I love my Green Hair Algae, and you should too!!!

[Snid]

No. I'm being serious!!! I love my Green Hair Algae!

I have a fairly new tank that is just over 3 months in. After about a month in, I have had Green Hair Algae (GHA) growing abundantly all over. I've had people try and convince me to get an excessively large Clean-Up Crew (CUC) that would eventually run out of food and starve to death. Others have suggested pulling the rocks out and scrubbing them, which would also scrub away other good things like Featherdusters. So what have I done about my GHA?

I let it grow, but occasionally trim it back manually when doing tank maintenance and water changes. Right now I have GHA on about 1/3 of my rocks and some patches on my sand bed. Because the tank is so new, it has but a few Zoas and no other corals, so the GHA isn't interfering with anything. So other than some trimming, I leave it be. So why has this been good?

Well, I am now in the midst of an Amphipod and Isopod break out. The Amphipods have probably quadrupled and the Isopods have doubled in about a week's time. The GHA is a viable food source for them and they are populating my tank because of it. It also provides them with some shelter so that they all don't get eaten up by the fish just yet.

So my advice to all you fellow newbies with GHA outbreaks. Let it go. Don't fight it. Just trim it back to keep it in check. It will help provide your new tank with life that your entire tank will benefit from later down the road. Consider it part of the tank's maturing process as it should be. Don't get frustrated. Grab that magnifying glass and watch for Pods. See how abundant they are, and watch to see if their population seems to be increasing.

Reef on, Maties! Argh!

 

[Woodstock]

Great post. Seriously. In all the years of having growout tanks (read EXTREMELY overstocked and heavily fed aquariums), I have learned many things. One of which is that hair algae is your friend. It will clean and polish a tank in no time! I allowed it to grow in every aquarium possible.
It's a cheap algae scrubber.

 

[Woodstock]

NOTE: hair algae is green and grows long. It can easily be pulled off by hand or sucked out during a water change. Do not confuse this with the dreaded bryopsis algae!

 

[Paul B]

So my advice to all you fellow newbies with GHA outbreaks. Let it go. Don't fight it.

I have been saying that for 20 years but no one listens

 

[Snid]

I'm listening, Paul... I'm listening.

 

[Paul B]

You don't have to listen, you agree with me. People talk about algae like it is toxic waste, radioactive fallout or anthrax. It's like spinach only hairier. Talk it into growing where you want it to grow, whos'e tank is it anyway? The hair algae or yours?

 

[Snid]

LOL! Right now it's both of ours. I tell it no and trim it down, it grows back. I tell it no and clean it off the glass, it tries to grow back and block my view. I will win though. And by win, I mean I will put it in its place. There are a couple of spots I have thought about letting it stay intentionally. I actually love the way it waves and flows near one of the power heads. Plus the Clownfish have fun hunting the pods they can find in it with little drive by peckings. So glad to see that the fish can hunt for some of their own food now and not rely solely on whatever it is I choose to drop in the tank for them. I've also noticed that my Clownfish have started to dance a little more with each other as if they are assuming gender roles. I haven't seen any nipping or jitterbug like movements yet though.

 

[Paul B]

Wait until they do the Macarana

 

[slfcaptain]

I have patches of cotton candy algea and I have noticed lots if pods running around in it. I like watching the little critters so I haven't taken any action to remove the CC algea. Maybe I'll just let it grow, that requires a lot less effort on my part.

steve

 

[harold green]

I have to agree that a nice green tank with fish can be a lot less work than a tank without. Unfortunately the hair algae doesn't know it's place in a tank full of corals. If it's not controlled it will often cover and choke out most corals in a short period of time not to mention the conditions for hair algae growth are often not the best conditions for coral growth. If algae is growing rapidly most of us start looking for a problem with our water.

 

[Creekview]

You can "move" some of the algae to a scrubber. I have lots of macro algae in my display tank as well. My entire system is loaded with pods of every description, the scrubber is always loaded. I've recently had a huge population of mysid shrimp appear. Algae exists in every marine ecosystem. There are certainly bad algae, but I've yet to experience a problem. I also like the natural look algae give the tanks.

 

[Maprik]

This is wonderful!!! I love it!!!!

 

[Susan987]

One nice benefit of GHA is its consumption of phosphates and nitrates. So, some people have it overgrow and become destructive, but for others, it is a helpful way to eliminate waste products.