Green Hair Algae Problem

[ashnat]

One of my rocks started growing some green hairlike algae and it has now spread to some of my base rock. Any suggestions on how to get rid of it. Will Tangs eat the stuff?

[organism]

It's growing due to the water getting dirtier, so removing it will just make it come back again. Are you overfeeding, or maybe your lights are getting older and the bulbs need to be replaced?

[cloak]

One of my rocks started growing some green hairlike algae and it has now spread to some of my base rock. Any suggestions on how to get rid of it. Will Tangs eat the stuff?

Turbo snails have been known to eat green hair algae.

[coralsnaked]

Need age and tank params
common for a tank up to 6 months old
common for tanks w/ PO4 higher than 0.06 and NO3 higher than 3.0pp,
Tangs will eat GHA but require special care and large tanks.

[Iphis]

GFO Reactor, Macro Algae to starve it, adjusting lighting schedule, adjusting feeding, water changes and good old fashion elbow grease in tearing it out.

Keep in mind that tearing it out, like mentioned above, doesn't solve the problems. It will grow back. However, tearing it out while doing one or a couple of the things above will help out in keeping it from growing back in the Display tank.

You should check your stats, specifically nitrates and phosphates.

A GFO Reactor will help reduce phosphates which build up in your tank for a multitude of reasons.

Macro algae in a sump or refugium (or a Turf Algae Scrubber) can also be good ways of maintaining algae in the display tank by taking in the nutrients that it wants.

Lighting schedule is important, too much light will help it grow.

Feeding is important in a couple of regards. Making sure you're only feeding what is necessary is good. Also, if you're feeding frozen food it is good practice to thaw it out and get rid of the water.

Water changes can be good to pull nitrates and phosphate out of the water.

Iphis

[ashnat]

I'm pretty sure I am not overfeeding and my lights were just changed two months ago. My tank is 150 gallons and is just over one year old. I have 7 turbo snails and they don't seem interested in the stuff. I am able to remove the rock which is about 4 inches in size and clean it somewhat but I have a bunch of zoas on the rock so I have to be careful. I have been running a phosban phosphate reactor for about six months but this started up just about 3 or 4 months ago. In the year that my tank has been running I have never registered any nitrate, nitrite or ammonia. I don't do a lot of water changes because my parameters are always so good. I did happen to do one today. I prepare my frozen foods in tank water and keep it in the refridgerator for several days at a time.

I read somewhere that a lettuce nudibranch will eat the stuff. Anyone know if this is true or if I should stay away from them?

[hollowpoint331]

Get a sea hare. I had the same issue and he smashed it within a fee days. Be sure to get rid of him after he's done eating all the gha i guess they starve and die release some toxins

[ashnat]

I read about the sea hare as well and the toxins concerned me. If it is easy to remove I might consider it.

[RAG_83]

you are not registering any nitrates because the hair algae is consuming it i would also test for phosphates and after thawing the food rinse it with ro/di water before feeed the tank to avoid any excess nutrients introduce to your system.

[moe458]

I'm pretty sure I am not overfeeding and my lights were just changed two months ago. My tank is 150 gallons and is just over one year old. I have 7 turbo snails and they don't seem interested in the stuff. I am able to remove the rock which is about 4 inches in size and clean it somewhat but I have a bunch of zoas on the rock so I have to be careful. I have been running a phosban phosphate reactor for about six months but this started up just about 3 or 4 months ago. In the year that my tank has been running I have never registered any nitrate, nitrite or ammonia. I don't do a lot of water changes because my parameters are always so good. I did happen to do one today. I prepare my frozen foods in tank water and keep it in the refridgerator for several days at a time.

I read somewhere that a lettuce nudibranch will eat the stuff. Anyone know if this is true or if I should stay away from them?

I have been fighting with GHA for a month now. I was running a Phosban reactor with Rowaphos in my 90 gallon. I have turbo snails and tangs..they don't eat that crap. I even tried the sea hare and he was not eating that stuff...You need to run a GFO in my opinion. I don't have much experience with macro algae so can't help you there. My pump for phosban was not working and due to that GHA was in my tank with daily feeding and slowly took over my tank... I fixed Phosban reactor with new pump and all a week or 1 1/2 week ago and I see slowly it's disappearing. I decreased the feeding just a tiny bit (using flakes) and didn't change the light schedule. It takes time with GFO but it helps...there is no quick fix to the problem with GFO. I have been doing weekly water changes and using turkey blaster to clear the rocks from detritus buildup. It's looking much better in 2 weeks now..I'm currently hosting the following with setup:

90 gallon with swc hob skimmer and aqueon sump model 3
240w LED brightlux
phosban reactor with rowaphos constantly running
140 lbs LR
2 tangs blue and yellow
4 green chromis
2 clowns
2 shrimps
2 gobies
1 Magnifia anenome, 2 carpet polyps etc.

Hope that helps :) cheers

[Txboi]

I would get a emerald crab mine knocked it out in two weeks and all my rocks where covered in it

[PincheReefTank]

if your flow and skimming are up to par with your tank then
rip as much of it out as possible
make sure you have 0 ppm rodi water for mixing
do a 10 percenter

next week repeat... now your on the road to recovery considering and assuming your skimming and flow rates are all good


stick with 10% changes every week and keep pulling it out, don't stray on your canges. you'll be good

[ashnat]

Apparently one of my turbo snails decided to work over my rock last night after I cleaned it as best as I could because this morning it was almost completely clean. However it is still on some of my other rocks in small patches so I know my problems are not over.

[IansAquatics]

I also have been battling gha as everyone knows. But it's amazing what a gfo reactor, 5 big turbo snails, 15 blue legged hermit crabs and decreased lighting can do for you. My tank was literally consumed and in the 4 days I've done this I've seen drastic change.