d2mini
Reef enthusiast
I've got some fluffy green algae growing and I'd like it to go buh-bye. :HELP!:
What eats the hairy green stuff?
- Thread starter d2mini
- Start date
daugherty
part time reefer
a lawnmmower blenny maybe
MamaJones
proud reefer!
my lawnmower doesn't eat the hair algae. He likes the green/brown film like algae that grows on the glass. I can see his "lip" marks all over the glass where he has eaten. I also see him grazing on whatever algae is growing on the live rock...but my green hair algae is still there.
Reefrookie
Not so new anymore!
How bout Turbo Snails
daugherty
part time reefer
i would say a yellow tang for shure but your tank is to small for one
d2mini
Reef enthusiast
If that's the case i might pick up a small one and then let him go to town and then give him to someone else later.
Alexander
Reef enthusiast
in theory emerald crabs, turbo snails. I know longs spine urchins do. mine is an animal, yet cant keep up. in theory also sea hares and also lettuce nudibranch. i have been considering the last one as they almost exclusively feed on Bryopsis
yote
In Memoriam
Sea hares will work algae over pretty good,as will everything that was mentioned.
But nothing will to completely get rid of it,except time,manual removal,and good water quality:D
But nothing will to completely get rid of it,except time,manual removal,and good water quality:D
d2mini
Reef enthusiast
I have two emerald crabs and at least one turbo snail and they are all ignoring it.
cthegame
Reef enthusiast
water changes
parrotchute
DUSTOFF MEDEVAC
I'm going to say what I've said in a few other posts:
Foxface Rabbitfish! Completely destroyed all traces of hairy green stuff. Mine is OCD at eating that stuff - I don't think he can sleep with a piece growing.
:twocents:
But I don't think it's a good substitute for good water quality, (+1 yote) - something I'm still working to master.
Edit: D'oh, didn't realize the tank size. Maybe you could borrow one for a few days..
Bifferwine
I am a girl
Sea hares are the BEST. Be sure you can take it back to the store when it's done eating; they'll quickly starve to death in a clean tank. And they clean up fast.
I've been fighting it in my tank for a while now. You might want to try bumping up your turbo snail numbers. In my 55 g I recently went from two snails to six and it seems to help. They seemed to ignore my rocks for the longest time then "discovered" them and now spend a lot of time grazing the rocks. The good thing about snails is they're cheap and a good addition to the tank regardless.
The other thing I've been doing is every couple of days I pull as much algae off the rocks as I can with my fingers and remove it from the tank. My snails and crabs then seem more likely to graze on the areas with shorter algae. They tend to avoid the really long strands.
The Tang may or may not help. I added a yellow one to my tank thinking it would mow down the green algae. It seems to eat every type of algae it can find except the long green stuff.
How old is your tank? I notice a lot of people, myself included, seem to report green algae problems right around the one-year mark. Maybe it's part of the algae cycle?
Keep at it. After almost two months of frustration I seem to be finally getting rid of much of the green algae. I don't know if it is more snails, more water changes, my tank maturing or a combo of all.
The other thing I've been doing is every couple of days I pull as much algae off the rocks as I can with my fingers and remove it from the tank. My snails and crabs then seem more likely to graze on the areas with shorter algae. They tend to avoid the really long strands.
The Tang may or may not help. I added a yellow one to my tank thinking it would mow down the green algae. It seems to eat every type of algae it can find except the long green stuff.
How old is your tank? I notice a lot of people, myself included, seem to report green algae problems right around the one-year mark. Maybe it's part of the algae cycle?
Keep at it. After almost two months of frustration I seem to be finally getting rid of much of the green algae. I don't know if it is more snails, more water changes, my tank maturing or a combo of all.
d2mini
Reef enthusiast
I pulled it out by hand last night. It's only in a couple small areas. The tank is only 4 months old. I'm sure it's part of the cycle, just want to keep it under control.
C24IaHawks1
Reef Lover
I have a Sea Hare and Biff is right, he destroys hair algae. I also have a Sailfin Tang and a Bi-Colored Blenny that work the hair algae very well. Emerald crabs work well, but watch the snails if you have Hermit Crabs.
lightcs4
Loving to learn
I've come to the conclusion that it is best to realize nature is cruel. Hermits will kill snails, sometimes for no reason. However, hermits do a good job picking algae from the rocks and snails do a good job in cleaning the glass.
