Nuisance Green Algae

[SQuerio]

I have a 90 gallon reef tank (approx 6 months old) that recently began to acquire overgrowth of green algae on the corals, etc. The algae is hairlike and is really now becoming a nuisance. What can I do to get rid of this stuff?

[Sk8r]

It's called hair algae. Every tank gets it sooner or later. Urchins eat it, sea hares eat it, and some fish [lawnmower blenny, tangs] eat it. If you're feeding flake or pellet food, that contains phosphate that acts as fertilizer. You can try Phosban [read instructions carefully] or various other preparations. Ther e is some indication Phosban used too long may harm zooxanthellae.

[SQuerio]

Thanks. Is there any harmful effects of this type of algae?

[Drakis]

The harmful effects of this algae is that it can over grow coral thus blocking there light.

[Sk8r]

And it can get so bad [and so long, in wavy sheets of 8 inch strands] that it sops up all the oxygen at night and floods the tank with co2. Fish and inverts won't eat it where it's real long: you have to wind and yank with a toothbrush to get that off, so the shorter stuff is edible for them. You can imagine how much fun that is. Get started with some cleaning crew very soon!

[outy]

its growing because of nutrients in your water, phosphates and nitrates. you need to get your water rite as well as lighting plays a big part