Green hair algae

[sbauer86]

I have some green hair algae growing in my tank and it's starting to grow on some of my corals. I was wondering what reef safe possibilities of removing it could be.

[larrynews]

do you have any hermit crabs, not knowing the size of your tank, i have always noticed a difference when i used them

[TechGuy40]

Remove it by hand when you can. Export as much as you can. Hermit Crabs, and lawn mower blennies help, but they can be aggressive.

[sbauer86]

I did have hermits but they were eating my starburst corals so I took them out...I may try a lawn mower blenny and hand removal but I'm hesitant to use hermits again. Are there any safe chemical products that work?

[~reefchik~]

Consider a sea hare. They are getting easier to find and they are super-effective.

You really need to post your water parameters so we can help you pin-point where your problem is starting. Preventing it is much better than fixing it.

[jjoos99]

Hair algae feed off of excessive nutrients in the water. Remove these and hair algae goes away. Are you using anything for phosphate removal or using a good skimmer? Phosphate, I have found to be one of the major food source for the algae.
Jeff

[Aquatic Specialists]

All really good points above. There are many variables when it comes to this. Are you using ro water? How old are your bulbs? What kind of salt are you using? What/How often are you feeding? How long are you leaving the light on? How old is the tank? What are your phosphate and nitrate levels? How often are you changing your water? What all do you have in the tank? Are you running a UV sterilizer? How is the flow? And the list goes on.... It could be one of these or all of these creating this problem, figuring out the source is best. Fixing just one of these problems is not going to get you anywhere really fast, but instead try to fix all of the issues you have.
Adding creatures to the tank to aid you in this may not be a good thing if your parameters are not where they should be. High nitrate/phosphate/ammonia, etc. I do recommend adding creatures to aid you in this fight if conditions are ideal, sea hares, several different types of snails, very few crabs, algae eating fish...all of these in the proper quantities will help you greatly. As was stated earlier by Jeff, skimming is probably the most effective in ridding it from your tank, as well as water changes. But if you are using tap water or a "bottom of the barrel" salt you may just be adding fuel to the fire. UV sterilizer is a good choice as it kills the algae spore before it can attach. I know a lot of people that have good results using them.
I always try to avoid chemicals for getting rid of algae at all costs. Answering as many of these questions will help us determine the direction to steer you in.

[ghurlag]

I, too, am having a hair algae problem. Over the next month or two, I am building a new sump, buying a new protein skimmer, adding a phosban reactor, and a canister filter (to run carbon).

There are a number of contributing factors, and I am sincerely interested to know more about your setup, such as lighting and filtration, as well as the salt you are using.

What do you feed? How often do you feed? Have you tested for nitrates, phosphates, etc.?

If you have a thread will all this info, it might help us help you if you add a link to it from here. We'll do our best to help you pinpoint the problem.

[jjoos99]

I really believe in using a phosphate reactor. Look for one of the three little fishies reactors. They are fairly cheap and work well. Buy or build the biggest skimmer you can afford and I believe in setting up a remote sand bed if you are able to. I have a 5 gallon bucket set up as my remote sand bed. With those three you should be able to remove the food the algae feed off of and with some critters and cleaning from yourself I think you will see a real improvement.
Jeff

[TechGuy40]

I really believe in using a phosphate reactor. Look for one of the three little fishies reactors. They are fairly cheap and work well. Buy or build the biggest skimmer you can afford and I believe in setting up a remote sand bed if you are able to. I have a 5 gallon bucket set up as my remote sand bed. With those three you should be able to remove the food the algae feed off of and with some critters and cleaning from yourself I think you will see a real improvement.
Jeff

I ran a Two Little Fishies Phosban reactor for a LONG time. I quit running it when I finally seen my phosphates drop from using tap water in the beginning. Then my hair algae came back, but only in the frag tank. So I am running it again, I have seen almost immediate results. If your going to run phosphate media, ONLY run GFO.

[jjoos99]

I dont know if I am right but I have noticed it seems as if nitrates seem to cause slime cyno algae and phosphates cause the hair algae. I too have noticed when I slow down or have stopped the gfo I have seen some algae come back. I am sure some of the clubs sponsors sell gfo to get you started. You can use it in a filter sock also but wont have the same results as in a reactor.
Jeff

[TechGuy40]

I dont know if I am right but I have noticed it seems as if nitrates seem to cause slime cyno algae and phosphates cause the hair algae. I too have noticed when I slow down or have stopped the gfo I have seen some algae come back. I am sure some of the clubs sponsors sell gfo to get you started. You can use it in a filter sock also but wont have the same results as in a reactor.
Jeff

Justin has it. A sock works, but it turns into a brick pretty quick. It needs to tumble so a reactor is the way to go.