Waging a war with hair algae...

[bigploch]

Thanks yote and Pchute. Yote, as soon as I saw your post, I cut them back 4 hours from 10 hrs to 6 hrs. Fishsticks, Alto and I bought the same product. Don't get me wrong, I did see the growth stop but my dumb ass only bought enough for 2 doses. I am going to buy the gallon bottle next.

I have my lights on 2 different switches. 1 for my actinics (80w total) and 1 for my MH (350w total). I want to shut one of them off for a few days but I am not sure which one. Thoughts?

 

[yote]

If your going to cut one off,turn the halides off.

 

[bigploch]

Cool, thanks. One another not I did see both my hippo and my tang yesterday evening. The hippo was skinny but his complexion cleared up and he seemed to be eating. The foxface was hiding in caves all evening that I saw. Hope he is OK.

 

[yote]

I had a foxface that would hide like that,for about the first 2 months.Then he got to where I couldnt work in the tank without getting stung.He'd nibble the hairs on my arms while I was trying to work and I'd end up accidently bumping him.Awesome fish though.Out of all the fish I've ever had,I miss the foxface the most.

 

[bigploch]

IT is an awesome fish. I just would like to see him more. As long as he is ok, he can hide all he wants. He will come out eventually. The color changes he does though are awesome. Goes from brilliant yellow to greyish white with black stripes. Awesome.

 

[dustin_P74]

may i ask a quick question, what did you mean by your hippo and your tang? because later you mentioned your foxface and your hippo

 

[bigploch]

One another not I did see both my hippo and my tang yesterday evening.

Should have said...
One other note, I did see both my hippo and my foxface yesterday evening.

Thanks for pointing that out like it wasn't perfectly clear to the rest of the forum that I was discussing the only two fish that I had mentioned in the last few posts. Should I expect any less from dustin_P74?

 

[dustin_P74]

i was just trying to figure out if you had two tangs and a foxface or if it you meant your hippo and your foxface. chill out

 

[bigploch]

C'mon dude, chill out? Is it not obvious that I am frustrated by all this? I just dumped a crap load of money in this tank and it is covered in weeds. That is frustrating so excuse me if I am a little short when you ask a question that is obviously answered by rereading the last few posts.

 

[dustin_P74]

well im sorry that i dont remember every detail that has been posted in this thread because i read every post that is made and dont remember everything that is in a thread, i only respond to what i have just read and in this case it was you mentioning your hippo and other tang and then saying hippo and foxface. thats why i asked, i didnt know if you had tow tangs and a foxface or if you meant foxface instead of putting tang, which was the case. in any case we have all put alot of money into our setups and hair algae comes with all of them, its just part of the game. keep pulling it out and keep your parameters good and keep up the water changes and itll go away

 

[Bifferwine]

Ummm... Does it even matter if it wasn't clear that he meant a tang and a foxface or two tangs and a foxface? Is it relevant to the point of the thread? Nope? Okay then, back on topic.

 

[Rainer]

ive been waging a bit of a hair algae war the last month or so as well. Been removing rocks and scrubbing them in bucket with saltwater in it and running chemi pure elite in my fuge. Seems to be cutting back on it a bit.

Ive got some Marine SAT ordered since the chemi pure is kind of expensive and it only lasts a few days. I got a foxface to help with the algae but he died about 3 weeks in from unknown causes...Never touched the hair algae. I would say that hermit crabs are the best bet when dealing with hair algae, other critters that are suppose to eat seem to be a long shot to me. I have a lawnmower blenny that I love but I rarely see him eat any algae either. Ive never tried a seahare since both my LFS are a pita when it comes to returning things.

 

[bigploch]

Same situation ranier. I bought a hippo tang and a foxface. the hippo died yesterday after getting better from white spot. Now my foxface has a spot on his top fin too.
As far as rock removal, that is my next step. The sea hare options are the same for me as well so that will be a final option.

 

[bigploch]

Update: Funny how things work out. Both my foxface and my hippo tang died. I was all but ready to give up on the whole tank idea. I was putting the whole thing on ebay, wasn't putting another dollar into it, cutting my losses and getting out. For some reason I held off. My chromis and algae blenny and lubbock wrasse wouldn't let me do it. Then a friend called about buying some mushrooms off of a guy on craigslist. I figured the ones I had were doing well, so why not try some more. When I got there he had a Fface and a hippo in a 55 gallo tank. I couldn't bear to see these fish get the crap kicked out of them by the 12 different types of damsels that were in there. I took the 2 fish and a mushroom rock for $40. Mainly just to rescue the fish. THat was back in April and Both fish are doing well. Almost all of the damage to both of the fish's fins has healed. THe hippo was practically white when I got him and is now back to a brilliant blue color. The both started eating hair algae almost immediatley. And even though it's still growing fast as ever, They both nibble at it constantly. Nothing has worked in eliminating it. Manual removal, sea hare, fox face, hippo tang, massive water changes, lighting changes, Marine SAT, NOTHING. So as a fitting end to this thread I say screw it. I am no longer trying to eliminate hair algae. I am now farming it. BIGPLOCH'S HAIR ALGAE FARM IS NOW OPEN. And the fish and polyps seem to love it!

 

[yote]

Yeah,Its funny how things turn around:D And its good to hear that you decided to stay with it.
But I got one question.Whats your PH running in your tank?
The reason I ask.If you keep the PH up closer to 8.4-8.5,that should kill the hair algae out.

 

[parrotchute]

I refuse to admit defeat, even it's on your tank, there's got to be a reason.
I had a small cyano problem that I couldn't shake off, but then I put in an in tank refugium with lots of macro algae and it cleared right up.

 

[bigploch]

A fuge is in the works. A buddy is giving me one. Any suggestions on what all to put in it? Types of macro? Sand or Mud?

 

[parrotchute]

I've heard a lot of mud can be a pain and is more work than sand, but I'm not expert on it...
I know culpura (sp?), if it reaches a certain critical mass, goes sexual, and dissolves, getting everywhere, making a mess. Chaeto is really easy to grow and absorbs tons of excess nutrients. Throw in some LR rubble and you've got a 'pod breeding ground too.

 

[Bifferwine]

I'd choose sand over mud. Mud is more expensive and needs replacing periodically. However, if you have a lot of corals, mud may be a better option because it releases essential elements over time.

Chaetomorpha is probably the best macro algae you can keep. And like parrot said, add some rubble and you should have a happenin' fuge. ;)

 

[Epos]

I'm right there with ya man. I've just been dealing with it the same way I dealt with slime algae. Lots of water changes and removing as much as I can until I could get enough corals in to outcompete it. I've also been elevating pH and dKH.