feeds on the phosphates). When finished put them in the last bucket. Then you're free to return them to your tank. Its pretty labor intensive, and ... depending on how bad the algae problem is... you may have to do it more than once, but it does work.

If you do these things without removing the source of the nitrates / phosphates that are feeding the algae you'll be fighting a losing battle. Also make sure you've got a good cleanup / algae removal team... they will help out a lot! If you've got alot of phosphates in the system (possibly bound to the rocks as calcium phosphate) then you may want to try Salifert's Phosphate Eliminator... awesome stuff. Pricey, but it works. It will remove phosphate via your skimmer. Also, what are your nitrates at? Hair always seems to thrive in systems with nitrates. I used AZ-NO3 with great results before I built my Mud Filter.

Good luck!

Knock On Wood I Have Never Really Had Bad Hair Algea :lol:

[tnguy86]

i've had a horrible experience with hair algae. i have a 20 tall full of lr and nearly all pieces were riddled with hair algae. i tried taking the rocks out to clean often, but i was never able to get rid of the hair. I then found a great deal on astrea snails and blue legs and bought five snails and ten hermits. i thought that the hermits would do the job for me, but it turns out that the snails were the best to control the hair algae. the only problem with the snails is that they can't reach in all places, so hair algae may remain, but they do clean all the places that are within reach, which amounts to all the visible places. anything else, the hermits should be able to control. so my advice is to load up on the cleanup crew.

[H3R0]

in my tank theres not enough algae to go arownd ... i have a sailfin blennie a bicolor blennie snails and herimts... the sailfin looks like he starving

[mjc]

I second Pauls comments - esp the point of removing the source of nutrients; nitrate and phosphates. Another method I used was building an algae turf scrubber to grow hair algae and in turn, removing most, if not all form of green algae from the tank.

[juano-269]

can someone tell me wich ro is the best ? :? :? :?