Green Hair algae eaters!!!!!

I would like to start a thread discussing possible biological fixes to green hair algae. When I say biological, I mean live stock! I've got a 34 gallon Red Sea Max w/20+ pounds of live rock, all coverd with the stuff... I have recently introduced a Sea Hair and 4 red clawed hermits(3 days). They dosen't move very fast, but some of the GH is gone. I've ordered another sea hair because the GHA is reproducing faster that the critters can celan it off!

I want to talk about live solutions because multiple LFS's have checked and they say there's nothing chemically wrong with my water? Include a 20% water change monthly...

If anyone has any ideas please advise!
Thanks

 

I have the same thing but my inverts arent working cause my trigger eats them but i donated him away so now ive fot to find time to get clean up crew.

 

The green hair is feeding off of nitrates and phosphates so the only way to rid it is rid those two things. GH is its own solution to the problem. Just remove as much GH as possible and the nitrates and phosphates will be removed with it. Think of it as sponging water off a counter top. The GH is the sponge now all you have to do is remove it. other things will eat it but the food it survives off of will remain in your system, when the live stock give off waste then the GH will feed off of it. It is a cycle that you have to break. Good luck

 

Rabbit fish eat it like crazy. I have never seen a bit of it in my tank.

 

Great fix for this stuff. GOOD HUSBANDRY!!! I mean get a decent skimmer, feed less, run gfo and carbon, do your water changes, and don't over stock the tank with fish and then........voila!!!!!!!!!!! the stuff will disappear. 99 percent of the time, when people have gha issues, it's due to some glitch in their husbandry. May be even something that they don't realize that they are doing. (feel free to get upset and start bashing)

 

try cutting back on some light.

 

In a 34 gallon, if 1 sea hare can't tackle the hair algae because of how quickly its over growing... and you are legitimately doing a 20% water change every month- my guess would be that your tank is overstocked. I'd be interested to hear what type of inhabitants you in your tank.

Btw, don't put a second sea hare in that tank. Typically sea hares dont have a great life span in the average hobbyists' aquarium, and they need very special care to survive. If you start having a bunch of sea hare death's in your aquarium- you will just add to the problem of nitrates/phosphates.

Also, when I had my bad algae problem, I was doing 30% water changes every 2 weeks... worked like a charm. Maybe a 20% water change/month isn't enough to keep up with your bioload?

 

yellow eye tangs do a great job at eating gha. you could try a phosphate pad. i have had good luck with those. also do your water changes more often. its better to do 2 small ones than one big one. if that doesnt help then you need to get a bigger tank or trade in some of your fish

 

I'm definetly not an expert but i'll add my 2 cents.

I had a small problem with it and it was partially because of starting the tank with Tap water. My phosphate levels were way high.

Now I use RO water and have been doing 10% water changes weekly. RHA problem is gone!

 

GHA is a symptom of an underlying issue, the prudent choice would be to figure out and fix the source of the problem.