One other thing that I would like to add to this that I think is often overlooked and I am guilty of making this mistake : long photo periods. We all want tto view our tank as much as possible don't we? I have had mine on for way too long and I believe its fueling my algae growth so I've cut back on how long my lights are on in hope that this will help get rid of some algae. Good luck!
I noticed some members are having trouble with hair algea and monty and izzy covered soem really good pionts on how to take care of it in this thread so i figured i would bump it.
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Do not pray for easy lives. Pray to be stronger men. John F. Kennedy
A few years ago someone shared this idea with me and I didn't think much of it until I tried it and saw great results: If you have a window in the room, it will energize the Hair Algae even if it doesn't shine directly on the tank (exterior light leaking into the room will fuel an outbreak of algae) as Izzy said, THIS WILL ONLY FIX THE SYMPTOMS, NOT THE CAUSE. Twice, I have covered a window, lowered the photo period and have seen great results. Less feeding will help. Larger water changes will help. A 25% H2o change will help. A Foxface Lo (without the Black Spot at the tail) will eat hair algae, but it's Poo (as Izzy said) will contain the same fertilizer to grow more. *Use a turkey baster to blow Detritus from your rocks so it can be filtered out. Also, siphon Detritus from the sand bed and rock the best you can. Using RO water for your salt mix and top off is a great idea, some of the guys in the club have RO filters, you might be able to work a deal with one of them for your water. I think you can buy RO at Food City pretty cheap. ***What kind of janitors do you have?, some Red Leg Hermits are good, also a Brittle Ster will break down the detritus so it can be removed. HERE'S AN IMPORTANT ONE; PHYSICALLY REMOVE ALL THE HAIR ALGE YOU CAN, pull it from the rocks, scrape it from the glass, tooth brush it from the rocks in a seperate bucket. tRY YOUR BEST TO NOT LEAVE ANY FLOATING IN THE TANK. There is a combination of things to do that will fix it. Keep us Posted...
-- Edited by Monty at 10:31, 2009-01-09
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Just a quick note about hair algae. If you don't address the issue causing the hair algae, an algae grazing critter will be a let down. Also, if the animal added eats phosphate filled algae, any bi-product will also be synthesized by said algae. Find the reason you're having issues, be it ionic balance, lack of nutrient export, or poor maintanence schedule, and your algae situation will fix itself....PLAYA!
