Hair Algae

Been fighting hair algae. Was getting ahead on it then had to go to work for over 3 weeks. Got back and looked like it was before all the work I had done. My cuc is small. snails and crabs don't last long for some reason. Nitrates had gotten high at 80. but since I put the LR rubble, cheato and a reactor with chemipure, the nitrates are down to 30-40. a sea hare was suggested and i'm considering one. Just don't want it to starve if it clears up. Right now it would have plenty to eat though. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

 

Unfortunately, hares tend to target one specific food source, and so will most likely die once the algae has cleared up. Personally, I prefer the miniature reef hermits; as omnivorous scavengers, they can thrive on anything.

 

After talking with the LFS, they said they could house the sea hare to a new home. So i'm going to try it. I feel like I should've waited till one day when hopefully I have a job that allows me to be home and take care of the system properly. Hate to be selfish with the fish and all but it's something I've wanted for a long time. I'm very conflicted with my passion for the hobby.

 

If your snails and hermits are dieing I would test the water before adding ANYTHING.Sea hares are sensitive to dirty water.Also any overflows or ph's will need to be covered as they will kill the hare in short order.IMO it is not fair to the animals.If you don't have time to properly care for them then maybe your lfs will take them back.

 

Manual removal is key with hair algae. Any of it that you can get out is less for your CUC to handle. If you don't have any, trochus snails may also be worth a try. In my experience, they usually park on GHA and eat until it's gone before moving on to another patch.

 

I had the majority of the algae cleared out. But I was away for 3 weeks and most of it grew back. I will start removing it again.I just ordered some trochus snails. I have tried Mexican turbos and lots of hermits. I have trouble understanding why I have trouble with most crabs and snails but never one problem with shrimp. For the record, anytime I see an animal or coral doing bad I take it back. Unfortunately some times it happens faster than I can respond.

 

Dman, sorry for your woes.

With all that, your nitrates are still up to 40? Sounds as if that might be feeding this hairy stuff!

Have you tried several large WC's? Where's the high nitrates coming from?

 

Thanks, nitrates are down to 30.They were at 80 when I got home. I'm slowly working them down with WC's. I also got some cheato which seems to help some but it's not growing very fast. I cut back feeding to once every other day. Lighting schedule is 5 hours for my zoas. Even when I had everything nice and clean which has been a while. I could never get my nitrates below 20. I used a turkey baster on the rocks. Siphoned the substrate. Did 10% water changes once a week. I'm having trouble figuring where the nitrates are coming from.

 

+1 to the high nitrates feeding the algae and most likely killing your CuC.

What size tank? How many and what types of fish? What and how much do you feed? Are you using RO/DI water?

 

I use RO/DI water. It's a 55 gal with a 20 gal sump that holds approx. 14 gals. I only have one fish right now. It's a yellow coris wrasse. I feed half a flake food every other day.