What's the best way to get rid of green hair algae?

by **newbie916** » Sun Aug 03, 2008 8:20 pm

Hey guys,

My tank is finally settling down again after that damn toadstool and brain coral died and polluted my tank. Now, I'm wondering what's the best way to get rid of my green hair algae. Are there specific inverts or nudibranches that you guys recommend? I always try to go all natural and I don't want to use any chemicals. However, I did add a phosban reactor two days ago to see if that will help my water stablize and reduce the likelyhood of algae blooms.

Thx

by **fihsboy** » Sun Aug 03, 2008 8:29 pm

LARGE snails. :) I have 5 in my tank......and I get hair algae in my overflow box.........I put one in there and in about two hours its gone, completly. Turbos love the stuff. But make sure your rocks are secured or they will nock them over. They are powerful but love algae!

by **newbie916** » Sun Aug 03, 2008 8:53 pm

Thanks fihsboy, I will probably pick some up today. I only have two right now in my 100 gallon. How many do you think I should get?

by **singapore** » Sun Aug 03, 2008 8:58 pm

the rle i follow is one sanils for every 2-3 gallons of water. so maybe 30-50 snails... another way to get rid of it, and my personal favorite, are lawnmower blennies. they are active fish, and easy to care for. they gobble thge stuff rite up

by **Snowboss4492** » Sun Aug 03, 2008 9:04 pm

blennies are awsome, just be prepared to feed them seaweed or other veggie foods if they totally clean the tank up - biggest istake we make is getting one and they go crazy on the algae then slowly starve to death - - if you can find a small one and let the algae stay just in front of him it would be a perfect situation - -remember in their natural habitat, if they run out of food they move on to greener pastures {pun intended, lol}

Boss

by **singapore** » Sun Aug 03, 2008 9:30 pm

true story...the first one i got ended up dying. i only had a 20gal tank, and he cleaned through it in a week. i didnt realize i had to give him dried seaweed....i felt so bad...

by **schigara** » Sun Aug 03, 2008 9:42 pm

The snail populations will naturally stabilize on their own.

You can add a bunch to clean up quickly and let them die off or pull some out and take them back. Don't forget about Stomatella snails that come in on LR. You usually don't see them during the day.

A few hours after lights out, I usually see about a hundred of them on the glass in the display and refugiums. They reproduce quickly and after a few months, there can be hundreds and hundreds of them.

by **fihsboy** » Mon Aug 04, 2008 12:36 am

Yeah what they said. :)

by **newbie916** » Tue Aug 05, 2008 5:49 am

Hey guys,

I appreciate the info and I just put in a order with piece of the reef on e-bay. I bought 100 blue leg hermits, 40 red scarlets, 2 emeralds, 50 astrea snails, 50 nass snails, and 10 sand sifting crabs. There are a hundred or so Stomatella snails that come out at night from my life rock and I noticed a ton of mini brittle stars. After my additions, I will have 5 peppermint shrimp, fire shrimp, cleaner shrimp, 120 blue leg hermits, 50 red scarletts, 60 nass snails, 65 astrea snails, 2 turbo's, serpent star, 1 large electric blue hermit, 5 emerald crabs, and 10 sand sifting crabs. Do you guys think I need anything else?

Thanks

by **singapore** » Tue Aug 05, 2008 6:08 am

that definately seems like enough for your tank. how much was all that? ive visited their site before, but i forget about their prices

What's the best way to get rid of green hair algae?

15 posts • Page 1 of 2