Who eat's Green Hair Algae??

[banditpowdercoat]

I got a nasty breakout in my 150. I can't keep up. Got a Lawnmower blenny, he doesnt touch it, 2 tangs don't acknowledge it...

I cant pluck half of it. Its in the rocks and I can;t pick it all off.

Thx in advance

[68shelby]

what kind of tangs do you have?

[upthecreekwithoutapaddle]

purchase a sea hare, but be sure to return it to the LFS once the job is done?

[banditpowdercoat]

Hippo and Yellow. Coral Beauty and Flame angel as well, but I dont think they think it's tasty either

[banditpowdercoat]

No LFS here that deals salt. I have to take a trip, or have shipped. Anyone in Kamloops have one they wana share???

[naesco]

Either too much light or poor water quality which is the root of your problem

In the meantime order in a sea hare.
Make sure you acclimate it very carefully or it will not survive the stress of transfer.
Getting it from a fellow reefer is best.
Once you get it and it is down to 90% of the hair algae eaten you need to start feeding it spirulina sinking tablets or sink some nori to the bottom or it will die of starvation.
It is best to pass it on to another reefer who has an algae problem
The other fish solutions are hit and miss and not worth disturbing your existing fish for.

[tgoeujon]

total pet in kamloops had a few sea hares on saturday when i was there

[BlueWorldAquatic]

for hair algae we have found the livestock to do the most damage to it are as follows;

Scopus Tangs
Dragon Gobys
Tuxedo Urchins
Emerald Crabs
Mexican Turbo snails
and of course Sea Hairs (we have a few circulating around Edmonton)

Hope that helps.

Ken

[fishytime]

Most of the "hair munchers" BWA(Ken) mentioned will do a much better job if you can keep the algae pruned...its like, "a cow can be in a field of grass two feet tall and he/she will eat the short, new stuff"...We have a pretty neat "program" at the shop...We re-home seahares on a rental basis....pay full price for the seahare then get 50% back in store credit when you return it...I know that doesnt help you out there in BC but it was a shameless plug for RC:mrgreen:

[banditpowdercoat]

Ya I know my water, Nitrates etc are probibally an issue. Lights, 2 250W MH 8hrs, 2-10PM on a 5'lx2'dx2'h tank. I procrastonate on water changes. 15g/month on average. My bad :(
But we usually only feed the fish once a day too, and have been trying to lessen the food. Sometimes pellet snacks during day, just a little tho, try to keep the unetens that settle to floor to a min.

I love my fish, I just don;t have time to devote to keep my tank pristine

[Delphinus]

Not surprising about the lawnmower, they actually don't really care for filamentous algae so much as the film kind of algae you get on the glass (look for the kiss marks :) ).

I forget what size your tank is Dan but a couple options I've found that seem to work well for me are urchins and abalones. A diadema urchin does a pretty good job but needs a LOT of space (you can get them small but it doesn't take them long to get big). Another option that has worked *incredibly* well for me is a green urchin. No idea on the species ID, looks just like a blue tuxedo but uniformly green. Anytime I've tried to google them all I find is coldwater species though, this is not a coldwater species though (sorry I realize that's not terribly helpful).

[bvlester]

Hippo and Yellow. Coral Beauty and Flame angel as well, but I dont think they think it's tasty either

I think they don't like older HA if plucked dothey eat the new stuff. a sea hare will do the job as mentched already either pass it on or return it to LFS.

I know a flame angle and the hippo should eat it. get some hermits I have found the red leged ones eat it better even knowing the blue leged hermits are suposto be the better algea eaters.

Bill

[banditpowdercoat]

I have a 150g tank, 5'x2'x2'. ya the lawnmower LOVES the film on the glass.. guess I was remembering Film algae as Filamentous??? The others, don';t seem to try it even after pruning. But I will try some more. Think a Fast, before I prune will help?? Probelem is I have Clowns, banggai, Angels and a Goby in there to, which nee more than algae. I dont want to starve them, in order to get the tang's to eat the algae. Would a Foxface make an attempt???

[iansfishy]

Dan, had the sam issue. I mean hair that was like 6-8 inches in some spots. Hit it with manual pruning, sea hare worked awesome, but at the same time I added alot of rowa phos to the system, by way of a tlf reactor, and shut my lights off for three days once the sea hare was acclimated. Im in Van right now by the way, so I may be able to bring something back for you when I get sick of traffick and head north again!

[Frenchie]

I find that my foxface rabbit fish does a good job on the HA.

[Glennrf38]

My hair algae that I am fighting with right now doesn't grow very long. Maybe 1/2 inch.... I am beginning to think it might not be hair algae. Any ideas? I could send a picture.

Thanks

Glenn

[freddy]

I use boiling water with a syringe,I heard about it and it works great,boil some water suck it up with a syringe,and squirt it at the base of the hair alage,in a day it will be gone,I had a few rocks that I took out,and poured boiling water over the alage,and it hasn't came back,I found that after the boiling water treament my bicolour angle eats the dying hair alage,it works great for me,try it it can't hurt.

[tgoeujon]

if your coming through i could lend you my diadema urchin

[whatcaneyedo]

Tuxedo urchins work well for me at eating bryopsis. The sides of my refugium have become an algae turf scrubber so I have 3 tuxedos in there to keep it clean so that I dont have to. I'm going to try a turbo snail or two this week to see if they will touch the patches growing in my display tank.

[fishoholic]

My foxface and my naso tang like to eat it.

[banditpowdercoat]

if your coming through i could lend you my diadema urchin

Trevor, what type of Urchin is that that you gave me?? The long spine. He loves the coraline, but not the hair algae?

[sask]

Emerald Crabs are always a good choice for hair algae. They are usually fairly cheap and will munch on the algae. They will probably survive when its all gone, too. I personally don't think water quality is too much of an issue. Like a shaving brush plant, once it is established, it will do well. I used to get hair algae grow on top of my return water outlets where no one could reach it. It was always wet but in duel 250w direct hq lighting and water quality was excellent. Good luck.

[rocco134]

have you tried making a tasty vegetarian dish with it??:lol: