Red Hair Algae

[jswinberlin]

I have a 45 gallon FOWLR. It's a little less than a year old. I got a new piece of live rock and after a few months it was covered with red hair algae. Afraid it wold take over the tank, I let the rock sit outside in the sun for half a day and scrubbed it off with a stiff brush.

I didn't want to lose beneficial organisms, but didn't think I had a choice.

What is the proper method for removal?

What can I do to prevent it/what is causing it?

I also have some coraline (?) algae on some of the rocks and recently on the glass. Is this bad? Lately I'm getting some on the glass that is very hard to remove. What's the best way to remove it?

Thanks for any input.

 

[Smitty]

The brush should hopefully help with the removal...before placing it in the tank, put it in a dark bucket of saltwater, to try to kill the algae by starving it. Good water levels, frequent water changes and good water flow is how you get rid of it, and keep from getting it again. To remove the coralline algae, you can scrape it with an old credit card, or a razor blade.

 

[irensing]

For removing coraline from glass I use a scraper made by Kent. I use the pro short with a stainless blade. If you have acrylic you need to use a plastic blade or credit card like Smitty mentioned. Aquarium Cleaning & Maintenance: Pro-Scrapers

 

[Waddi]

+1 Smitty
bucket method works wonders! Also i used a toothbrush to speed it up

 

[felixfish]

Do you need to keep that bucket heated and with flow?