NEED HELP!: Best CUC for Hair Algae?
- Thread starter DustinS85
- Start date
pyithar
New member
people say seahares eat hair algae pretty good. but they'll starve when there're no more algae. i've never owned one. in my experience, turbo snails and longspine urchins eat hair algae. urchins also eat coralline though. btw, my kole tang and onespot foxface also eat hair algae.
Jeremiah_Conway
New member
Turbo snail's cleaned up mine
before and after
AZBigJohn
Usually confused...
I wouldn't put a sea hare or sea apple in a 20 gallon. They will rapidly starve. They can nuke your tank (although that really isn't as prevalent as people often make it out to be).
Most hermit crabs, trochus snails are the best grazers for that size tank. Honestly, the easiest thing to do is use a toothbrush and twist it in the strings of the algae. They get tangled up and rip off.
Are your rocks fairly new? Once newer rocks fully saturate they often dump phosphate until everything levels off, which causes an algae bloom. If it's any comfort, I'm fighting the same issue in my 155 gallon right now.
Most hermit crabs, trochus snails are the best grazers for that size tank. Honestly, the easiest thing to do is use a toothbrush and twist it in the strings of the algae. They get tangled up and rip off.
Are your rocks fairly new? Once newer rocks fully saturate they often dump phosphate until everything levels off, which causes an algae bloom. If it's any comfort, I'm fighting the same issue in my 155 gallon right now.
Jason S
New member
These are good solutions for helping to get rid of it, but hair algae is a symptom of something else, and unless you cure what is wrong, you will keep battling it. Can you tell us more about your tank? Nitrate and phosphate levels? Do you use RO water? What kind of flow do you have? What do you have in the tank? Skimmer? Type of filtration? Refugium? How old is it? etc. Knowledge is power 
As I just spent an hour getting one of two emerald crabs out of my display tank I would stay away from them. I put them in a few weeks ago to help with algae (and they did) and put my first fish in today. One of them immediately went after the fish. This video is his second attempt to get them and not nearly as exciting as his first:
https://vimeo.com/123475380
The crab is no in my refugium.
https://vimeo.com/123475380
The crab is no in my refugium.
nmotz
Active member
If the crabs are going after your fish it's possible that there isn't enough to eat in the tank. It's easy to put in way too many crabs/snails and when they eventually start to go hungry the crabs will start killing the snails/fish and each other. CUCs are honestly not the most ideal solution for a major algae problem. Good husbandry is far more effective in the long run. CUCs remove a little detritus here and there but they aren't going to solve the algae problem at its core: excess nutrients. I'm not saying a CUC won't help, but they shouldn't be plan A, just a supplementary aid to algae control.
pyithar
New member
i agree with nmotz. find a way to limit and export nutrients out of your system. that'll solve the algae problem. in the mean time, take out the rocks and brush the algae off at every water change, rinse the rocks in the old water, and put them back in. it's only 20G so i believe manual removal alone will suffice.
gone fishin
New member
If you are counting on a CUC to get keep your hair algae in check then your in for a long wait. The CUC main job is to eat leftover food and detritus.
Why do you have hair algae?
New tank
Over feeding
Phosphates leaching out of the rocks.
Lights on to long
Poor nutrient export
Figure out what is causing it then act accordingly. Just my 2 cents
Why do you have hair algae?
New tank
Over feeding
Phosphates leaching out of the rocks.
Lights on to long
Poor nutrient export
Figure out what is causing it then act accordingly. Just my 2 cents
I agree. Usually it is over feeding, but the use of "base rock" often leeches phosphate.
JammyBirch
Aquaria Engineering
Yup...totally works. I run detectable nitrates and have a hefty CUC coupled with GFO and it works great. I have blue legs, red leg, thin line hermit, cerith, dwarf cerith, NERITE and nassarius snails to manage detritus, diatoms and algae.
Truth be told when the GHA gets too long nothing will touch it but a lawn mower blenny, so I just get the toothbrush out.
DustinS85
New member
Can't afford RO/DI, and I live in an apartment so it isn't feasible, because you have to make alterations to plumbing to install one.These are good solutions for helping to get rid of it, but hair algae is a symptom of something else, and unless you cure what is wrong, you will keep battling it. Can you tell us more about your tank? Nitrate and phosphate levels? Do you use RO water? What kind of flow do you have? What do you have in the tank? Skimmer? Type of filtration? Refugium? How old is it? etc. Knowledge is power
Nitrates are fairly low. I have no way to test phosphates (I got Reef master kit, and Saltwater Master kit from API). I have a Hydor 35 gal wave maker, a Aquaclear 30 (with sponge, charcoal, and biomax), and a nano protein skimmer.
MizTanks
New member
I rent also. I've had my RO/DI unit hooked up to my kitchen tap for 5yrs. It just snaps right onto the spigot.
DustinS85
New member
I thought they had to be installed to the water line heading to the sink. What unit do you have? What does it look like connected?
tidus10
New member
rent a seahare.. go to your LFS and ask if they have one that you can rent and return in a week.. most places buy fish back at half price. So you can buy a seahare for $20 use him for a week and when all your algae is gone sell him back for $10.. Then focus on resolving the issue full time moving forward..
kaoscoder
Member
lazydaze73
New member
GFO!! My cleanup crew didn't really make a dent in my green hair algae. However they did wonder for the diatoms and short brown hair on my sand and rocks after it cycled. Took me about a month and a half of running GFO before it was gone. You can check out my videos for a before and after.
