Turf and Hair Algae problem

[Arsenal09]

I have been battling turf and hair algae for the past 6 months. I do 20% water changes every 2 weeks, and my parameters are within reason. I manual remove as much of the algae as i can when i do water changes. I also have 2 emerald crabs, pin cushion urchin and and tail spot blenny, none of which help with the algae. Just wondering if anyone has suggestions.

[Jessie2406]

Algae scrubber, and giant snails, my green hair is totally gone but my turf is slowly disintegrating

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[Cer]

You need Mexican turbo snails.

[Crusinjimbo]

The algae scrubber option is an excellent DIY (see Algae Scrubber Basic thread in the Advanced Forum) algae control option.

[ReefWreak]

Nutrients need to be kept under control, either through skimming + vodka dosing, or through a turf scrubber as Jimbo mentioned, as well as potentially with reduced feeding.

Then, you'll still probably have to do some manual removal, as most nano fish and most invertebrates won't touch overgrown algae, they'll only keep short algae short or eat it entirely. But they won't touch giant tufts of algae everywhere.

You should also take a look and make sure it's not bryopsis, which is almost easier to get rid of through an alternative method, but that won't work if it's not bryopsis. Do some additional googling.

Hopefully that helps get you in the right direction. We've all been there, and it's a huge PITA. Good luck!

[strummerfan]

20% water changes every two weeks is a losing proposition. By doing so you're lowering the nitrates by 20%, but by the time two weeks is up they're Moreno than likely back where you started. Wash, rinse, and repeat. Try larger water changes more frequently. Like every other day or so. Manually remove a single much algae as possible. Make sure you vacuum the sand bend. Use a turkey baster to blow the detritus off the rocks. /edit

You could also scrub the rocks lightly with an. New toothbrush to facilitate some of the algae removal. Scrub it off and vacuum it up with your siphon.

[Arsenal09]

Thanks for all the tips. Ill increase my water changes. I remove as much as i can manual when i do water changes. I remove the live rock from my tank and scrub it in a separate bucket. I get as much as i can without damaging my corals, was hoping my clean up crew would help get the small patches i couldn't get.