big hair algae problem

[Blondek727]

i have a 40g saltwater reef tank its been running for 63 days so far with no problems i have a starry blenny, skunk shrimp, and about 20 hermits and snails but they dont even put a dent in the hair algae problem im having i have to manualy pull the stuff out every week to keep it at bay my question is. its there any fish or snails or chemical or anything that would get rid of this stuff. its depressing to look at my tank with all that algae in there please help.

[melosu58]

Take a look at these 10 steps to see if any of them are fueling the algea. IMO livestock is a bandaid problem. Find the cause and knock it out.

FantasyReef Databases-Viewing item "10 Step Plan for Nuisance Algae Control"

[CaptainAhab]

There's lots of info out there on how to get rid of it, here's one..... (AquaNerd: Hair Algae...Solutions That Don't Require You to Pull Your Hair Out!!!).

You might want to investigate on what's causing it though and try to address that. It might be over nutrients/nitrate from your left over from your cycle. Over feeding, too much sunlight, too long a photo period, bad lighting, phosphates, the type of food, water selection, salt selection etc. Could just be new tank syndrome as well

It's a laundry list that takes time to work through but once you break the cycle then the hit and miss treatments to get rid of it go away too (and alot of other algae issues).

Which do you want to pursue, or both?