mojosmonkey04 Posted July 16, 2014 Share Posted July 16, 2014 What is the best solution to getting rid of green algea? I have tried a tang, I have tried up to 40 turbo snail and 40 hermits in a 55 gal tank and nothing i try seems to work. Currently plucking away in a bucket with tweezers. There has to be an easier better less time consuming way. Please advice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+KimP Posted July 16, 2014 Share Posted July 16, 2014 Can you tell us more about your setup? Equipment? Feeding schedule? Livestock? Maintenance schedule? How long has your tank been running? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
victoly Posted July 16, 2014 Share Posted July 16, 2014 Feed less. Export more nutrients via water changes, skimming, granular ferric oxide, bio pellets, carbon dosing (vodka, vinegar, etc). Reduce your photoperiod and keep algae eating livestock (tangs, snails, etc). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robb in Austin Posted July 16, 2014 Share Posted July 16, 2014 As above. I'd not bother with the livestock aspect and focus more on removing as much as possible by hand, plus frequent water changes, GFO, etc. If you tank is new (<6 months) do the above and give it time. Perhaps the most important advice is do not try to do all the stuff victoly advised at once. Large swings can have bad outcomes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
victoly Posted July 16, 2014 Share Posted July 16, 2014 I like to live dangerously. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robb in Austin Posted July 16, 2014 Share Posted July 16, 2014 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
victoly Posted July 16, 2014 Share Posted July 16, 2014 Overskim?! Does not compute. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+ludakris Posted July 16, 2014 Share Posted July 16, 2014 Yea everyones right. Overskimming and manual removing amd frequent water changes should do the trick but I got a 90 gallon with 3 turbo snails and a emerald crab with a few red leg jermits and they do a great job at keeping things cleaned up Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+ludakris Posted July 16, 2014 Share Posted July 16, 2014 Are you using ro/di water for your top off and water changes? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timfish Posted July 16, 2014 Share Posted July 16, 2014 Grow more corals, they compete with the hair algae for nutrients and get urchins. The hair algae in this 500 gallon tank dissappeared without having to throw in a bunch of snails and hermits but did have 5 urchins. (And no skimmer.) And about 15 months later (all the so callled "SPS" corals were added prior to the previuous picture) And before you buy a bunch more snails ask yourself how often you hear of a 10 year old snail as they are quite capable of living at least that. If you want to emulate what happens in nature add urchins to your tank. NOAA's research conducted by Dr. Martin Moe shows the algae problems on hte Caribean reefs is directly do to the die of of sea urchins and restoring populations, 2 - 20 per square meter, effects very quick and significant improvements of the reefs, as much as 80% in one year. Here's a link to one of the papers for those interested: http://floridakeys.noaa.gov/review/documents/keysreefresto.pdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sethsolomon Posted July 16, 2014 Share Posted July 16, 2014 Let your tank fully cycle, lower your light cycle to 6 hours a day, weekly water changes, and don't add any more biolode (fish/cleaner crew that die constantly like turbo snails). The urchins are not a half bad idea. Stick with tuxedo urchins as they are the only true reef safe urchins. the others are add at your own risk. Not to mention that tuxedo urchins come in lots of cool colors (Blue, purple, red, orange). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neon Reefer Posted July 16, 2014 Share Posted July 16, 2014 Don't know enough about your tank to really zone in on your issue(s). But two things jump out at me. (1) Green Hair algea can and usually is just a stage of tank development. Like it or not. Now it can persist past this developemnt stage if your water is nutient dense. (2) It only takes one peice of the puzzle to be removed to eliminate the algea problem. Just like all creatures in the tank it needs PO4. Bring this down by running GFO and you can severly limit the growth of new algae. Then when you remove manually the old algea it makes a difference. Now start slowly with GFO and work your ay up. Be sure to use it correctly by rinsing and so forth. Remember you can burn thu a significant amount so be prepared to change it often in the begining. If you run your PO4 down to near zerothen you will also starve out any corals. Like Timfish said lots of coral eats lots of PO4 so increasing the coral load and increasing the GFO should do the trick. Nothing else would be needed. Takes a bit of time though. Macros in the sump area can be somewhat beneficial, but I am more of a skimmer myself. I run a 150 gal rated skimmer in a 75 continously. Good Luck Andre' >~)))*> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bpb Posted July 17, 2014 Share Posted July 17, 2014 I agree with all of the above. There's one fact that has yet to be mentioned. Reefs have algae. Some more than others. Don't panic. Make sure you're smart and consistent about your nutrient export, as all of the above suggestions will work if used as directed. Just stay consistent and know that in time it'll pass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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