Green Hair alge

[clownfishplace]

my tank is over grown, does any one have any suggestions for getting ride of all the green hair alge?

[murkywaters]

We have the cutest little Lawnmower blinny and some mexican turbos that are knocking it down in short order. In fact I was worried that our Blinny was going to eat himself out of crop. I've heard that Lawnmower Blinnys are territorial though and I think you have to know what kind of fish they are compatible with. I'm a newbie to this so I don't know what types are compatible. Right now we only have one other fish a scooter blinny which is some sort of Mandarin I think and they just ignore each other. If you get one let me know how it goes.

[safeuerwehr]

well first you should check what your tank parameters are at IE: nitrates, phosphates, nitrites, an ammonia...elevated nutrients will promote healthy green hair algae growth as i have experienced it myself...also are you using a protien skimmer if so is it big enough to handle your tank volume, I would also bump up your clean up critters IE: turbos snails, blue leg hermits, nassaruis snails, and add proper circulation in your tank to keep debritus from accumulating..

[klondike4001]

Sea Hares work quite well.

[acrofreak]

Yep, nitrates and phosphates along with nutrients, overfeeding, new tank in some cases can all be the culprits for hair algae.

Skimming and more skimming along with phosphate remover, water changes and removing by hand can be the best way to get rid of it.
As suggested above, a sea hare slug will gourge itself on it. Once he's pretty well eaten most of it you might think about removing the sea hare and trading him back in or renting him out ;). They're life span is short lived without enough to eat. Usually about 2-3 mos. If they die in you tank, yuk, their nasty. Not that I would know anything about that. :(

[caferacermike]

I'll vote sea hare as well. I love em. It is indeed better to find the source. I hada friend that neglected his tank because of algae. It kept getting worse so he just quit paying attention to it. I went by his pplace one day and couldn't see through his glass. I got him a sea hare from my tank and took it to his place. 4 days later he called me in a panic because he thought the sea hare was going to starve to death after it literally cleaned every speck of algae from his tank.

[JeremyGlen]

You can do any of the suggested things above and just try and find the one that works best for your tank. I would like to suggest an urchin. Its just another way to go.

Be sure to hunt down the cause of the problem before you think you've got it licked. Even with the clean-up crew, your problem not being fixed may cause a different algae to take the hair's place and then your just buying something to fix that one. Fix the root as well as look for the best way to get the tank clean soon.

[cbianco]

my tank is over grown, does any one have any suggestions for getting ride of all the green hair alge?

It would be in your best intrest to find the root of the problem before you add any critters or fish to your tank. The critters listed by my fellow MAAST members are great ways to help to control algae. Unfortunately, by adding extra critters you are increasing your bioload as well. Your elevated bioload is what is causing your algae outbreak.

So as other people mentioned, invest in a good skimmer and get down to the root of the problem first. After, you can add some additional helpers to tank in order to keep it clean.

Christopher