hair algee and sandsifter starfish

[fefo23]

I been having some hair algee and i can't get rid of it. I had update my skimmer so far is good but not as good as i like and my do a water change every week and cal alk is ok but magnesium is a little low at 980 ph is exact 8.0 no amonia but nitrate is at 05 ppm.
Beside the fact of the hair algee i read about sifter starfish to be more then help to get rid of detritus to eat anithing thats alive in your sand bed. Any info and experiance you had with this is more then welcome thanks

 

[fasteddie99]

Sand Sifters are hard to keep for some. They eat detritis waste in your sand bed. They wont help you on your hair algae.
Mexican turbo snails will help but not heal.

 

[fasteddie99]

Oops, my bad! I reread your question. You already knew SSS's dont eat hair algae.:rollface:

I think you can get away with 1 for your 75, and I believe it depends on how long its been established...Could be wrong...Someone else will prolly know better than me. I tried one in my 55 when it was only 5 months old and it eroded from starvation in 3 days. Sad thing to see.

 

[buzzer]

As fasteddie said but I wouldnt think your starfish would have starved in just 3 days , the erosion I think would have more to do with acclimation of the animal.
Fefo I would steer away from the starfish as they are hard to keep but if you do decide to get one drip acclimate for a minimum of 2 hours and check the tank and the bag water and only add the starfish when salinity has been equalised.
For hair algae which I have only recently got rid of after 2 years of the red hair algae I would recommend mexican turbos and a sea hare (dolabella sp) as mine has been cleared within 2 months of adding these creatures.
I have taken the sea hare back to the shop as unfortunately hair algae is about all they eat.
Once again slow acllimation of these animals too.

 

[jbird69]

Another good, inexpensive critter that is reputed to eat HA is the emerald crab.

 

[chinita]

mexican turbo and tang will eat them. i also used to have hair algae issue until i use ro/di water.

 

[ROB2005]

Those stars dont really eat detritus as some would say. When they bury themselves, they go on an endless hunt to eat the microfauna in the sandbed that is needed to keep it "live". Once the bed has been depleted, they just slowly starve themselves and wither away to nothing, and can be a water quality problem in your tank if left unchecked.

I would only keep one of those stars in tanks no lesser than 200 gallons and ample roaming room and sand. My two cents.

 

[fefo23]

Thanks for your help I do have some mexican turbo i may have to get some more but i do have two star fish in my tank and my obsevation was the a have not see any of the worms i usedto see before, i have them for over nine month at first i thought was going to help to keep my sand bed clean but is not the case. Also i have ro/di sistem and a yellow tang, he is with me for almost one year.
ROB2005 i agree on the star with you and i check the water often especialy cal ph alk amonia and nitrate, now i check phosphate and mag more then normal, also i have the idea to get a co2 sistem but not shore if is the right time to do so.
buzzer the sea here i read about them but so far any lfs by me dont have them to ofteneaven when i order they always say to me the next week maybe and i'm not just asking in one single place, but i will keep trying to get one off them.

 

[Aquarist007]

the best solution for getting rid of hair algae is controlling the importing of nitrates and phosphates. These are the fuel for algae growth

Here is a blog on some of the ways:

http://www.reefcentral.com/wp/?p=287

 

[Mopar Reefer]

First off why is your MG so low?

 

[fefo23]

Thats a good question? Realy I don't have an answer for that one I'm going to check the mag levels tomorrow after my reg wather change and see what's going on with that.