Green Hair Algae Benefits ?

[j.falk]

I know a lot of people do not like green hair algae in their tanks. I also know it can choke out corals which is a major concern.

My question is:

If I don't have any corals in my tank and don't plan on putting any in, could green hair algae be a beneficial thing to have as a natural nutrient export?

Has anyone tried letting it go in their aquarium to see what the long term effects would be? I'm assuming it would be fine up until it ran out of nutrients and started dying off....but if one were to prune it back on a weekly basis would that ever become an issue?

 

[MondoBongo]

it tends to proliferate quickly. that's why you will generally see people using other types of algae like chaeto for nutrient export.

it's harder to get rid of than you might think, and tends to cast off pieces regularly to infect other areas of the tank. it also traps detritus effectively, which can become a negative feedback loop in regards to nutrients.

 

[laverda]

For a fish only system there is usually no need to export nutrients. Like said above it will be hard to remove. It is better to grow it on a surface you can remove and clean easily. The mesh used in ATS works well for that purpose. GHA grows better under red and blue lights.

 

[gpd128]

I know it was already mentioned, but would just echo that GHA can proliferate like wildfire. I had a bad outbreak years ago and it covered everything.

 

[Tastee]

In my case it helped to kill a couple of Gonis until I got everything in order, and has also damaged part of a Favia and a Fungia. So it's on the "˜there can never be too little of' list for me.


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[Thornbreaker]

No clue, but I've had a GHA patch for the last month that doesn't want to go away. It's survived a weekend without lights and has survived me scrubbing the rock with a toothbrush. I mainly just keep it trimmed at this point to prevent it bothering my Blasto.

Found a new patch this morning on the other side of my tank too. :\

My Foxface unfortunately frowns upon it.

 

[laverda]

GHA is easy to kill with a quick rinse with hydrogen peroxide. It will likely pop up somewhere else unles you eliminate the nutrients feeding it. I find an ATS is the easiest way to control GHA and use it to advantage. A ATS is easy to incorporate into just about any tank. All you need is inexpensive red and blue LED grow lights and a surface for it to grow on. Roughened up Needle point plastic fabric is ideal for this. It is very inexpensive @ $.99 a sheet, easy to cut or bend, easy to remove for removing GHA, grows GHA well.
Check out my ATS DIY for some ideas.