Should I clean up a small amount of hair algae?

[Capslock]

This past weekend I just cleaned the front and two side panes of my glass from all the hair algae that was on it. The snails were doing a good job getting rid of it but they either lost interest or the hair just grew too much.

I also wanted to scrub the glass to get rid of the small greens that was on the glass so I can see better into the tank.

Anyways, the only bit that is left is a generous amount on my overflow ,which I like because it hides the overflows unattractiveness a bit, and the back glass pane which is about 60% covered in hair algae.

A lot of it is starting to turn brown, presumably from a decline in phosphate and a protein skimmer just recently installed.

If this algae is dying or not (but more importantly if its dying), should I still remove it? I find it to be good to keep phosphate under control but I thought I would get opinions from you folks.

 

[metalac]

it's always good idea to remove dying stuff from your tank, or things that will potentially die. So go ahead and remove that ugly algae.

 

[FinalPhaze987]

i agree pull out whatever you can...as it breaks down and decomposes, itll release the nutrients it utilized to grow...the skimmer will help but wont get everything...its better to be safe than sorry IMO

 

[Capslock]

I removed all of the hair this weekend - tedious but it is done.

After I was finished I stepped back and said - oh yeah, thats what my tank used to look like

 

[Nemo2007]

How did you get the old dead algae off?

 

[metalac]

How did you get the old dead algae off?

it should just come off if you pull it. Just make sure you don't get it back into water, it should end up in the garbage

 

[Capslock]

I used a hard scrubber and scrubbed in an upward fashion as not to release the hair algea back into the water.

This worked 98% of the time. Any hair algea that ended up floating around into the tank made its way into the sump and then I removed it from there.

Since then its been much easier maintaining the overall algae growth on all of the glass, the only misfortune is taking away a significant amount of food for the snails.

 

[mr_X]

oddly enough, the only place i get hair algae is in my overflows. i get in there with a toothbrush and a scraper once in a while and clean them out a bit, and then dump the filter sock after. i could leave them alone, and probably should....the hair algae crops make for good little pod breeding grounds. that, and those micro stars and snails too.

 

[Capslock]

I was wondering about filter socks.

I currently do not have any sort filer sock on my drains but I am thinking I should?

Are they something that needs to be replaced every week or just rinsed once in awhile etc?

I have not had any hair algae grow since the first crop but I have also been cleaning the walls frequently.

My phosphate is still at 1.0, has been for the last 3 weeks. I am not sure how to drop this but since I am not having a problem with algae I am not too concerned.

 

[mr_X]

i put mine in the washing machine without soap to clean them. and i change mine out every 3 days or so.
i've been using the same ones since i started my new tank.

 

[Capslock]

and please forgive if this is an obvious answer but are there specific types of filter socks I would want to use?

When I imagine filter socks I imagine plane womens stockings used at the end of washing machine drains

 

[mr_X]

i use these-
http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_ViewItem~ ... L3133.html

but they are $5.99 at my LFS