How to rid Macro Algae of GHA

[ThRoewer]

While keeping my macro algae in QT a good deal of hairy green algae started growing on them.

So I'm looking for something that eats long green hairy algae but leaves all other algae alone - is there such a thing?

 

[jraker]

I know many people have had success with strombus snails. Indo-Pacific Sea Farms used to sell them, but not anymore. I think they are also called Collumbelid snails. They look like a tiny conch snail, like this:

The problem is, I don't think anyone sells them anymore. I think dwarf ceriths will do just fine as well, because they are small enough to climb on macro, and also have a voracious appetite for microalgae, not macro. I have heard people having success with them also.

 

[Michael Hoaster]

What jraker said. The key is to get a lot of reproducing snails, so you have multiple sizes. The strombus are great, but you may not like the plague of snails look. Ceriths are awesome. You'll probably need to manually remove the gha for a while, until the snails catch up. Also, I wouldn't add hermits if you add snails. They kill the snails, and aren't as good at algae removal, in my experience. Hermits can work, as long as there is no other food. If food is added, they'll eat that, rather than algae.