hair algae problem

[dmbfreek]

Can anyone help me out on this? I have a 12g nano cube with some hair algae and am wondering if there is any small fish that might eat the stuff up. I'm thinking a bi color blenny but am looking for other opinions. Thanks!

 

[Krish]

Hmm...Not sure about a fish for that size tank. Is the tank newly setup? If so, you will experience algae as it cycles so don't panic. If the tank has cycled and you still are experiencing this problem, then I'd try and get to the source of the problem and try and sort it out. Hair algae is a result of excess nutrients (nitrates, phosphates...) which can come from a number of things like not using ro/di water, not keeping up with the water changes, over feeding and on and on...Could you give us some more info on your nano (like nitrate levels, substrate type, what you use for filtration, cleaning schedule etc) and maybe we can try and beat the hair algae problem without the need of a fish

 

[morgan]

even if u get rod opf ur nitrate phos ur hair algea wont die but it wont grow and spread see if gabby has a spare tooth brush for ya
i beat it and it took couple months and that was in a 52
hope u get rid of it

 

[Ed Hahn]

You could try some phosphate remover, and monitor your feeding, sometimes its your lighting that promotes die off or growth, changes in photo period, different bulbs, bad bulbs. If you can keep a good flow over everything, and prevent dead spots for where waste usually hides, its a big plus. I would try not to have any waste, do water changes with RO/DI or RO water, feed only what fish eat.
I went to a lecture this year and was told that one algae competes against another, so you could do a fuge with as many algaes as possible. Algae is a perfect exporter of phosphates. Phosphates being a source of food for your Algae.

 

[spongebob lover]

even if u get rod opf ur nitrate phos ur hair algea wont die but it wont grow and spread see if gabby has a spare tooth brush for ya

LOL!!! .
well he said it .
what i did with my problem is .... a big water change and with the water i took i put it in a wide bucket and brushed my rocks with a tooth brush (ohh i love tooth brushes ), i started feeding less but not to the point of starving the fishes and kept doing my water changes every week ( big ones) until you see your algae is slowing down and going away, phosban reactors are good hehe , i also added a little bit more of flow.
I don't know what kind of skimmer you got but it's always good to have a good skimmer that can do the job.

 

[cordodor]

make sure the tank isn't getting any sunlight