# hair algae



## walkytalky (Sep 24, 2008)

I have a small amount of hair algae growing.(aprox. 3 inches long and 1/2 inch high) And I was wondering what fish or coral eats this.
I have a algae blenney but he/she won't eat it.
My substrate is crushed coral.:-?


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## Kellsindell (Sep 15, 2008)

Lawnmower blenny is the one that eats them, it seems like you're out of luck since it's extremly uncommon for them to not like it. 

The better way to get rid of it is to lower your nutrients in your water by doing water changes using RO/DI. Also, get a bowl of FW and reach into the tank and tear a pinch off, then dip your hand into the water and release the algae. Then do it again. Manual removal is the best way. You put your hand into the FW so that any spores that are released stay in the FW and don't go back into the tank. Decrease the amount of food you are putting into the tank, lower your photo period and manual removal. Other then that, an urchin or a blenny, and don't get a tang for this as it's normally a failed attempt.

GL


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## onefish2fish (Jul 22, 2008)

addressing the problem is probally the most important thing ( high nitrates? phosphates? ) because removing it or using a chemical to do so will just result in another bad algae sprouting up to take its place absorbing the excess nutrients that you readily have present


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## walkytalky (Sep 24, 2008)

my nitrates are fine. I haven't checked the phosphates thou.
Thanks


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## mags2313 (Nov 25, 2008)

*I need to get a siamese algea eater STAT! any advice?....*

In my 32 g I have black spots and black air all over my jungle val, and I have the spot on my brazil swords as well.. My b.f's 55g, he is getting brown spots all over his plants and rocks too.
We are worried about it getting out of control and we want to just add siamese algea eaters right away without the 2 week quaranting period that we usually wait in our qt tank.

any advice??


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## aunt kymmie (Jun 2, 2008)

mags2313 said:


> In my 32 g I have black spots and black air all over my jungle val, and I have the spot on my brazil swords as well.. My b.f's 55g, he is getting brown spots all over his plants and rocks too.
> We are worried about it getting out of control and we want to just add siamese algea eaters right away without the 2 week quaranting period that we usually wait in our qt tank.
> 
> any advice??


You need to post this over in the F/W section...you'll get more responses that way. ;-)


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## Kellsindell (Sep 15, 2008)

walkytalky said:


> my nitrates are fine. I haven't checked the phosphates thou.
> Thanks


Your nitrates are fine because it's stored up into the hari algae. If your nitrates were good though, you wouldn't have algae in the first place... what are you calling fine? how many ppm do you have of nitrates and phosphates? 

also, how old is the tank, how much sand, how much LR?


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## walkytalky (Sep 24, 2008)

my nitrates are at 0 ppm.
The tanks is 7 months, and I have at least 2 inches of crushed coral. No sand. 20-30lbs of LR.
I feed the tank every third day. I have a sundail T5 lighting system which is on approx 6-7.5 hrs per day.
I have now maybe 5 hermit crabs. and 7 snails.


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## Kellsindell (Sep 15, 2008)

How small is your tank? Ideally you should have 1 snail per gallon. I have a 55g tank i have 70 snails (a little much but my hermits eat them sometimes). If you have a 29g you need 29 snails 180g tank 180 snails. Again that is ideally, and that'll help reduce the isseus a bit too. i order from reeftopia.com and i get 100snails for $36. The LFS charges much more then that, so online for critters is going to be the best way to get a bang for you buck.

Again, the nitrates are stored in the algae. You need to get that crushed coral out of the tank. Where is the algae growing out of? the LR or the substrate?


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## walkytalky (Sep 24, 2008)

the algae is growing out of the substrate.
I know I need more cleaners. I did have a bunch in there but for some stupid reason they are dieing off slowly.


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## onefish2fish (Jul 22, 2008)

they could be deing off due to nitrates, possibly copper or lack of food.

not many "cleaners" will eat hair algae. mexican turbo snails are one but thats a hit or miss, some will some wont.


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## walkytalky (Sep 24, 2008)

k thanks for that info. I was miss led thinking that they eat anything/everything.
My tank is 30g.


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## Kellsindell (Sep 15, 2008)

it's odd that they would start dying off. Has the tank ever been used for a Freshwater? if so do you know if copper has been used?


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## walkytalky (Sep 24, 2008)

Yes it was used as a fw. Then I converted over to SW. But I thoroughly washed it out. I even used a bit (not much) of bleach. So I don't think that there is any copper left over from that time.


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## onefish2fish (Jul 22, 2008)

could you please post specific tank params?
highest temp of the day- lowest
ammonia,nitrite,nitrate,pH,SG,alk,mag,cal

possibly phosphate,copper,silicates if you have those as well
how often do you feed, what do you feed, how often do you water change, how much? what salt? what kind of water? how long do you mix it for? anything else tank related


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## Kellsindell (Sep 15, 2008)

Copper has the tendancy to soak into the seams and then leak out when the SW is in the tank. That's what make that tank a bit dangerous for inverts and soft corals.


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## walkytalky (Sep 24, 2008)

That is new to me. Thanks for that tidbit Kellsindell.
AS for the perm. of my tank
30g
sunlight t5 bulbs
seaclone skimmer
200 aqua clear
nano & 90 koralia circulation pump
crushed coral
20-30 lbs LR
temp 78
I haven't done all the water tests cause I don't have all the test kits except for:
nitrates 0
ammonia 0
ph 8
salinity 1.028 (instant ocean hydrometer)
I know my calcium is high. can't remember how high. had it tested in a lfs.
AS for feedings
every third day. flakes,cyclopees,ref-roids,mysis shrimp and plankton (frozen) But I alternate between all theses foods.
water change everyother week. 1/4 change.


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## walkytalky (Sep 24, 2008)

I redid all my test and found out that my nitrates were high. (duh)
I did a water change. So I will wait and see what happens.
I also went and got some more cleaners. 10 more crabs,and 10 more snails.


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