Hair Algae!!!

[jkserial]

Hello



I have had my tank for about 2 years now and been fighting hair algae the whole time. I have had plenty of blue legged hermits in there and turbo snails to rid this evil from my tank, but it still remains. I have a 30 gallon with 4 watts per gallon of lights on it. All I have in the tank is a few hermits, a couple of turbo's, two fish and a xenia. All my levels in my tank continue to check out and just to make sure my tests were accurate I had a LFS check as well; everything is perfect. I had just called this one website that sells marine life and they told me that my tank is actually under stocked; that to rid my tank of the hair algae i should add more corals. By doing so the corals would take out all the excess nutrients in my tank as well as compete for all the light that is being pored into my tank every day. I wanted to know if anyone else has had this problem fixed it in this manner and or heard of someone who has.




jkserial

[Samper]

You're not going to fix this problem by adding more corals.

Are you using RO water and how old are the bulbs you're using? Are you over feeding what livestock you do have?

[Ninong]

Hi jkserial, welcome to Reefland!

What are your nitrate measurements and have you tested for phosphate yet?

[jkserial]

My Ammonia, Nitrate, Nitrite, and Phosphate are all zero and my ph is around 8.2. I have a 30 gallon bio wheel hand on filtration along with another hang on filtration for a 100 gallon tank but no bio wheel and a protein skimmer for a 100 gallon tank. I just don’t know what to do about the hair algae problem. It’s all over the place. The only thing I could think of is getting more snails and crabs, but that doesn't stop the root cause; all it does is treat the symptoms.

If anyone has any ideas please do tell.

[jkserial]

To add to the above mentioned specs i have 4 watts per gallon and leave my lights on around 7-8 hours a day.

[jkserial]

I just replaced the lights around 2 months ago, I feed once to twice a week and i stay by the fish slowly putting more food in as the food gets eatin up. I get all my water from a LFS. My livestock is one damsil and one small purple fish, cant remember the name right now. I have around 5 blue leged crabs and 2 or 3 snails.

[Poseidon]

2-3 snails??? I have about 100 in my 135~!!

I would get at least 2 dozen. Get a good mix too, like Astrea, Nerite, Nassarious, and Cerith... Heavy on the Astrea. Another good one is the Trochus, they are bit more expensive though. Also you may want to do a search on "watts per gallon" that is a USELESS measure.

[jkserial]

This is what i was thinking of adding to my tank.

6 Turbo Snails (Turbo fluctuosa)
and
6 Margarita Snails (Margarites pupillus)
and
6 Cone Trochus Snails (Trochus sp.)
and
6 Cerith Snails (Cerithium sp.)
and
6 Astrea Snails (Astraea tecta)
and
2 Scarlet Reef Hermit Crabs (Clibanarius sp.)
and
5 Red Leg Hermit Crabs (Clibanarius sp.)
and
5 Hawaiian Left Handed Hermit Crabs (Calcinus laevimanus)
and
1 Queen Conch (Strombus sp.) 1"3 Pacific Super Nessarious Snail (Nessarious sp.) .5" to .75"
or
3 Tonga Bumble Bee Snails (Pusiostoma mendicaria) .5"

But still it doesn't fix the source of the problem just the deals with the symptoms. But i would guess that all of you know more about reefs them me since i've only been in it for a about a year and a half. If you think that i should just add things to eat algae and forget about the rest then i will. Just say the word.

[Ninong]

This is what i was thinking of adding to my tank.

6 Turbo Snails (Turbo fluctuosa)

I have three of those in my 120-gal tank specifically to eat a nuisance red turf alga that appeared several months back. They seem to be doing the job. I would not have purchased them except for that specific problem that was not being handled by any of my other "janitors." You may want to go with only two or three of these for your 30-gal tank until you get a feel for whether you like them or not. They get really large (2" across) and are known to knock things around. In other words, they are clumsy. They are collected from the Sea of Cortez. http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/p...cfm?pCatId=571

6 Margarita Snails (Margarites pupillus)

I would skip these altogether. They are a temperate species. http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/p...cfm?pCatId=569

6 Cone Trochus Snails (Trochus sp.)

Trochus snails are an excellent choice. http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/p...cfm?pCatId=564

6 Cerith Snails (Cerithium sp.)

Another good choice. http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/p...fm?pCatId=1159

6 Astrea Snails (Astraea tecta)

I prefer Trochus snails because they can right themselves if the fall upside down on the sandbed. Astraeas cannot, except for the Star snails, which are quite expensive. http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/p...cfm?pCatId=563

2 Scarlet Reef Hermit Crabs (Clibanarius sp.)

True scarlet reef hermits have yellow-gold colored eyestalks and brilliant red legs. Their correct scientific name is Paguristes cadenati. I have about 10 or those in my tank just because I think they look cute. I'm not a big fan of hermits and those are the only ones I would keep personally and then only in very limited numbers. Notice the color of the eyestalks: http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/p...=23&pCatId=571

5 Red Leg Hermit Crabs (Clibanarius sp.)

See previous comment.

5 Hawaiian Left Handed Hermit Crabs (Calcinus laevimanus)

See previous comment about hermits.

1 Queen Conch (Strombus sp.) 1"

The queen conch (Strombus gigas) gets much too large for your size tank. Adult size ranges from 6"-12". Do not get one of those! You could possibly consider one small fighting conch (S. alatus) but I'm not sure your 30-gal tank could support it long term. I had two of those in my tank for more than a year but one of them died a few weeks ago due to lack of appropriate food. Their maximum adult size is 3"-4" but that depends on the available sand bed area in your aquarium. I doubt that a 30-gal tank can support one for more than several months unless perhaps you start out with a juvenile no longer than an inch or so. The two that I purchased were each 1.75" long when I received them and grew to only 2.25" long after almost 17 months in my system. Now that I am down to just one, I hope it makes it but I'm not so sure.

3 Pacific Super Nessarious Snail (Nessarious sp.) .5" to .75"

I've seen these advertised but I don't have any myself. I do have a quite a few Nassarius vibex, which is a much smaller species collected in the Florida Keys. These are scavengers on carrion and meaty detritus.
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/p...fm?pCatId=1133
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/p...fm?pCatId=1763

3 Tonga Bumble Bee Snails (Pusiostoma mendicaria) .5"

These are risky because they have been observed attacking other snails. http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/p...cfm?pCatId=565

[Samper]

The only snails I have for my 20 gallon right now are 4 Turbo Fluctuosa. They do an awesome job on the glass, rarely do I have to clean it but Ninong is correct they get large and knock things over. I only have 6 or so hermits some blue leg some red.

[jkserial]

How about this out of the list i gave all of you above could you tell me what i should put in my tank that will 1) stur the sang bed and 2) keep the tank clean of the hair algae? If any of you know any nice places online to buy cheap corals, fish, and inverts let me know that too.

[Ninong]

How about this out of the list i gave all of you above could you tell me what i should put in my tank that will 1) stur the sang bed and 2) keep the tank clean of the hair algae? If any of you know any nice places online to buy cheap corals, fish, and inverts let me know that too.

Nassarius vibex snails are great for stirring the sand bed, as are Cerith snails. A small fighting conch (Strombus alatus) would also stir up the top of the sand bed a lot. I'm afraid I can't help you on the hair algae front because I don't know of any snails that eat it and even the few herbivorous fish (certain tangs & rabbitfish, etc.) that are supposed to eat it can be unpredictable. Besides, your 30-gal tank is too small for a tang or rabbitfish.

If you're asking for specific recommendations for your size tank, I would suggest: 3 Mexican turbo snails (optional), 6 Trochus, 6 Cerith, 12 Nassarius vibex, one small fighting conch Strombus alatus (optional), 3 Stomatella varia if you can find them (they will multiply like crazy in your tank) and maybe a few scarlet reef hermits. Maybe.

Do you have any LFS in Fresno? There are several in the Bay Area if you ever get up that way. I purchased a lot of stuff from www.reeftopia.com but they're in south Florida and it wouldn't make much sense to order just a few of each because of the expensive shipping. You get free shipping from them with orders of $120 or more but that's a lot of snails at their cheapy prices.

[Poseidon]

If you plan on keeping Snails long term skip the Hermits...

Reeftopia is an EXCELLENT source for snails and such, but like Ninong said you have to order a TON to get the shipping free, otherwise it is $30 or so. Hair Algae can be a bother for sure, I would suggest maybe a form of Macro algae, like calurpa to compete with the Hair algae for food. Some people don't mind having it in the display tank, others hate it. It does grow very FAST so you would have to prune it often...

[Donsoceanview]

Hi,
I too have had a battle with hair algae. This is how I dealt with it in the past when I had a 30 gal. I succesfully eliminated it from my 30 by scrubing it of with a soft bristle tooth brush and either sucking it out with a hose to do a water change otakig a fish net and sweeping the tank till I can't see anymore floaters. Then I used Reef Crystals for my W/C and poured directly on the rock. Make sure your salt is completely disolved and temp is okay. I also added about 1/2" of Live Sand to my tank. With a 30gal I would do a 10 gal W/C every week for 3 or 4 weeks. Also use a power head to blow the detritus (Hair algae's soil) off your rock before you do your W/C so yo suck out those suspended in the water.
I've also heard that Hair algae produces it's own food to propigate?
Ive only heard of 2 creatures that eat the stuff, Blue leg crabs and Lettuce Sea Slugs. Both will do no harm to the tank , but I think the crabs would eat the slugs. Plus the slugs get into places you don't want them in, sumps, powerheads, etc. and when the hair algae is gone they die off.

crabs and serpentine stars will keep detritus off the rocks and a sand sifting star can keep the sand bed clean.

[Ninong]

I would suggest maybe a form of Macro algae, like calurpa to compete with the Hair algae for food.

He lives in California!

Are you going to pay the $10,000 fine and do the time for him?

Possession of the following species of Caulerpa in the state of California could cost you big bucks and land you in the pokey:

Caulerpa taxifolia, C. cupressoides, C. mexicana, C. sertulariodes, C. floridana, C. ashmeadii, C. racemosa, C. verticillata and C. scapelliformis.

[Poseidon]

Some form of macro LIKE calurpa... I left myself an OUT!

I remember now reading that calurpa would NOT be shipped into CA. He could still get other macros right? Or even go down to the bay and pull some calurpa out? (just kidding) Isn't that why it is illegal, a few hobbyists releasing it into the wild? And potentially destroying the ecosystem there?

[ClintoninCali]

Aww, Caulerpa schmaulerpa. I work in Cali and I could name 20 guys that have the stuff and talk about it openly at my store. The only way to get it is to ask someone for a fragish piece though as no one sells it anymore obviously. The stuff can grow an inch a day so you'll soon have a fat bunch of it.

I still stick by the royal urchins as the best way to mow the stuff down. They're just overlooked by some reefers because some types of urchins eat corals and polyps and stuff. We have 6 in the reef at my store... never a problem. But they are a band-aid, not a cure.

I'm sure someone on here has some reason why you shouldn't buy this but I hear that there is a product called TLC that gets rid of hair algae. I've seen it work with dramatic results. I don't know who sells it or who makes it but check it out.

[ClintoninCali]

HEY!! You're in Fresno!! I grew up there but I'm in Visalia now. The Ultimate Aquarium, I work Sundays. Swing by sometime, I'll give you the "Reefland member" deal. I don't know what that is yet, but I'll figure something out...

[Ninong]

It is illegal to import Caulerpa taxifolia into the U.S. and has been for several years. It's listed as a "noxious weed."

Mere possession of C. taxifolia and the eight other species I listed above is illegal in the state of California and has been for the past three years. Of the other eight species, some are banned because they are considered invasive and others are banned because they are too similar in appearance to C. taxifolia to be easily distinguished on visual inspection by the inspectors. This is an excellent law and I am very glad that it was passed. Originally they planned on banning all three dozen species of the genus but thanks to persistent lobbying by members of the reefkeeping bulletin boards and people in the trade, like Mary HM, they agreed to this compromise.

This is another tragic "alien invasion" story but this one is much, much worse than the others because this is not simply the case of someone importing an ordinary specimen of C. taxifolia from the tropics and then releasing it into local waters where it managed to survive and out-compete indigenous flora. This is a horror story almost beyond imagination.

Let me see if I can cover the main points of the story for you. Back in the 1970's when most large public aquaria were having a hard time keeping anything alive in their marine fish exhibits, the Stuttgart Aquarium was pleasantly surprised to see that they were able to grow C. taxifolia that was a beautiful green color and even tolerated temperatures lower than normal for that genus. It was very, very hardy and very beautiful. It thrived no matter what they did to it. They were very proud of their "discovery" and soon all of their friends in the business around the world wanted pieces of this uber Caulerpa. They sent cuttings to their friends, including those on the staff of the Monaco Aquarium, which was being run by Jacques Cousteau at the time. The Monaco Aquarium sits on the rocky shores of the Mediterranean and their tanks use the water from the Mediterranean.

In 1984 someone discovered a patch of C. taxifolia growing on the sea floor directly in front of the Monaco Aquarium. This was surprising because the winter water temperature in the Mediterranean should kill off Caulerpa. It was not only surviving, it was thriving and displacing everything in its path. Before very long, other patches were discovered nearby. All this time various governmental agencies did absolutely nothing in spite of the warnings of concerned marine scientists and the then head of the Monaco Aquarium even assured everyone that this was a very normal event that would not cause any problems whatsoever. It was "natural," according to him. He talked about all the other species of flora and fauna that had migrated through the Suez canal over the past decades and told everyone to calm down because there was nothing to be concerned about. He denied that it came from his facility and insisted that it migrated there all by itself. Boy, was he wrong!!! Even Jacques Cousteau disagreed with him.

Over the next several years, new patches were discovered at other locations hundreds of miles away from the original infestation in front of the Monaco Aquarium. Concerned marine scientists began to study the problem extensively and continued to lobby the various governments involved -- it now affected several countries, not just France. The problem is that this stuff is so hardy that it simply takes over. In areas that it has taken over, the local flora is displaced and more than half the fish species disappear. That's because virtually nothing (in the Mediterranean at least) eats it. The reason nothing eats it is because it has a much higher concentration of one of the toxins that Caulerpa taxifolia produces than C. taxifolia from the tropics.

Microscopic examination, including DNA analysis, showed that this new strain of C. taxifolia differed from other wild collected specimens in other ways as well. It contained only male gametes, no female gametes. C. taxifolia found in the tropics contains both male and female gametes. Caulerpa spp. algae reproduce both sexually and asexually by fragmentation. But this stuff was reproducing strictly by fragmentation. Any tiny piece that breaks off or is picked up by a boat's anchor is capable of starting a new colony. All of the colonies discovered were clones of the original colony and incapable of sexual reproduction because they all contained only male gametes.

Dozens of samples of C. taxifolia were collected from around the world, including from various marine aquaria, and their DNA was examined to see if they matched the new "killer" alga. There was only one match and it was identical. None of the wild-collected C. taxifolia matched the Mediterranean Caulerpa but specimens taken from public aquaria did. It didn't take long at all to figure out that all of the aquarium specimens could be traced to the same source, the Stuttgart Aquarium.

Here is where there is still some degree of uncertainty about what happened at the Stuttgart Aquarium. You have two possibilities: (1) A new strain mutated to adapt to the conditions of its artificial environment -- e.g., artificial lights with more UV than natural and lower water temps than natural, or (2) A new, hardier strain mutated in the wild and was collected and it's this strain that ended up at the Stuttgart Aquarium. Unless they come up with a match from the wild, the answer is probably number one.

As far as the problem in the Mediterranean is concerned, the various governments have no idea what to do at this point. Suggestions have been made and rejected. One idea that has been proposed is the introduction of a sea slug that eats it and nothing else. Since they suggested this, I'm sure they have already tested it in the lab to make sure the slug will eat this super nasty strain but the French government won't go for it. You can't remove it manually because every time a tiny piece breaks off, it forms a new colony some place else.

Getting back to the California situation, it was discovered near San Diego about four years ago. It was originally discovered in a lagoon very near a storm drain outlet. It is quite likely that it came from someone's aquarium. They seem to have the situation under control now. They have spent millions of dollars fighting it. They cover a large patch with a black tarp and then they inject chlorine under the tarp to kill everything beneath the tarp. Everything! That's the only solution that seems to work. It is very expensive and would be impossible to apply to the widespread problem in the Mediterranean.

[Ninong]

It is unfortunate that some hobbyists flout this law and even brag about owning banned species. This is the sort of attitude that will lead to more regulation that could have a negative impact on all of us.

Nothing should be released into the wild from our tanks and the only way to make sure that Caulerpa doesn't survive is to place it in a zip-lock plastic baggie and freeze it for several hours first before placing it in the garbage.