Is hair algae all that bad?

[Alex T.]

My SPS tank has gone through the normal cycles over the last two years. I've battled my share of hair algae and cyano issues as well. One observation I've made is that my SPS never seem to stress over the presence of hair algae. It's never gotten to a plague level and I've always been able to siphon it out and do some extra water changes to keep it in check.

We always talk about the pristine water quality and absent levels of nutrients on natural reefs. I've dove and snorkeled some of the Caribbean and Indo Pacific rim reefs and I can tell you flat out....there's some hair algae there. In fact...quite a bit. Even with low nutrients in the water, there it is waving with the tide. Is it really all that bad? Is it always a sign of nutrients in the water or can it simply be a shift in the color spectrum of our bulbs just like the light intensity of the sun is different every single day?

I would like to hear some thoughts. My nitrate is .02 and phosphate measures .03 on Hanna. Still, there it is here and there. I'm perplexed as to why we immediately rush to assume that the oldest and most resilient life form on Earth is such a horrible thing in our tanks.

 

[Eurobeaner]

It just looks crappy. Let your whole tank be hair algae with 3 corals and see if people are like "ohhh ahhh" or like "eww". Though 0 algae is "not natural" it just looks better without

 

[Alex T.]

This is precisely my point. Aesthetics aside, do we rush to assume it's some organic that we aren't measuring correctly? Rush to tun GFO, start vodka dosing and all the other stuff that can crash a tank when we're stressed that the tank is declining?

 

[iriejp1]

Its like most things in life...in moderation its not so bad. But once it gets out of hand it can be a big problem. And when left unchecked...it can get out of hand in a hurry!

 

[dudley moray]

i don't mind algae it locks up all the excess nutrients in my tank and it looks natural
now planaria on the other hand

 

[ousnakebyte]

Its like most things in life...in moderation its not so bad. But once it gets out of hand it can be a big problem. And when left unchecked...it can get out of hand in a hurry!

Agreed. Keeping it in check is the key. Make sure one patch here or there is not a sign of things to come. Algae can and absolutely will outcompete corals for space if given the right circumstances.


I would not refer to Caribbean reefs when speaking of model ecosystems. There is a reason they are being plagued with dictyota, microdictyon, and other macroalgaes. The Caribbean has been overfished and lost major algal grazers (grazing fish and Diadema urchins) in the recent past, which is why there has been a shift from primarily reef to algal coverage, and we are now seeing the flattening of Caribbean reefs. The corals cannot keep up with the macroalgal growth, and there is very little recruitment of sexually reproduced larvae, and it's difficult for asexual fragments to attach without being smothered.

Many Pacific reefs are headed for this fate too.

Cheers
Mike

 

[SeanT]

To me, the main reason that hair algae is bad is that it is a signifier of enough PO4 in your system to fuel it.