Gig 'em @ NDstructible Posted March 6, 2013 Share Posted March 6, 2013 Does anyone have a sea hare that I can borrow for a couple of weeks? Or anything to help getting rid of hair algae? I've been battling the stuff for months and it is only getting worse. I try pulling the junk out by hand but it only grows back thicker and longer every time. I have a lawnmower blenny, but he won't eat the problem areas. My emerald crab seems useless and it doesn't appear that my hermits even notice the stuff. I would like to get it under control before I transfer all my corals over to my new 50 gallon and have to battle it on a larger scale. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
(Bio)³ Posted March 6, 2013 Share Posted March 6, 2013 RCA got in a bunch of seahare, there is also rc gb that closes tonight. The golf ball hermits from the coast are amazing algae eaters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BBMarlin Posted March 6, 2013 Share Posted March 6, 2013 Arg, I know that GHA can be frustrating. I don't think any sort of CUC including a sea hare is going to help you if it grows back rapidly. You need to figure out where the PO4 is coming from and then get that under control. Are you running GFO? Here is a thread from my experience last year, maybe something in it will help you: http://www.austinreefclub.com/topic/23804-my-battle-with-gha-a-story-of-success/ One thing to keep in mind with those sea hares is that if they decide to crawl somewhere in your rock work and die you might have a big problem on your hands if your tank is heavily stocked. It's for this reason that I no longer use them as I cannot simply remove my rockscape to get at anything that doesn't make it. -brett Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Monnat Jr Posted March 6, 2013 Share Posted March 6, 2013 I'm also having GHA issues now. Does yours look like this? That’s a picture of my Sea Hare ignoring the GHA. So far, it hasn’t helped at all. Even though I initially placed it on the GHA rock, it spends its time on the glass and back. At this rate, I can loan it to you in a year or two. I’ve since taken out that big rock covered with GHA, so it’s only a minor problem in my tank right now (was mostly on that rock). The rock was one of three that I ‘killed’ about 6 months ago due to dino. After cooking in vinegar, rinsing, bleaching in the sun, rinsing, etc. for 3-4 months I put them back in. Apparently there was still dead crap in them as they have been growing GHA and dino since putting them back in the tank. I’m ready to pull them back out and try chemical warfare to remove the phosphates in them. It’s a shame, because I like the rocks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
victoly Posted March 6, 2013 Share Posted March 6, 2013 crank that GFO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+o0zarkawater Posted March 6, 2013 Share Posted March 6, 2013 ELEPHANT SLUGS! Jon - come get one. George - I'll bring you one when I get the PAR meter back to you. Or you can come by and see the tank anyways. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gig 'em @ NDstructible Posted March 6, 2013 Author Share Posted March 6, 2013 I don't know where my nutrients are coming from, I literally don't feed anything to the tank. I just have corals, anemones, a clam, the hermits, snails, and the lawnmower blenny. I have one gulf hermit, but he only chills out on my frag rack not doing anything. I guess I could get some GFO and a canister, not sure what nutrients it'll take out though without feeding anything heavy to the tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
(Bio)³ Posted March 6, 2013 Share Posted March 6, 2013 Elephant slugs are good but slow. Constant grazer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Capt. Obvious Posted March 6, 2013 Share Posted March 6, 2013 I have a seahare you can borrow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gig 'em @ NDstructible Posted March 6, 2013 Author Share Posted March 6, 2013 I don't know if I have bryopsis or if it's just GHA. It's definitely long and bright like bryopsis, but it doesn't really branch like bryopsis. Will a tang take care of it in the 50 gallon or will it ignore it too? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Monnat Jr Posted March 6, 2013 Share Posted March 6, 2013 I've never seen an Elephant Slug before. That could be cool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
(Bio)³ Posted March 6, 2013 Share Posted March 6, 2013 they are really neat, but be aware that if they ever over populate your tanka nd eat all the algae they will move to SPS coral first then LPS/zoa colonies Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gig 'em @ NDstructible Posted March 6, 2013 Author Share Posted March 6, 2013 Where'd you get an elephant slug from? How big are they? ELEPHANT SLUGS! Jon - come get one. George - I'll bring you one when I get the PAR meter back to you. Or you can come by and see the tank anyways. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
(Bio)³ Posted March 6, 2013 Share Posted March 6, 2013 He got them from the guys who built your tank they range from the size of dwarf cerith to half dollar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+o0zarkawater Posted March 6, 2013 Share Posted March 6, 2013 Elephant slugs came from Hydro Innovations. I've never had them bother my zoas in there, and I don't have any SPS for them to munch on. If you went with just one I don't think you would have any overpopulation issues. I have like 5 of them in the cube. All the rock is clean, plenty of hair algae on the powerheads where they can't reach. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
victoly Posted March 6, 2013 Share Posted March 6, 2013 So, it's possible that the PO4 is coming from your rocks. Where did your source them? What are your NO3 levels? GFO sounds like the panacea here, take it slow though. I really pissed off my SPS by being too aggressive with quantity and flow rate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+o0zarkawater Posted March 6, 2013 Share Posted March 6, 2013 I don't know where my nutrients are coming from, I literally don't feed anything to the tank. I just have corals, anemones, a clam, the hermits, snails, and the lawnmower blenny. I have one gulf hermit, but he only chills out on my frag rack not doing anything. I guess I could get some GFO and a canister, not sure what nutrients it'll take out though without feeding anything heavy to the tank. I've got plenty of canisters and GFO for you too. Just come talk to daddy, I'll get you squared away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
victoly Posted March 6, 2013 Share Posted March 6, 2013 sh*ts getting weird... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bpb Posted March 6, 2013 Share Posted March 6, 2013 (edited) Bummer about the GHA Jon. That blue digi I got from you those weeks ago that had dead spots and gha has fully re encrusted over all of its dead portions and has shed off all of the GHA that was on it. I have ONE rock in my tank that grows GHA like mad but its not spreading. Just growing on the one rock. What I do, is fill a cup with 50/50 mix of hydrogen peroxide (using 8 mL peroxide now, tank is 60 gal total vol). I turn off all my pumps and will suck up the mixture in a syringe and just start hitting the hair algae slowly and directly with it. I do that every day or two for a few weeks now and it has killed off most of it and its not growing back. May be worth a shot I'm also running a gfo reactor too. Once GHA gets a chance to root and start growing, is simply lowering phosphates enough? Or can it continue to grow from stored phosphates like cyano does? Edited March 6, 2013 by Bpb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jestep Posted March 6, 2013 Share Posted March 6, 2013 A good ol' yellow foxface will usually mow GHA as well as bryopsis better than any other animal that I've found. I do agree that tackling the nutrient problem is important, but honestly, even if you get the system at zero PO4 and NO3 it could take months for the algae to dissipate. Secondly, if you do the GFO route, work up the GFO amount over a few months. If you just add a few cups and drop the PO4 to zero, you'll shock the crap out of the system, and most likely kill a bunch of coral in the process. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gig 'em @ NDstructible Posted March 6, 2013 Author Share Posted March 6, 2013 I can probably hit you up tomorrow C if you're free around 6 or 6:30 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+o0zarkawater Posted March 6, 2013 Share Posted March 6, 2013 Fo' sho' I'll be doing a water change after ChemiClean, you can help with that. Make yourself useful! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gig 'em @ NDstructible Posted March 6, 2013 Author Share Posted March 6, 2013 oh boy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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