Algae control

[Johnsbra123]

I have been getting alot of long hair algae it takes up most of the back of my tank and no one can see it but I want to get rid of it. I remove it constantly. Is there any fish that eats it?

[CRUSHER]

Lawn Mower Blenny... if it's saltwater

[Bakapuma]

You shouldnt have hair algae. Removal with a blenny will work, but dont you think you should fix the problem rather than the symptom. 3 things to look at here. Nitrate levels, Phosphate levels, lighting. Nitrates will occur naturally in your system. You need frequent water changes to export nitrate concentrations. Nitrate scubbers and refugiums can help with nitrate export but that still doesnt remove the need for water changes. Phosphates are the normal the trigger in algae blooms. Phosphates are locked in live rocks and seep out over time. They also accumalate over time from foods we introduce in the system. However, most causes of high phosphate levels in a system are introduced in the water used for top off and water changes. Typically tap water that has not been purified. You can be a "know it all," like I was, and use tap water and decide not to use RO/DI water because treated tap water works just fine. It works fine until you have maxed out phosphate levels, killed your live stock off and end up with a tank of green and maroon colored goo. 10 Years ago I keep a pretty mixed coral tank for an entire year without any problems other than hair algae. Then the corals started dying. The inverts, the fish. An expensive mess. Started over using RO/DI water have been very successful since. Third thing to look at is lighting. Not sure what kind of lights you are using but lower kelvin temp bulbs favor plant growth more than coral growth. 5000k-8000k. If you are using old bulbs you will also get spectum creep. That is where the bulb begins to phase out of certian peak spectrum color. Typically the blues and violents are the first to go. Red and green peaks become more abundant. The red being the perfect color for rapid plant growth.
Summary: Check water parameters, check bulbs and replace if needed.

[Johnsbra123]

I have a 150 watt metal halide light with 20k antic bulb. I change my water out once a month as I have a very busy schedule. I know that might be my cause but I was just looking for a fish that might help control it. My tank is over a year old and I use Rodi water.

[Bakapuma]

What are your water parameters??

[Darbex]

If you want a quick fix and a long term fix that worked for me. Use algaefix marine and put on a bio pellets reactor. Knocked mine out in a week and kept it gone.

[Johnsbra123]

They are fine, I have alittle bit of nitrates though. My fish are happy and eating well, my coral grows like crazy! My head of hammer has almost doubled in size, and my RBTA is getting bigger

[Ogrodii]

get a uv

[Darbex]

UV does nothing to hair algae. It only kills algae in the water column. He either needs to find the source of the problem or do like I said and fix through tech.

[Ogrodii]

it does work for green algae also works if your having green water.

[Darbex]

Green algae? Green water is algae in the water column. His problem is with hair algae.

[Geral]

Og this tank is not freshwater

[jeb102385]

Uv only fixes free floating algae not algae on the rocks. Fish or tech is your only options unless you want to invest more time into the tank and find out what's causing the algae. Listen to darbex hes a pro when it comes to saltwater

[Ogrodii]

didn't notice it was salt

[jeb102385]

Wouldn't have killed algae on glass or rocks in a fresh water tank either