Get rid of Hair Algae and other Nuisance Algae

[WhoPoopWrasse]

I agree with EVERYTHING Myka wrote about HA and how to get rid of it.... except the snipping and shaving. I'm way too lazy for that!

I had HA all over my tank, it was horrible, ugly, annoying, everywhere.
My solution was a bit more drastic though but I had overnight success!
I have a 90 gallon tank so I did a 24g W/C. I kept all the old water. I put 12g into two 6 gallon buckets. Then I had 2 -24g rubbermaids with the rest of the water divided between them. I also had a 6g bucket of new water.

What I did was I gathered a bunch of different brushes, nail brush, toothbrush etc...
Then I took out the coral and placed them in one of the rubbermaids. Then I took out every affected rock (HA is usually only on exposed surfaces so the rocks under the top layer were fine) and brushed it vigorously under water in one of the 6g buckets with old water, then I swished it around, then I swished it in the second 6g bucket and then finally in the 6g bucket of clean water, then placed it in the second rubbermaid. Repeat this until you've done all the affected rocks.
Rebuild the tank and voila!
Your tank will be cloudy for a day or so but if you control the rest of the problems, (nittrate, phosphate etc...) it will be the end of the HA!
It's been at least 6 months since I did this and still no sign of HA!

[Myka]

Thanks for the comments guys! Now, when newbies ask about algae issues we can direct them here instead of writing everything out again and again. Or as has been the case lately, people with algae issues aren't receiving much for replies.

Originally Posted by WhoPoopWrasse

Your tank will be cloudy for a day or so but if you control the rest of the problems, (nittrate, phosphate etc...) it will be the end of the HA!

I'm surprised your approach worked for you as most people are unable to eliminate the cause of the HA so quickly. Often it's simple impossible. I'm glad it worked for you though! Another idea for those who are at the end of their rope!

[WhoPoopWrasse]

I guess I was lucky but maybe all the brushes and scrubbing like crazy lady had alot to do with it.
Also I forgot to mention that most of the rocks were put back upside down. Also some of the rocks got second scrubbing in the second bucket because the water was so green/brown and fuzzy that I couldn't see if there was more to take off so once in the second bucket, if I saw more hairy patches, it would get another once over and by the time they got to the clean water bucket they were perfect.

[Myka]

Woohoo!! My first sticky on this forum!

I added some info near the top of the Guide about detritus...thanks to kwirky for (unintentionally) reminding me! I will likely add more and more to this Guide as I remember little bits and pieces.

[Myka]

Updated.

[daniella3d]

congratulations! but what about dino? I guess it should be included as well.

Originally Posted by Myka

Updated.

[Myka]

Dinos are not an algae (neither is cyano), and the treatment isn't the same as the rest (cyano is treated like algae). This guide was originally for hair algae at a time when there seemed to be TONS of people having hair algae issues, so it was easier to write this than answer the same question day after day. I added cyano and diatoms to the list simply because they are treated the same way as hair algae.

I could add a section for dinos. That's easy enough. I don't have time to do that today, but hopefully tomorrow. I will have to change the title of the thread!

[reefwars]

cyano is a bacteria right??


in what catagory would dinoflagellate be classified??

dinoflagellate:any of numerous one-celled aquatic organisms bearing two dissimilar flagellae and having characteristics of both plants and animals. Most are microscopic and marine. Botanists place them in the algal division Pyrrophyta, and zoologists claim them as members of the protozoan order Dinoflagellida. Dinoflagellates range in size from about 5 to 2,000 micrometres (0.0002 to 0.08 inch). Nutrition among dinoflagellates is plantlike, animal-like, or mixed; some species are parasitic or commensal. About one-half of the species are photosynthetic, but even among these many are also predatory.


i always put them in the same class as algae but i knew cyano wasnt but i didnt know that dino's werent hummmlearn something new everyday

ive always been under the impression that when dino's takeover your tank its very hard to get rid of , my friend last year had his tank completely run with it and it nearly broke him down i think he has taken down his tank since then and never did get rid of it completely ive been lucky and have not had to deal with it yet...knock on wood lol

[daniella3d]

I know it's a dinoflagellates but it should be in the same topic as algae as it is a common problem with similar effects as algae and often confused for algae. I mean there should be some inclusion in a sticy threat for dino and cyano as well, otherwise if the person's problem is not an algae, he or she will be on a dead end with this thread. Or maybe another new thread for dino and cyano but that would be more confusing I would think since most people put all of these in the same bag.

Just my thoughts.

Reefwars: From what I read there are a few strains of dino and some react really bad to high PH and some are not affected. I got rid of mine in 3 days gone for 4 months now, never saw it again. Honestly it is easy to treat that way, does not affect the other creatures in the aquarium if done slowly and a PH of 8.4 is not that drastic, but it was enough for me. You might want to tell your friend to try that and see if it work for him. I am 100% positive on the ID on mine because I have a microscope and use it to ID everything I can before treating. Mine looked like little grain of corn. Under the microscope, the cyano look very very much like a hair algae!

Originally Posted by Myka

Dinos are not an algae (neither is cyano), and the treatment isn't the same as the rest (cyano is treated like algae). This guide was originally for hair algae at a time when there seemed to be TONS of people having hair algae issues, so it was easier to write this than answer the same question day after day. I added cyano and diatoms to the list simply because they are treated the same way as hair algae.

I could add a section for dinos. That's easy enough. I don't have time to do that today, but hopefully tomorrow. I will have to change the title of the thread!

[Harpo]

Thank you for all the great tips! This has been a constant battle since one of my large fish died!