is slug a solution to hair algea

[ChrisB]

My hair algae has been out of control for a week or two and its only getting worse. I have turbo snails and blue legged hermits but they are not getting the job done at all. I googled it and found the address below and the girl said hers were out of control too so she got a sea hare and it solved her problems. The sea hares grow to be a foot long so i found other slugs that are just as good, the paper bubble shell slug and the nudibranch slug. Have any of yall kept slugs like these successfully and how. Will it take care of the problem?

http://saltaquarium.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http://www.janetsreef.com/sea_hare.htm

 

[ChrisB]

yes i do realize water changes with RO water will help but id like something that will eat it whenever there is any. I just got a Kent Marine Hi-5 Maxxima reverse osmosis filter that i am running so tomorrow i have aged water to work with.

 

[steve-s]

Having the RO water handy will definately help for the long term but in the short term, manual removal will the the speediest solution. If you get a new toothbrush, the algae will come off quite easily and can be discarded. You'll be suprised how many animals will avoid longer out of control algaes. Once the algae is cropped and managable, the animals should show more interest. That combined with the water changes should fix the problem. Aquiring specialized animals for something like this is not typically the best solution.

What is the main food source used for the tank?

Cheers
Steve

 

[klam]

Yeah what Steve said.

 

[coastiepowell]

what about a lawnmower blenny?

 

[ChrisB]

I feed the purple firefish dartfish, the blue and three stiped damsel (so you know what is eating the food) omega 1 flakes in the morning and evening for a day or two and then i feed them some type of frozen food on the third day, its only been going for about 2 months or so so ill have more fish in to eat the left over food. I put two flakes in at a time until they dont eat so i dont think what i'm feeding is a big problem and with the frozen food i barely see any left over. Ill try that with the tooth brush, i have one for that purpose but i guess i forgot about it.

 

[klam]

They say flake food is loaded with phosphates. maybe try to cut down on the flakes.

Attach airline tubing near the bristles of the toothbrush while you a are scrubing the rocks so you can siphon the algae out while you scrub. If you leave the algae in the tank after scrubing it can cause problems because the algae will decay.

 

[steve-s]

Also cut your feedings to only once a day or even every second day. Fish do not need to eat twice a day and this could be adding to your problem. Flake is definately high up there for PO4 but if used sparingly, it can be kept to a minimum.

Cheers
Steve

 

[ChrisB]

thanks, im not strict on feeding twice daily and yesterday i siphoned out alot of the algae and it seems to be about the same