green algae really bad?

[lisa888]

I added some live rock from the LFS a few weeks ago, and one rock had a lot of green algae when I got it - I think it's known as "hair algae" according to what I've been reading. I thought it looked nice in my tank, as it's a very bright green and I thought only brown algae was bad. Now I've read people say that this stuff can take over your whole tank, but mine is not doing that (yet). Should I try to clean it off the one rock or is this alright to have as long as it doesn't spread?

[lisa888]

I guess that must have been a really stupid question. I will try to get rid of it.

[joy13]

Calm down most tanks get a variety of algae as they establish themselves. Hair algae isn't that hard to get rid of I got a bunch of rocks off craigslist cheap that was full of the stuff, Water changes and plucking it off has helped a lot I only have a couple of places with it on the rocks now. Next time you do a water change take the rock out and scrub it in the water you just took out.

I usually have 2 buckets half full of waste water so I can scrub a rock then rinse it off in water to get rid of any bits that might cling to the rock.

If you feel like doing some research check out what is being said about hydrogen peroxide in saltwater tanks I have actually dipped my corals in a solution of tank water and peroxide to kill some algae. It worked like a charm but before trying it do your own research to see if it is right for your tank.

[reef-thief]

Green hair is not the end. I have some in my 55 FOWLR and I dont do anything about it until i feel i need to. A wire brush will solve that issue.

[lisa888]

Thanks, I will try that. I have a bigger problem to worry about now, because a piece of rock I got a few days ago has a large aiptasia on it. When I first saw it I thought it was cool and then realized it's the bad anenome. It's only on one piece right now and I've only had it a few days, so I wonder if I could just take out that one piece of rock and it hasn't spread yet? Or just try to inject with lemon juice or the X stuff and see if it dies. Sounds like this is quite common and if one rock has one of them, likely the others I got in the same batch have them as well?