WHAT WILL EAT THIS ALGAE!!!!!!! pics included

S

sjj80

Hater of Hair Algae
I am losing this battle, so far nothing will eat it and no matter what I do it comes back. It's overgrown and killed corals and I've lost several fish due to injuries from falling rock during scrub and siphon procedure. PLEASE HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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What I've tried:

Fuge with Chaeto light on 24/7

No fuge with macroalgae

Phosphate media that has worked in the past and a few others

Sugar dosing

Several large water changes up to 75%, I only use RO/DI water

Wet Skimming, Dry skimming

Chemipure carbon, poly filters, filter socks, all changed weekly

Lights out, tank covered with blankets for 10 days

Several different brands of Phosphate tests all revealing close to zero readings.

I feed lightly, I've stopped feeding frozen

Fish I've tried: Scribbled Rabbit fish, Yellow Tang, Striated Tang, Coral Beauty Angel, Lawnmower blenny-killed by goby, none of these fish touched it.

Inverts I've tried: Seahares-die before job is done, Snails- killed by crabs despite using empty shells

I'm working on fixing my UV sterilizer as that's the only thing my tank has missed this time around. Aside from that Any and All suggestions are welcome.
 
A sea hare will have a field day in that tank. Mine would clear that in about a week. They're pretty amazing. Check your LFS. I picked one up for $20.00. It's about 4" long.

A few hair algea related questions:

Are you using rodi water?

Is your tds at or near 0?

What are you feeding the tank?

How old are the bulbs?
 
try turbo snails

try turbo snails

lawnmowers for bryopsis
they love that hair algae.

mexican turbos --- the big ones.

down side is they will knock all your corals over. Bull in a china shop, but they sure eat.
 
Is that as long as the algae gets? Hair algae will grow longer. I had a very invasive algae simular to that. It only grew about an inch in height. It grew in clumps, like little shrubs. It was dark green, never lightened. I tried everything. Nothing ate it. I finally found out it is called maiden's hair algae. It is toxic to animals. Nothing eats it, no snails, no urchins and no fish, not even foxface. We did all the things you did and it never went away. We finally tore down the tank and bleached the rock.

Now before people chime in...we have 6 tanks set up right now. We had a 180 sps tank and never and I mean never had algae in any of our tanks.

If it is not the typical hair algae...you need to scrub that rock and cook it.
 
i think u need to check your water too, sea hares shoulldnt die right away, your problem is something more fundamental then the algae i believe
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14808311#post14808311 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Bruce Wayne
i think u need to check your water too, sea hares shoulldnt die right away, your problem is something more fundamental then the algae i believe
Click to expand...

+1 Most Sea Hares die in tanks after they eat all the algae if te aquarist doesn't get him out soon enough. I've never heard of them dieing before the algae is gone.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14808073#post14808073 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by THE ROOK
How old are the bulbs?
Click to expand...

If your bulbs are old, the wavelengths of the light they emit changes- usually toward longer wavelengths that favor nuisance algae and aren't as well utilized by corals and coraline algae. This bit me in the butt big time- I was trying to save money... I am now on a 6 month change cycle, but what you need depends on your lamps and ballasts.

There is also a thread about a product called 'algaefix marine' in the Reef Chemistry forum. Sounds great but I haven't used it.
 
Try a foxface. Scribbled rabbitfish and fox face are different. One fish is always different than the other. I've heard one scribbled rabbitfish will eat it, while the other won't. I'd try a Fox face. Adult.
 
Thanks everyone for all the input, I think the idea that it may be a toxic type algae makes sense. That would explain why my sea hares die quickly and why other herbivores wont touch this stuff. I have another pic, not sure if it's any better, does this look like the toxic type algae or regular hair algae???

108400DSC01277.JPG
 
Well, it very well could be maidens hair then. And what most people do not know about this algae...is it spreads like wildfire in tanks that are good on all parameters. It is a calcium using algae. So it uses the calcium you add to your tank to live. It still uses some phos and Na, like other calcium using algae do, this one is just one very invasive algae.
I tried mexican turbos, they just went right over top of it. Never ate any. I had a foxface, tangs, urchins, tried scrubbing the rock out of the tank and placing it back in the tank...it grew back in a few weeks. I think its roots were so deep in the rock. We finally couldn't take it anymore and actually put the rock in a tub of water and dosed it with bleach. It is still soaking and curing again in a bucket of saltwater. We put new rock in the tank and guess what...no algae. It is finally gone.
I wish someone would have told me about maidens hair earlier. Even the local coral store finally told me to take the rock out, that it is a toxic algae and nothing will eat it (after selling me every kind of algae eating creature known to man). Do some research on it. There are a lot more people out there that get this algae and have tried everything to get rid of it, thinking it is a typical hair algae. They end up getting out of the hobby, thinking they must be doing something wrong.
 
Thanks! I did a google image search on maidens hair algae and the pics that came up showed firmer more thin stalk like algae so I'm starting to think that's not it. I think I'll try a foxface and see if it will eat it, if nothing else I will "cook" the rock and start over.
 
Calcinus tibicen aka Orange Claw Hermits. They will eat that in a week. Get a couple dozen for your 90g.

hermit3b.jpg


And then figure out what is causing your algae bloom!
 
Thanks!!! I figured it would be best to get more crabs since snails are constsntly killed by the ones I already have. Any suggestions on who has them online???

I also just bought a one spot foxface, he's acclimating now, I hope he will eat this stuff.
 
try scopas tang. My scopas eats any algae comparing to my Purple tang, midas blenny and bi-color blenny. I have a tank with algae and no other ls attempted in keeping it clean but the scopas.

I guarantee.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14812098#post14812098 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by sjj80
Thanks!!! I figured it would be best to get more crabs since snails are constsntly killed by the ones I already have. Any suggestions on who has them online???
Click to expand...

sealifeinc.net usually has them- they can be hard to find sometime. I bought a bunch of them from there last year.
 
Thanks Again, they have very good prices.

Anyone think hooking up my 25W UV Sterilizer will help???
 
It definatly can't hurt. I have had a lot of luck with my UV sterilizer. And no it doesn't kill pods like many say.
 
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