Hair Algae MUNCHER

[SnowManSnow]

ok.. i know its been asked before, but I musta missed it. I have a few stands of hair algae on my LR that simply will NOT go away. It hasnt spread or anything, but the same stands keep coming back. I can't take out the rock (seeing as how its the BASE of my entire LR structure). My water parameters are fine. No other algae does this.

What EATS the stuff. I don't have room for another fish, so I'm looking for an invert of some sort... is there a reef safe NB or sea hare or somthing that I could keep. The stuff comes back within a few days of plucking, so I dont think the invert will starve even if HA is its only diet.

What do you guys suggest?

Thanks

B

 

[Anonymous]

Is it located in a way that you could cover it with something, like a big clamshell, to block the light?

 

[SnowManSnow]

hmmm quite possibly

 

[Anonymous]

Snow - I have tried everything. I gave up. NOTHING eats hair algae. Some might pick at some but I think you would be better off finding the fuel source to solve you problem. My tank is going in the dumpster one some people come and get the remaining corals.
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economic recessions

 

[SnowManSnow]

wow it isnt THAT bad! I just have a few little patches of it that keeps coming back. I think, as someone posted earlier, LIGHT is definity a major fuel source. I'll try to cover it for a few weeks or so to see what happens.

B.

 

[postie]

Occasionally, you can find a Sally Lightfoot crab or emerald crab that will nibble away at hair algae...some people don't like crabs in their tanks. I like them and have had success with a Sally Lightfoot and hair so it might be worth a try....covering if possible is great too...I've done that and it works. Just thinking of options

 

[zivic2play]

Sea hares love that stuff! The downside to this, when the hair algae is all gone, the sea hare will go hungry. Unless you have food to satisfy it's voracious appetite for algae. After my sea hare was down mowing the nasty stuff down, I had to put it in a separate tank so it can feed on the nori w/o other fish trying to eat the nori.

 

[Carlos Torano]

I have one bad crab that came in on rock. He eats hair algae. Common black crab. Nasty looking thing.


Large golf ball sized snails work too. I think they are called trochus snails. The might eat it...they also might eat some red algae. But they don't last long in tanks because they need a lot of food, so only get one or two.

 

[reefergirl1]

What i have found that,in my experience eats hair algae... as ugly or cute ( depending how u look at it) as they are, is the sea hares- aka gaint slugs. When i had a investation of hair algae in my 50G tank, i reluctantly bought a sea hare, & LO-&-BEHOLD, all the hair algae was gone in a couple of hours. Hope this works for you!!

 

[Anonymous]

Turbos eat hair algae.

 

[SnowManSnow]

My turbos don't

B

 

[ChrisRD]

Are you talking about Turbo fluctuosus? IME those suckers eat just about any algae (including hair).
IMO, the only (minor) downside to them is their size (ie. make sure your frags are well mounted... :wink: ).

 

[Unarce]

I just moved my tank a couple of weeks ago, and left out the sand bed this time. I've never had the hair algae issue before, but it started to show up in the sump after the move (I'm guessing because that's where the least flow is, and the bacteria in the LR hasn't caught up yet with the absence of the SB).

I threw in one Turbo snail Sunday night. All the hair algae was gone Monday morning.