Anybody know how to take car of this algae?

[jjcarr]

I'm getting this dark hair algea. Phosphates are nil, nitrates are zero. Any ideas?
http://www.jjcarr.com/aquarium/algae.jpg

James[/img]

[wkopplin]

you have any turbos in there? They seem to eat anything

[dan]

how about some tangs they will clean that up in a min. you could set up a fuge that would help.

[matt]

You probably don't get any phosphate/nitrate readings because that stuff is sequestered by the algae long before it reaches levels that register on hobby test kits. Try a long spined urchin first, second maybe a lettuce nudibranch, after if you don't mind adding a big fish you could try a zebrasoma tang like a yellow, sailfin, or purple. Oh yeah, lots of people have had luck with the lawnmower blenny, too.

There could be any number of sources; how old is your tank, what size is it, and where do you get your water? I'd also siphon it out as you're able; if there's not an ongoing source of excess nutrients in your system, eventually you'll get rid of it.

[shellback]

Wild pack of hungry turbo's!!! :grin: Love the chalk bass, there's always a little hair in mine but the snails keep it in check.

[R_S_C]

OT but what's the pink fish on the bottom right of the picture?

[Bigreefer]

Is that hair algea? It looks like that hard algea that turbos, tanges, and crabs don't eat. If it's that stuff, only a lettuce nudibranch will eat it.

[ratboy]

I have a piece of rock in my reef that that same dark green turf like algae. My tang keeps it pretty well in check since its only on 1 rock. You could probably remove large pieces of it by hand then get a tang to keep it well mowed.-

-Erik

[jjcarr]

The little fish is a Chocolat Basselet (sp). Nice fish, peaceful, small, and colorful.

I yank the stuff out every once in a while, but it grows back, and I can't yank it all out.

I have a lawnmower blenny who nips at it, but he can't seem to keep up. I might look into the nudibrach option, failing that a sailfin tang.

Thanks,
James

[Yancey]

I would suggest treating the problem and not the symptoms. Hair algea can quickly take your tank over if your not careful.

I beat mine by:

-Increasing my salinity to .025
-Increased the skimming on my tank
-Reduced my light cycle to less then 8 hours
-Reduced the amount of excess food I added to the tank
-More regular water changes

-Yancey

p.s. I'm not sure what combination of the above treatments contributed to the solution.