Ahhh... Hair algae.

[Couch]

Well I got hair algae. Its a brand new tank with only live rock in it right now. Lots and lots of copepods and a cool little red feather thing. The rock has only been curing a week and will continue to cure untill nitrates go to 0. I have tried to scrub the algae off the rocks with little or I guess no luck. I was thinking about turning the lights out for a while and see if it goes away. Probably not. I guess I will get a couple lettuce slugs and tuxedo urchins to eat the algae. Do you think this will be OK and any other ideas ?? Should I still wait untill the rocks are fully cured before I introduce these creatures? Would turning the lights out for 2 weeks affect the copepods and or the corraline algae? Your input is appreciated.. This stuff is growing fast.

 

[blue_eyes53813]

How much rock and how much algae are we talking about? I mean Im thinking if it is on one rock or very few rocks and its a new tank and there isnt coral yet,, I would take the rocks out with the algae and scrub it and let it sit out for a few months If that wont work and its just to much loss as far as you said feather duster and you dont wanna do that.

I had great success with a product called chem-marin , I will post a link for you but I had great success with this product.. I only had one dime size spot to treat though... I dont want you to pollute your water right from the start and everybody will tell you to never add meds to the tank if you dont have to..So if you can do it in a seperate container and rinse the rock with new saltwater before adding it back to the main tank would probably be better.

http://www.marinedepot.com/aquarium...sia_Stop-Parasite_Stop_Hair_Algae.asp?CartId=

I wouldnt add any livestock because your tank hasnt cycled...

being new rock and hasnt been in the tank that long .. Im guessing the algae was on the rock when you baught it .Where did the rock come from?

 

[Gina]

I would try to cut back on the amount of time the lights are on.
You could also try using a toothbrush and twisting the algae in it to help remove it.
Have you done any water changes?
As blue-eyes said, I would not add any livestock until your tank cycles.

 

[Splendid]

Snails millions of them fast! (ahhh)

 

[lcstorc]

Careful with the snails.
First of all the tank is still cycling so there are definite potential issues there. Second if you buy a lot of snails to get this under control once it is you now have the problem of finding something for them to eat. I ended up returning about a dozen turbos to my lfs since I was actually having to put nori in the tank just to feed the snails. Depending on where you are in the cycle etc, a few may be a good idea, but do not go overboard.
JMHO

 

[Splendid]

Well we also did get alot of hair algae and got 20 snails and they helped a bit.

 

[Timmy's Marine]

We kept the lights off during our cycling time. We turned them on for a while so we could gaze at amazement at some of the life that had taken into our little mini ocean.

We battled hair algae after the cycling though and cyno. After a couple of months of water changes and making sure we were not feeding the tank - both algae's have gone (wooo hooo).

We have never added snails to the tank. We have tons of stomatella snails that came on as hitchhikers and another type of snail that I can't tell what it is because of the coraline build up on the shell. The more snails you have (and the bigger their bodies) the more consequences you face when they die off.

 

[Splendid]

Oh well to my idea but just cut down the lights when you r not there somtimes and it should find its way home (into the filter)

 

[swissgaurd]

what ive done in the past to cycle a tank is leave the lights off completely for 6 weeks. it really works your rock wont die and when you turn the lights on your coraline algae will come back no life will be lost.
so in my opnion dont add any livestock just let the rock do its thing
use a protien skimmer dont feed tank, work on your flow, with all the nutrients in the tank when lights are on thats when you get algae.

vic

 

[cheeks69]

Before you added the LR o the tank did you remove as much of the dead material as possible ? If you didn't your going to have a ton of nutrients decomposing in the tank which makes great algae fuel. If there's nothing photosynthetic on the rocks I would leave the lights off during the cycling process.