View Full Version : Hair Algae
Snail Freak
06-26-2007, 12:42 PM
Ok, by the name of this thread you probably think i'm an insane idiot for wanting hair algae. My hermit crab passed away the other day during a heater 'crash'. Water got to cold and i wasn't there to help him. :no:
I do have a brand new real young conch! not for sure what type yet, i'm goin to get a vid soon of the tank and ew inabitants. I also got a surprise too.
Anyway, the conch, and the next hermit i buy (gonna get another younger one), and my snail would all probably like hair algae. My 'surprise' may eat it too. i'd also like to keep alot of small scarlet hermits or something in the tank smeday as well.
So how can i purposely grow hair algae? My turbo snails shell has some small, not so green, hair algae on his shell but it isn't growing in the tank. And sadly the snail, as hard as he tries, can't clean his own shell, hah.
What can i do to get a bunch? If i went to an LFS and asked (like an insane person) if i could get a baggie of some har algae out of one of the tanks, would that grow some in the tank? Assuming the don't send me to fish therapy.
Just wondering. Thanks to any answers in advance. ;)
Snail Freak
06-26-2007, 12:43 PM
--edit
Just relized, i put "Hair Algae" as thread name and "how to grow it on purpose" as subtitle. Then i relized it is tags, not subtitle. So ignore the first sentance.
lReef lKeeper
06-26-2007, 04:39 PM
why not just feed them some fish food ??
wwest
06-26-2007, 04:42 PM
Yea, slow sinking reef pellets work perfectly for crabs and other ground feeders
CarmieJo
06-26-2007, 10:45 PM
And in my experience HA grows all by itself and NOTHING eats HA except sea hares.
wwest
06-26-2007, 10:55 PM
My emerald crabs ate hair algae like there wasn't a tomorrow, however my hermit crabs didn't really touch it.
Braves11
06-27-2007, 04:49 PM
A guy at my LFS said what I have in my freshwater tank is hair algae but I'm not so sure, Its black and looks like a dense patch of feathers growing from a single point. Though when you pull it out of the water its real slick. Does anyone know what I have? I bought some Amano Shrimp To try and deal with the problem 2 days ago but we cant find them. We're suspicious that they might have been eaten by my angelfish, or hidden in the dense thicket.
CarmieJo
06-28-2007, 12:27 AM
Hi Ward,
I haven't seen you around in a while. Hope all is well with you.
Snail Freak
06-28-2007, 12:33 PM
...so does anyone not know somehting that kind of urge HA to grow?
And carmie, i've always read and heard hermits and conchs love HA...
and i do feed fish food but i figure some natural food wouldn't hurt, plus, personally, i think hair algae kinda looks good in the sand of a tank. :tongue2:
is there anything, besides some people thinking it's ugly, is there anything bad about it that could cause problems?
CarmieJo
06-28-2007, 09:02 PM
And carmie, i've always read and heard hermits and conchs love HA...
In my experience neither do. :)
Braves11
07-15-2007, 01:33 PM
Summer is just always very busy for me, Carmie.
I Believe that I have heard somewhere that the presence of hair algae does not have any ill effects except for thatn it covers everything. It's actually a sign that that you have too much in the way of nutrients in your tank. Going by what Jeff Kurtz says your population should continue to grow until crashes from their not being enough to around. Didn't Rob's Planaria problem do the same thing?
SoCalReefer
07-15-2007, 03:00 PM
Yeah an excess of nutrients and a longer than average lighting period, and it will grow like crazy. I'd actually pour in about a bottle of drinking water, that was not filtered via RO. So pretty much it would be tap water minus the chlorine. And if you really want it to grow fast!!! pour in some phosphate rich tap water. I only recommend a small amout to your overall water volume, not to change up the param's to much. I have a seperate algae tank, and this always works to kick start their growth. :up:
CarmieJo
07-15-2007, 09:11 PM
HA can overgrow corals, etc when it is out of control but other than that it won't hurt anything.
RockDoc
08-20-2007, 10:59 AM
I've had a HA problem recently, but I heard on one of the Podcasts about SAT. I put it in according to the bottle's instructions, and within a week the HA turned brown and is now falling off. It is a new tank so the nutrients are finally subsiding, so that also may be contributing to the HA die-off. Of course, this is the opposite of what the thread is asking for. Just my 2 cents.
Later, Jay
JeffDubya
09-06-2007, 01:47 AM
SAT??? I am having a HA problem. Please expand. Snail Freak, I am having a HA problem, and this is NOT something you want to grow, unless you want your tank to look like crap. There is no containing or controlling it. I'll send you mine.
CarmieJo
09-06-2007, 08:52 PM
Jeff, SAT is a product that is supposed to bind up nutrients and starve the algae. Here is the company's website. TLC Aquarium and Pond Products (http://tlc-products.com/pages/1/index.htm) I have been battling HA since July. I have been manually removing the stuff and doing water changes. Finally this week I at least THINK it may be getting better.
SAT - yes the product is Marine S.A.T as noted.. its a slow but affective treatment that works by introducing bacteria the compete with the HA for nutrients (as noted above)
regarding the HA, the Conch and hermits will be just fine with out HA, unless you are raising sea hares, there is no reason to promote HA, your crabs will find other food without a problem, and as noted most will not eve touch it if its there.. i would pass on the idea of trying to get it to grow, tis more problematic that it is helpful
Powered by vBulletin® Version 4.2.3 Copyright © 2024 vBulletin Solutions, Inc. All rights reserved.