Chad and Belinda Posted August 6, 2012 Share Posted August 6, 2012 Do these snails eat hair algae or do just sit in different corners of the tank and rest? I have 8 to 10 in there and I swear the grass is growing. Actually, I have found the problem and now that I have corrected it I'm trying to get rid of the GHA but with all these big snails and 1 sea hare, I thought they would have made more of a dent by now. I have dipped frags with GHA in h2o2 with excellent results, btw. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
(Bio)³ Posted August 6, 2012 Share Posted August 6, 2012 What was your GHA problem? My turbo snails would eat the short stuff but not so much the long stuff. I had one sea hare that would just cruise around the tank all day and never ate any algae Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sifuentes31 Posted August 6, 2012 Share Posted August 6, 2012 My hair algae is out of control also!! tried the snails but they just wanted to hang out in front of the tank where there was no algae. Just that film that every snail loves. I bought a long spine urchin. At first he did great then went traveling and never went back to eat the algae. I don't know what to do anymore either. Might try the sea hair very soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClarkiiCircus Posted August 6, 2012 Share Posted August 6, 2012 I had GHA and first siphoned it out/cut it down to a very low level. With most of the filament gone, the turbo snails munched on the base and destroyed all of it, and it hasn't come back since. Also, you're 100% it GHA and not bryopsis? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wizardx322 Posted August 6, 2012 Share Posted August 6, 2012 I have had more success with blue leg hermit but my turbo do eat little by little Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chad and Belinda Posted August 6, 2012 Author Share Posted August 6, 2012 Mine is so long you could style it. Lol The problem was overfeeding (7 years in the hobby and you think I would get this figured out) and extended lighting periods. Thankfully, all of the corals are looking great. I had gotten very laxed over the past year or so and I paid a heavy price. If it weren't for the love and passion of the hobby as well as the great friends we have made here we would have gotten out. Now that I pulled my head out of my *** everything is looking great BUT there is still this GHA problem. It was pretty bad in the 34g but between a toothbrush, a sea hair, proper water quality and maybe, just maybe a few turbo snails (although Im not ready to give them too much credit right now) it looks perfect with not a single strand of GHA. Looks like I need to manually remove as much as possible and pray the critters take care of the rest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chad and Belinda Posted August 6, 2012 Author Share Posted August 6, 2012 I had GHA and first siphoned it out/cut it down to a very low level. With most of the filament gone, the turbo snails munched on the base and destroyed all of it, and it hasn't come back since. Also, you're 100% it GHA and not bryopsis? I'm 110% sure. I've had bryopsis more times than I care to remember. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClarkiiCircus Posted August 7, 2012 Share Posted August 7, 2012 Haha yeah, as long as its GHA and as long as its fairly short, the snails should demolish it. Crabs work really well if its more on the rock than on the glass though. Also, if you have a few pieces that are totally trashed with GHA and dont have corals on them, you can dip them in a hydrogen peroxide mix while madly scrubbing w/toothbrush. The downside is, that kills the bacteria and the rock would have to be cultured again. Goodluck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teresa Posted August 7, 2012 Share Posted August 7, 2012 I had GHA and first siphoned it out/cut it down to a very low level. With most of the filament gone, the turbo snails munched on the base and destroyed all of it, and it hasn't come back since. Also, you're 100% it GHA and not bryopsis? My turbos did the same thing - now I've got five turbos and no algae for them to eat . . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bpb Posted August 7, 2012 Share Posted August 7, 2012 My turbos only seem to eat the real soft biofilm that forms on the rocks and back wall. Hermits eat the diatoms and brown algae on the rocks. Nothing seems to care for the cyano or the green hair algae. Mine isn't out of control though. Yet anyway... There just always seems to be a little here and there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+o0zarkawater Posted August 7, 2012 Share Posted August 7, 2012 I've had great success with elephant slugs in the NanoCube. I have about 4 of them in there right now, and not a spot of hair algae on the rocks..... now the powerhead is totally covered, since they wont go on the glass. But the rocks are clean as can be. I could probably pull you one off when I get back in town if you want to try? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+brian.srock Posted August 7, 2012 Share Posted August 7, 2012 I've had great sucess dosing vodka to keep my phosphate levels down. You can also look at getting a phosban reactor and rowaphos if you want more immediate results Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Entropy Posted August 7, 2012 Share Posted August 7, 2012 My turbos are useless, although they do provide an excellent meal for my army of hermits when the die. I have lost 4 out of 5 this month, but it is certainly not for lack of food. My hermits have gotten really good at flipping snails, but at least there are plenty of extra homes to go around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sifuentes31 Posted August 7, 2012 Share Posted August 7, 2012 Went to RCA to check my water thinking there was something really wrong and they said everything was perfect. So if nitrates n phosphates are good then where did the algae come from. The only thing different I've done was to add calupera and a month later saw GHA! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+brian.srock Posted August 7, 2012 Share Posted August 7, 2012 Phosphates don't really register on the tests since the algae grabs it from the water column and locks it away. Check your return pump filter and skimmer cup. If you have any build up on those thats whats feeding your algae. I was surprised how much baby poop looking stuff was on the outlet column of my collection cup. I now clean both of mine weekly. I also dose 100 proof vodka and at $13 a bottle it's a easy fix. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClarkiiCircus Posted August 7, 2012 Share Posted August 7, 2012 My turbos are useless, although they do provide an excellent meal for my army of hermits when the die. I have lost 4 out of 5 this month, but it is certainly not for lack of food. My hermits have gotten really good at flipping snails, but at least there are plenty of extra homes to go around. Totally disagree, I have had my 3 turbos for close to over a year. They're still kickin' and eating loads of random algae, especially the film since that's all I have right now. They SHOULD be living longer than that, have you had your water tested? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Entropy Posted August 7, 2012 Share Posted August 7, 2012 I only have tested for ammonia and nitrate recently. 0 and 5ppm which is acceptable to me. It might just be bad luck. I lost two of them a day or two after putting them in the tank so they may have not be acclimated enough or something. RCA's runs their salinity lower than mine (1.020 (RCA) vs 1.024 (Me) last time I checked), but I dont think that is enough. The third ended upside down on the sand, but I didn't see who or what got it. #4 was outright killed by the hermits. The snail managed to fall into the rocks and got wedged in there. I had to move a rock to get it out, so it was trapped. It landed door up so the hermits got to it eventually over the course of the night. That last one is still going. All my other snails are doing fine so I am not too worried about it being water quality. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chad and Belinda Posted August 7, 2012 Author Share Posted August 7, 2012 I've had great success with elephant slugs in the NanoCube. I have about 4 of them in there right now, and not a spot of hair algae on the rocks..... now the powerhead is totally covered, since they wont go on the glass. But the rocks are clean as can be. I could probably pull you one off when I get back in town if you want to try? I'll try anything at this point. LMK when you are back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chad and Belinda Posted August 7, 2012 Author Share Posted August 7, 2012 Haha yeah, as long as its GHA and as long as its fairly short, the snails should demolish it. Crabs work really well if its more on the rock than on the glass though. Also, if you have a few pieces that are totally trashed with GHA and dont have corals on them, you can dip them in a hydrogen peroxide mix while madly scrubbing w/toothbrush. The downside is, that kills the bacteria and the rock would have to be cultured again. Goodluck! I used h202 on the smaller frags and it worked great. Turned the GHA white then it died. Worked great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chad and Belinda Posted August 7, 2012 Author Share Posted August 7, 2012 My turbos only seem to eat the real soft biofilm that forms on the rocks and back wall. Hermits eat the diatoms and brown algae on the rocks. Nothing seems to care for the cyano or the green hair algae. Mine isn't out of control though. Yet anyway... There just always seems to be a little here and there. I thought about trying H202 the next time I have diatoms. From what I read it works great. I haven't read enough to see if it works like vodka but I've been dosing for a few weeks and so far so good. In the meantime, I thought I would read up on other methods as well...like vodka. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chad and Belinda Posted August 7, 2012 Author Share Posted August 7, 2012 Phosphates don't really register on the tests since the algae grabs it from the water column and locks it away. Check your return pump filter and skimmer cup. If you have any build up on those thats whats feeding your algae. I was surprised how much baby poop looking stuff was on the outlet column of my collection cup. I now clean both of mine weekly. I also dose 100 proof vodka and at $13 a bottle it's a easy fix. I learned about "nitrate factories" from some vidoe or article I read about a month ago. Ever since then I have been vigilant about cleaning filters and collection cups. I have also made sure that I clean the bottom of overflow which housed a bunch of funk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sifuentes31 Posted August 8, 2012 Share Posted August 8, 2012 Instead of Vodka i'm using the bio-pellets. It's supposed to work like Vodka increasing the growth of bacteria that are beneficial to the tank and hands free. Also my turbos snails died also after a month but i suspect a naughty little serpent star for the carnage. Found the first one dead under a rock then the next in the same space with the star all over it. Escargo anyone? Great idea about the H202 for killing GHA on coral. I'm trying it tonight! Can't even see my eagle eyes anymore under all that hair.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bannerfish Posted August 8, 2012 Share Posted August 8, 2012 Zebra turbos are pretty good ime. Unlike the Mexican turbos supposedly they're a warmer water species that does better in our aquariums. I've had Mexican turbos that didn't last long and didn't seem to do much. I've also got a sea hare that are a nice large patch of bryopsis and some cyano along with hair algae, not sure what species it is, but its a big grey chunky one. I have never seen a creature chow down on algae like a sea hare Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teresa Posted August 8, 2012 Share Posted August 8, 2012 I've had great success with elephant slugs in the NanoCube. I have about 4 of them in there right now, and not a spot of hair algae on the rocks..... now the powerhead is totally covered, since they wont go on the glass. But the rocks are clean as can be. I could probably pull you one off when I get back in town if you want to try? I'll try anything at this point. LMK when you are back. Why not create an algae scrubber? I made one on my biocube and its kept the hair algae from growing in the main display. Mine is a diy that was really easy to set up in the aio back section of the biocube. Do a google search for algae scrubber and you'll find lots of resources. Santamonica is the username of an organization that creates the scrubbers but they also host a forum where people share their own diy setups. PM me if you want to know more about mine - its very minimal in comparison to other diy versions. http://algaescrubber.net/forums/. If you're running a sump, you should be able to set one up down there and use your current hair algae as a starter culture Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Entropy Posted August 8, 2012 Share Posted August 8, 2012 The amazing thing to me is that algae will grow from seemingly nothing. When I set up my tank it was with freshly made salt water (Instant Ocean), and 50 lbs of Marco rock. Nothing else. About a month into it the whole back wall was completely covered in hair like algae (a couple of inches long). I let it go for a while and then scrapped it all up and out. It came back, but not nearly as much so I assume I did a poor mans nutrient export. I have purple coralline like you wouldn't believe on the old rock (added 50 pounds of Marco like rock which is still white). I also have a bit of red growing on the back wall, and a little green here and there. I am assuming most of this came from my snails as I doubt it was the fish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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