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Tag: hair algae

  • How To Remove Green Hair Algae in Saltwater Aquariums

    How To Remove Green Hair Algae in Saltwater Aquariums

    Green Hair Algae removal can be one of the most frustrating experiences in this hobby. Unfortunately, there is no cure-all solution to remove hair algae from your fish tank. The “cure-all” methods often band-aid the problem temporarily, but it will return if not removed at the source. Removing hair algae takes time. You’ll likely not see a change overnight, but with time, patience, and persistence, Green Hair Algae can mostly be eradicated from an aquarium. A combination of manually removing the hair algae and following the steps below will help remove it.

    This article will discuss some of the common reasons Green Hair Algae may wreak havoc on your saltwater fish tank, and once the problem is diagnosed, solutions will be provided to prevent it from coming back. This article should help to remove hair algae from a reef tank or fish-only saltwater aquarium.

    How Old Is Your Aquarium?

    Before continuing consider this. Many new(ish) saltwater aquariums go through a phase. Aquarists may experience this phase between 3 and 6 months, but it can happen sooner or not at all. During this phase, a large algal bloom may occur throughout the aquarium. The intensity of the algae growth varies but I have seen some very green aquariums, completely covered in hair algae or other species of algae.

    If you’re at this stage, the only thing to do is try to manually remove as much Green Hair Algae as possible. I do not recommend removing or cleaning rocks. Leave the rocks alone and use your hands to remove the hair algae. I have managed to use a turkey baster to help suck up algae off rockwork. As long as you do not feed the algae with many more nutrients, it should choke itself out and die out on its own.

    Nutrient Imbalanced Aquarium

    An imbalance of nutrients can be the cause of your algal issues. Green Hair Algae will use whatever free nutrients are in the water and can dominate the aquarium because of it. Algae is also very efficient at consuming nutrients. It’s important to keep an eye on the nitrate and phosphate levels in your fish tank. Focus more on eradicating phosphate levels, because Green Hair Algae uses that more for growth. You feed your aquarium, and your fish poop it’s expected to have trace amounts of both nitrates and phosphates but you do not want high levels of either.

    If you have an aquarium full of hair algae or a refugium with macroalgae, you may read 0 nitrates and 0 phosphates when you test your water. This could be because the algae consumes the nutrients before they become testable. I recommend testing your water with the API Reef Master Test Kit (Affiliate Link). It gives you test solutions for nitrates, phosphates, calcium, and carbonate hardness. If you cannot get your phosphate levels under control, consider looking into a Media Reactor, like the Aquatop Media Reactor (Affiliate Link). You can place different filter media such as PhosBan, PhosGuard, or GFO Phosphate Reducers to help get your phosphates to more manageable levels. Follow the instructions, and slowly lower your phosphate levels.

    How Much Are You Feeding?

    The more we feed, the more nutrients that are introduced into the water. It’s very important to not overfeed your aquarium. We are all guilty of doing so because it’s one of the most exciting aspects of keeping fish. Keep an eye on the portions you give your fish. Guarantee that what you give them is being eaten and not lost in the live rock or sucked up by the filtration system. The best solution to removing nutrients from your aquarium is through water changes. You can easily remove nitrates, phosphates, and food debris by changing the dirty aquarium water and introducing fresh saltwater.

    What Type of Water Are You Using?

    This can be very important for the types of nutrients that are introduced into your aquarium. If you’re using tap water for your water changes, you may be adding a cocktail of nutrients that help promote algae growth. You don’t really know how clean your tap water is. Providing clean water during water changes and water top-offs guarantees you are not introducing nitrates, phosphates, copper, or other contaminants that may be in tap water.

    If possible, I recommend doing water changes and topping off your aquarium with RO water. Small RO units are fairly cheap. For example, the AQUATICLIFE RO Buddie can be purchased from Amazon. You’ll only need a sink that can accept a screw-on adapter and to change the unit’s filters every few months. If you do not have access to RO water or don’t want to buy an RO unit, many stores and fish stores sell RO or distilled water.

    Are You Changing The Water Too Much?

    Again, changing water, especially with tap water can add too many new nutrients into your fish tank that algae will soak up. If you test your nitrates and phosphates, and the results aren’t at dangerous levels, consider taking a step back and cutting down on water changes for a couple of weeks to see if your tap water is introducing unwanted contaminants. You can also test your tap water for nitrates and phosphates with the API test kit suggested above the same way you test aquarium water.

    Does Your Filter Need Cleaning?

    The filter is the place where debris, excess food, and other gunk go to rest. Think back to the last time your sponges and media have been replaced. Physically look at the sponges to see if there is a build-up of brown sludge on them. If so, it might be time to give your filter a cleaning. I’ll often rinse off dirty sponges in old aquarium water instead of replacing them outright. I do this to remove the sludge and gunk from the sponge. However, I can put the sponge back into the aquarium to not lose the beneficial bacteria growing on it. Unfortunately, some sponges are too far gone and need replacing.

    Light Schedule and Intensity

    The next thing I recommend looking at is your lighting schedule. The duration and intensity of your light schedule will affect photosynthetic opportunities for corals and algae. We want to provide plenty of light for our coral, but not too much light that encourages algae to take over. It might be a good idea to cut down on your photoperiod. There is no way to exactly determine what light schedule you should be on. This will be determined by the type of light you have, the strength of the light system, and the type of coral you are growing.

    Light From Window

    Sometimes an aquarium gets set up a little too close to a window. Aquariums close to a window may be getting too much ambient light causing algae to grow. The best solution for this is to hang up a blackout curtain over the window so light doesn’t reach the fish tank. This is the most practical solution for this unless you opt-in to moving the aquarium to a space with little to no ambient lighting.

    Not Enough Clean-Up Crew

    Check to see how much clean-up crew you have hanging around in the aquarium. If your water parameters are in a safe range, consider leveling up your clean-up crew. Their population will drop over time in a saltwater fish tank, so they’ll likely need to be replenished at some point. Maybe that time is now for your aquarium.

    A healthy clean-up crew can mean the difference between a thriving aquarium, and one that may be consumed with algal issues. A clean-up crew can consist of a variety of critters. Utilizing each is important because everything has a niche that needs filling. There are many options to choose from, you can check out my article Saltwater Aquarium Clean-up Crew for some ideas.

    Final Notes

    This guide is meant to discuss how to remove green hair algae from your aquarium. I have provided the most common reasons you’ll see hair algae blooming in your fish tank, and a handful of solutions to help eradicate it. I try to find the cheapest and most natural route to eradicate nuisance algae. These solutions will also help you continue good husbandry of your saltwater aquarium. I do not like using chemicals in fish tanks unless I really have to. If I can’t tackle the problem at the source, it’s likely the algae will come back over time. Hopefully, this guide helps you recover from a green-haired algae takeover. Remember to be patient and expect to fight this until you find the root of the problem.

  • 8 Great Ways to Help Remove Hair Algae in Aquariums

    8 Great Ways to Help Remove Hair Algae in Aquariums

    For some, hair algae is one of the worst nightmares someone can go through in this hobby. It can very quickly take over a fish tank if not kept in check. Once it is around, it can be fairly challenging to remove. Luckily, there are different ways to help eradicate this plant. The tips and tricks in this article should work for both fresh and saltwater aquariums.

    One of the most biggest reasons hair algae takes over, is not ideal water parameters. It will also keep coming back very quickly if water parameters are not maintained at the proper levels. There is no set in stone way on “How to get rid of hair algae”. You will more than likely use each of the following tips. If you want to learn about common reasons algae takes over an aquarium, check out this guide!

    Water Testing & Water Changes

    Whether you are working with a reef tank, freshwater aquarium, cichlid tank or other aquariums, the first thing you should do is check your water parameters. I would really test to see what your nitrate and phosphate levels are. Algae feeds off of these nutrients. Removing hair algae from a reef tank or freshwater aquarium will be much easier once our nitrates and phosphates read zero! One of the main reasons these parameters spike is overfeeding. Consider cutting down on how much you feed your fish and begin conducting more frequent water changes.

    I normally recommend smaller water changes and almost never do more than 25% at a time. Larger water changes could be dangerous for aquariums with high nitrate and phosphate levels. The sudden change in water quality may be bad for your fish, so I normally recommend smaller but more frequent water changes until your parameters reach ideal conditions.

    You can test your water using API Freshwater or Reef Master Test Kits. If you pickup the Freshwater Master Test Kit you will also have to purchase the Phosphate Test Kit separately. If you don’t want the Master Test Kits you can snag the Phosphate Test Kit & Nitrate Test Kit by following the links.

    Physically Remove Hair Algae

    While you are conducting your water changes, it might be a good idea to also take out some of your decorations and give them a good scrub. I usually have a system to avoid removing beneficial bacteria from your aquarium.

    • First: Have two buckets and fill them with aquarium water from your water change
    • Second: Place decorations in the first bucket and use a clean toothbrush to scrub off any hair algae
    • Third: Once most or all hair algae is removed, splash your decoration in the 2nd bucket to give it a good rinse
    • Fourth: Reinsert your decoration into your aquarium

    This method is usually easier to conduct in freshwater aquariums because decorations are more easily moved around. Live rock in saltwater aquariums normally doesn’t get moved around. For Live Rock, I will normally turn off my circulation pumps for a few minutes and physically pluck whatever hair algae I can. Do your best to grab every piece of algae floating around before turning on your circulation pumps! Dispose of whatever algae you remove.

    Add More Cleanup Crew into Your Aquarium

    Once your water parameters are in check, it’s time to introduce and/or add more cleanup crew into your aquarium. You want to wait to add these because cleanup crew such as snails and hermit crabs are far more sensitive to higher nitrates and phosphates compared to fish. I personally would not add fish either until the water is ideal. There are many different animals you can add into both fresh and saltwater aquariums to fight hair algae. For freshwater aquariums consider adding:

    • Snails (nerite, mystery, ramshorn)
    • Shrimp (amano, Neocaridina)
    • Plecos (bristlenose, clown)
    • Otocinclus (great for nano aquariums)
    • Live-bearers (guppies, mollies, swordtails)

    Make sure that whatever you add is compatible with your other fish and water parameters. You wouldn’t want to add shrimp into a cichlid tank because they will quickly become food! Also, certain invertebrates (mostly snails) have a possibility of breeding and taking over the aquarium. Mystery & Ramshorn snail breeding is very common in the aquarium. Nerite snails can breed but their offspring will not be viable in freshwater. You can check out this guide to see some fantastic freshwater algae eaters.

    Saltwater aquariums can have a large assortment of invertebrates and fish that will help remove algae. The following animals might help remove hair algae from your saltwater aquarium:

    • Blennies
    • Tangs
    • Rabbitfish/Foxface
    • Snails (Trochus, Turbo Snails)
    • Crabs (Emerald, hermit)

    There are definitely more algae eating fish & animals available in the hobby. I am listing some of the most common. Make sure the animals you choose to help clean algae are compatible with one another and compatible with the aquarium size! If you want to see some really great algae eaters for a reef aquarium check out this guide.

    Turn Down the Lights

    We love looking at our aquariums, and we may or may not leave our lights on for a little too long. Algae thrives on longer light periods. Consider cutting down you photoperiod to combat hair algae. Your fish tank should go through a day and night cycle. This gives your aquarium time to “rest”. Overall, your aquarium’s health should benefit from a more natural photoperiod. If you cannot keep with a set on/off cycle consider getting a timer for your fish tank. This removes the hassle and gives a consistent day/night cycle for your fish tank.

    Cut Down on Feeding

    Overfeeding will cause nitrate and phosphate levels to spike. Sometimes to very high levels. Cutting down on feeding will help stop water parameters from worsening. If you combine minimizing feeding and increasing water changes, you should be able to slowly bring down nitrate and phosphate levels! You can continue to feed your fish daily, just lower the amount of food that’s added into the fish tank. Once things are under control, you can test increasing feeding regimes. Also, closely monitor how much food you give your fish. Guarantee that what you put in is eaten. Otherwise, remove any extra food!

    Replenish Your Carbon & GFO

    Another way on how to get rid of green hair algae is to update your carbon and GFO. Standard carbon usually lasts a month and should be replaced afterwards. I know sometimes we can forget to swap it but it is definitely a great way to lower nitrate and phosphate levels. GFO (Granular Ferric Oxide) is more commonly used in saltwater aquariums but it can be used in freshwater aquariums as well if you have a reactor. GFO helps remove phosphates in the aquarium, which is important because we want to cut off the algae’s nutrient supply. You can also use Phosguard by Seachem instead of GFO to help remove phosphates in your aquarium.

    Add Plants into the Aquarium

    You can add plants into freshwater aquariums and macroalgae into saltwater aquariums to help keep the aquarium from getting overrun by nuisance algae once again. Macroalgae & freshwater plants will compete with hair algae for nutrients which will overall drive down nutrient levels in the aquarium. This may not work if you do not want plants in your fish tank or have animals that will eat your plants. Macroalgae is also normally kept in a refugium, so it’s not always possible to grow macroalgae due to space limitations.

    Treat your Aquarium with Chemicals

    This is usually my last resort. I do my best to avoid using chemicals in my aquariums. Usually chemicals are a Band-Aid to a much deeper problem. It is better to identify why the algae is growing and remove the source of the problem instead of using chemicals as a quick fix. A chemical called Algaefix can help with removing algae from an aquarium but I have read very polar opinions on it. Many hobbyists have stated that it has caused their fish to act weird and others believe it also killed their fish. This could be because Algaefix depletes the amount of oxygen in the fish tank but I cannot say for sure. Use chemicals with caution and really monitor your aquarium’s behavior if you use it.

    Final Notes

    There is no ideal way on how to deal with hair algae. Every aquarium is unique and will require finessing to get it right. Using a combination of these suggestions should really help combat hair algae and prevent it from coming back. Remember, in this hobby patience is key, so take your time and remove the hair algae correctly instead of trying to find the easy way out!