what type of algea?

[blazeyreef]

what type of algea is this?
(hope the pic is ok)

??????

 

[Devilishturtles]

Looks like a bad case of hair algae to me.

 

[blazeyreef]

ya,...the LFS guy told me to limit my lighting to 8 hours a day...I really dont like that idea.... im currently doing between 10-12 give or take a few minutes....im going to get some more snails because I only have 2...they are doing their best but...

 

[NinaStarr]

Snails might not do much for that hair algae, try eliminting nitrates, do frequent pwcs, then maybe try an emerald crab

 

[Hara]

try just yanking it out by hand..works for me.

 

[melosu58]

I always suggest rubberbanding a toothbrush to your siphon hose and as you do your PWC then scrub the rock and draw the algea out with your hose. As much as you have I would do as Lisa said first and pull out large clumps by hand first and use my method for the smaller clumps. We need to still find out what is causing this. Check out this articles.

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/article_view.php?faq=2&fldAuto=14

http://www.fantasyreef.com/showthread.php?t=478

 

[roka64]

That is some great advice! Limit your excess nutrience. I have found aiming a ph directly at it works wonders, but that is just a bandaid solution. I run my lights for 8 hours.

 

[blazeyreef]

ok thank you everyone! I am reading the articles as I type this!

 

[Devilishturtles]

I agree manual removal is best. Doing that and limiting excess nutirents in your water, decreasing your light cycle, etc. will work wonders. As roka mentioned too, increased flow may help.

Good luck.

 

[nicksgirl]

GARF claims to have a snail that eats hair algae. It is called: CERITH SNAIL. Family: Cerithiidae (CERITHS) Cerithium strercusmuscarum.

Here's the link but be warned Garf web pages are notoriously difficult to navigate. http://www.garf.org/
Look under "Reef Algae Control"

If you get any, let us know if they do the trick!

 

[melosu58]

I can already tell you that a snail or several will not be able to keep that much algea under control. Also when we get animals to keep algea under control that is what we call a bandaid approach. It just covers up the problem and does nothing. Keep reading those articles and find out what is causing this to happen. I`ve not had algea in my tank for seven years now so I know they work IME. You might want to try a tank black out for 4 or 5 days.

 

[Tomd]

Cerith snails are useless for eating hair algae. I agree with Melosu on the idea of it being a "bandaid" solution, however there is times when these animals can work but you have to know if you can support their need after. I once had a Queen conch that did excellent work and cleared an entire rock of hair algae as well as a Sea Hare that would eat nori when there was not enough algae but this can be tough. All to often I see animals such as the cleaner wrasse used for a purpose and then left to starve. We have more of a responsibility than that as a hobbyist.

Here are some questions to ask yourself:
Is the tank still establishing going through a normal 6 month bloom of algaes?
Are you using RO/DI water?
Is your cleaning crew sufficient?
Is your stocking limits to high? messy fish?
Are you feeding to much?
Is the tank in direct sunlight?
Do you have enough flow?
Are you performing enough PWC's to remove excess nutrients and replenish elements.
Do you have a good protein skimmer?
Have you considered a refigium?
Is you ALK to low? Should be about 11dHK to help with algae

That is some....