Hair Algae

[Don Vito]

My tank has just been over run with hair algae.
Green with blue tips. It pulls right out but leaves behind little strands that come back within two weeks.
It first started on my power head and now its just every where.

Things I have done to try to get rid of it.
Rip it out by hand( Just comes Back )
I have gone through 3 Blennys( Just lost my third)
Different types of Snails, Crabs, Emerald Crabs,
Cut my hours back from 12 to 7 hours.
Sea Hare.( Best Thing Ever)

Now the Sea Hare has probably been the best thing, this guy just rips through it but it comes right back. I dont know if I should give the little fat guy some more time. I have had him from atleast a month now.

I did have my lights running for about 12 hours and then cut them back to 10. I just recently cut them down to 7 hours and hopefully that wont effect the corals to much.

If anyone can give some good advice I am willing to listen. Thanks guys.
Don Vito.

[jason142]

Get a tang or foxface

[ajn81]

have you tested your tank for phosphates?

Are you topping off your tank with RO water or tap?

In my experience, a refugium with chaeto can really help.

[Techknowledgy]

Try shutting off your lights for two days with the sea hare hard at work. You probably have a LOT of nutrients in your water.

[acronautical]

I second Roland's suggestion; however, if you don't have any expensive sps or lps corals you could do what I did with my nano softie tank when it had a little run of cyano, and turn the lights of for four days straight. Not only did the cyano disappear, but ALL of the visible algae was gone for quite a while. Combined with water changes to reduce your DOC/phosphates, it should yield positive results for you.

[elvis142]

hello, i have 2 tangs and still have the hair. its not that bad though. do you have a pic?

john

[Don Vito]

I always top off with DI water from AW.
My Salt water comes from scripps.
I have not tested my Phosphates. I will get on that.

I have left my lights off for more then 24 hours and was afraid to leave them off for any longer then that. Let me try 2 days and see how that works.

I mainly have softies in the tank.
Thanks guys.

[Fine Fins]

I had a guy I know have his lights for over a month and he still had corals that survived. His clam looked great. While I think some stuff died it was amazing to have seen things live at all.

[MustangBill]

Usually over feeding contributes to lots of nutrients in the water which can also lead to high phosphates. I would test for that and if it is high get some phosban and run it in your system and do extra water changes. I've found that the phosphates are a pain to get rid of with doing a lot of water changes. Usually when you see hair alge growing you need to jump on it righ away. Buying blennys and sea hares will help but you need to find the source and nip in the butt. Also old lights where the color spectrum has changed as they get older will contribute to hair alge growth. How old are your lights? If they are over a year old I would get new bulbs.

[OceanBeach1502]

Sea Hares are AMAZING! I agree you should turn off your lights for a couple days. You should for sure give the Hare more time.

[sandiegoreefish]

i would do water changes, and the other stuff they guys say. i would test water, when i started out i had the same problem, i cut down on lights, did more water changes got animals to eat it, and month or so later it was gone

[elvis142]

hello, i tested for phophates and was below .03. i don't know why i have it going on.

[MustangBill]

Did you check your lights? If they are over a year old or close to it replace them

[GeoJ]

Hi there, I would test Nitrates
And how is your tank set-up for filtration and do you need to clean it.
I like Astraea snails 2 per 10 gals

[GeoJ]

hello, i tested for phophates and was below .03. i don't know why i have it going on.

If you run carbon I would check it to see if it leeches phosphate.