Hair algae in a macro tank

[LigerQ4]

Anyone know what will take hair algae out of a tank full of macros? I have Chaeto, red turf algae, dragon's breath (Tasty btw.), and red grape.. I want to kill the Hair algae, but not the other ones I've been growing. This is a seahorse tank, and the macro is great for hiding places for the pod population. Help would be great, if this is even at all possible.. Wondering if a sea hare would leave the other stuff alone, even if it starts on the hair algae first..

[CMD2213]

Turbo snails are a no no my turbos and hermits would eat my dragons tongue turbo ate my blue scroll never tried seahare maybe hit up andrew/ acbaldwin He has all the macros and probably has dealt with the issue as well.

[acbaldwin]

Check your nutrient balance. I only get microalgae breakouts when my nutrients get out of balance.
You may actually need to dose nitrate and phosphate, possibly also iron and iodide to allow your macros to flourish and outcompete the micros. I aim for 8-15ppm nitrate and .4-.8ppm phosphate. I keep nerite, astrea, and margarita snails for algae control, but that's really for green spot algae on the glass and to be honest they're not necessary unless I let the nutrients get out of whack.

[Kris]

Check your nutrient balance. I only get microalgae breakouts when my nutrients get out of balance.
You may actually need to dose nitrate and phosphate, possibly also iron and iodide to allow your macros to flourish and outcompete the micros. I aim for 8-15ppm nitrate and .4-.8ppm phosphate. I keep nerite, astrea, and margarita snails for algae control, but that's really for green spot algae on the glass and to be honest they're not necessary unless I let the nutrients get out of whack.

-acbaldwin-
Very curious: What equipment or method(s) do you use to keep N & P nutrients inside these parameters in your system?
& sorry to "hi jack", but more details could be helpful! (THX!)

[LigerQ4]

Dose Nitrate and Phosphate? I thought that's what we're trying to get rid of? Wouldn't that help the Hair Algae grow??

[acbaldwin]

-acbaldwin-
Very curious: What equipment or method(s) do you use to keep N & P nutrients inside these parameters in your system?
& sorry to "hi jack", but more details could be helpful! (THX!)

Just dose KNO3 (potassium nitrate) dry (or for more precise control, make a solution) to keep nitrate (and potassium) levels where they need to be. Dose KH2PO4 (mono potassium nitrate) to keep phosphate were desired. Iron and Iodide I dose Kent prebottled solution as per the bottle's instructions.
Most of my opinions/theories come from my days as a planted tank guy.

Dose Nitrate and Phosphate? I thought that's what we're trying to get rid of? Wouldn't that help the Hair Algae grow??

(torrent of 1:00AM brainpuke incoming)
Well, getting rid of N/P is one algae control method, particularly in SPS/low nutrient tanks. But if you've got a sizable macro population, then eliminating N/P is going to starve out the macros as well as the micros.
I don't pretend to really know why (and I'm not totally sure anybody does), but one idea is that if you provide your plants enough of the right nutrients, and in the right proportions to each other, they'll outcompete with microalgaes and the end result is a tank with flourishing growth and little to no microalgae. This train of thought carries over from freshwater planted tanks (which is what got me into the hobby about ten years ago).

My experience has supported the idea. N/P/K and trace in balance (example, Nitrates at 15ppm and Phosphate around .8ppm) = no microalgae and excellent macroalgae growth. Out of balance (for example, nitrates at 10ppm and phosphate at ~0) = cyano/hair/greenspot algae blooms.

You want to give your macros free reign to win the battle. Limit them in any way, then microalgae will take up the slack and take over.
When I go away on vacation and stop dosing ferts for a few days my nutrient levels go way down, but microalgaes take over. As I start dosing again and bring levels back up the macros begin to outcompete again and microalgae disappears.

You might look into Estimative Index dosing, which is pretty much just shotgunning a crapload of nutrients every week to keep plants growing crazy. The downside to that is that you need massive water changes (50%+ per week) to keep from building up nutrients, which is cost/effort prohibitive in saltwater. I did EI with freshwater, but with saltwater I just try to keep my levels at a certain spot.