Help!!! Over run with algae

[ihaveadane]

I am being over run with Long Hair Algae. Any suggestions on the best Critters to devour the stuff? How many per gallon?

 

[frewl]

What do you have in the tank already? I looked at one of your earlier threads and its a 125. What are some of the other specs that would help out alot.

 

[sammy33]

I am partial to Mexican Turbo Snails Turbo fluctuosa</em>. They will completely rearrange your reef if all your corals and rocks are not secured but they seem to do a great job on devouring algae. I would add one for every 10-15 gallons as these snails are large.

You may also want to test for nitrates and phosphates. These are the usual fuels for algae growth. Nitrate should be low (5ppm) to zero and phosphate should not be detectable on the average test kit. Adding some sort of chemical media like PhosLock and/or DeNitrate will help control these levels.

What size is your aquarium? Are you using a protein skimmer?

 

[ihaveadane]

Relatively new tank. 125lbs Live rock/ 80 lbs Live sand. (6ft long 18" deep and high) Running a 32 gallon Sump with a Skimmer. My flow is pretty good 1200 fph pump with 3 power heads running.

I just added 1 coral banded shrimp, 5 peppermint, 5 emarald crabs, 20 scarlett hermit. The Astrea I ordered did not arrive alive so so I only have 1 or 2. Red Slime is a huge issue I am in my second treatment of Chemi clean

Not sure what else you may want to know. This is all new(greek) to me

 

[sprayin70]

I think a Sea Hare will do a great job at munching on your hair algae.

 

[fishybusiness]

I have plenty of astrea snails. I also have a large Lawnmower Blenny as well as a large Rabbitfish and Foxface that eat algae and tons of critters.

What type of lighting and how long do you run it over your tank? ALso do you have any sunlight hitting the tank at any part of the day?

 

[frewl]

You want to run an air pump with the Chemi clean. That stuff seems rough to me. But then what is your temp running at now? Lowering your temp can help prevent the red slime.

 

[rhomer]

Critters are nice, but they won't solve the problem. Just like treating cyno with chemi clean it is a band aid on the problem. Most likely your issue is with phosphates. You can try to test for them but most of the time there isn't any free floating phosphates so the tests will read 0. Phosphates are generally tied up in the algea or saturated in the sand, rock, or biological media.

I would run a phosphate sponge and do very regular 5% water changes. Like 3 a week. Prior to doing a water change I would scrub the rocks with a brush to get as much loose as possible. When doing the water change I would siphon out as much of this as I can. I would rinse out any bio balls or other biological filtration in the old water removed during a water change. Absolutely don't rinse this in fresh water.

I would also try and run the skimmer as wet as possible. Maybe the skimmer is too small or needs to be cleaned out. If it is a needle wheel or venturi I would check the intake of the veturi to make sure there isn't any calcium deposits preventing air from entering the skimmer.

The other way to get rid of phosphates is to add a kalk drip to the system. This will help raise calcium and alk as well as tie up phosphates.

Good luck

Rob

 

[sammy33]

If you do not have any corals in the tank I would think a short light cycle of only an hour or two would be sufficient. As you add corals to the aquarium you can increase the light cycle to 6, 8 and then finally 10 hours.

The other important factor is to use a clean water source. RO/DI (reverse osmosis and deionization) water is the best to start with. Do you have a RO/DI filter?

 

[xyzpdq0121]

If it were my choice to get critters I would choose a Sally light foot crab and about 5 emerald crabs... Knock out your hair algae in about a week flat!!!

 

[stanfill reef]

I finally knocked mine out with a yellow tang. I tried various crabs, snails, nudibranches, foxface - didn't work. I also added a phosphate sponge, carbon, cut back on the photo period, more water changes (spent way to much money on $alt), scrubbed rock, etc. It did not go away and stay away until I added the yellow tang.

 

[FutureInterest]

IHAVEADANE;34534 wrote: Relatively new tank. 125lbs Live rock/ 80 lbs Live sand. (6ft long 18" deep and high) Running a 32 gallon Sump with a Skimmer. My flow is pretty good 1200 fph pump with 3 power heads running.

I just added 1 coral banded shrimp, 5 peppermint, 5 emarald crabs, 20 scarlett hermit. The Astrea I ordered did not arrive alive so so I only have 1 or 2. Red Slime is a huge issue I am in my second treatment of Chemi clean

Not sure what else you may want to know. This is all new(greek) to me

I'd like to know how new your tank is. All new tanks have algae blooms and yours is no exception. Don't spaz too much, just get some grazers as suggested above and let nature run its course. A word of advice here is not too get too much of a clean up crew... when your tank finally settles down you'll end up having to feed them to keep em alive .

 

[stroid]

i have been battling this problem lately I have an emerald he doesnt do anything. I have a sea hare mine only seems to clean the glass, I have 30 or so blue legs they are alright. I have 2 mexican turbo snails they have ate almost every bit of hair algae in my tank. Petland alpharetta has some really big ones to choose from.

 

[flyingarmy]

Sprayin70;34535 wrote: I think a Sea Hare will do a great job at munching on your hair algae.

+1.....algae devourer!

 

[george]

FishyBusiness;34536 wrote: I also have a large Lawnmower Blenny

Are Blennies good at eating hair algae? I've got a pesky spot in my tank that gets hair algae, but I'm done with turbo snails since they knock everything over and eventually just die.

I was thinking of picking up a Bicolor or Black Sailfin. Anyone seen any of these around town? I see lots of gobies, but few blennies.

 

[george]

flyingarmy;34654 wrote: +1.....algae devourer!

How long do Sea Hare's live and how big do they get?

 

[flyingarmy]

Not for sure about how long they live but they can get pretty big. I had one that ate all my algae and grew about 2 inches in a month. Big D took him off my hands becuase he was out of algae to eat and was knocking over some of my corals. Cap Bay had some the last time I was in there!

 

[FutureInterest]

Even the dwarf sea hares can grow up to a foot long. As for blennies, the lawnmower blenny is aptly named. It can cut hair algae at 3 different heights, but alas it cannot love.

 

[flyingarmy]

I never had that much luck with my LMB. He seemed to eat a little algae but never enought ot keep up with it's growth. The Sea Hare should be named a "Sea Pig". It would turn brighter green the more it ate! Nice transfer of chlorophyll.

 

[mfliin]

Sea hare?? I've often seen these animals, but never once thought about buying one. After some research, I think I will give it a try. One more question for those who have them....

Will they knock over my SPS frags that I have growing??
Also has anyone kept them alive for very long after they eat all the hair algae? If so how?

Ok it was 2 questions....ooops