Need help with hair algae

[Cameo]

Re: Need help with hair algae

Nerites, nerites, nerites! Neritina reclivata, that is. These snails are the best! I've had a 55 and 83 with hair algae so bad it was strewn across from plant to plant. Threw in a bunch of these snails and within a week not a speck of algae left. They don't eat plants and don't reproduce in freshwater. You can get them at www.azgardens.com  With cost of shipping ends up being about $1.30 each. There was a guy on here that just made a large order. Maybe you can "borrow" some from him!
Good luck.

[eklikewhoa]

Re: Need help with hair algae

I just brought in 125 of them....still filling orders but I might have some available.

[Cameo]

Re: Need help with hair algae

Just noticed it's a 100. No way 7 nerites can keep up with that. I'd throw in 20 - 30 to get it under control. Once that's accomplished you could cut back on them if you want.

[thomas]

Re: Need help with hair algae

Excel does not seem to be helpful at all. I already have some Nerite from the tank of Ek. Just curious, how many extra nail you can put up for sale after filling in orders?

[eklikewhoa]

Re: Need help with hair algae

None really....I am in the process of setting up another planted tank so I will need them later on for that tank.

As for the excel, you are probably not using it correctly as far as ridding algae.

[thomas]

Re: Need help with hair algae

FOR 30GAL, how will you recommend with the dosage?

Right now, I am dosing 10ml everyday.

[eklikewhoa]

Re: Need help with hair algae

IMO....with the inhabitants I would not.

The way I do it is I get the med dosing syringe from the pharmacy and inject it straight onto the algae while doing a water change so that the water is low and turn the filters off too.  I inject the algae no more then 3x the recommended amount on the bottle per day.

If you careless about the inhabitants I have done up to 10x with no problems.

[PlanB]

Re: Need help with hair algae

I got some bad hair algae in what seemed overnight... probably because I was leaving the lights on too long. Tossed in two amanos and two mystery snails and it was all virtually gone in a day. The snails seemed to have left the plants alone too (my experience is they usually do) and they got a lot of the shrimp doodie. You can get both at Petsmart: snails are about $1.50-$2 and amanos (called algae-eating shrimp there) are a whopping $3.79! 8O which is crazy considering they sell them really small. I got huge ones at Fish Gallery for $3. Also, I have a much smaller tank, but a pack of amanos or mystery snails might at least graze some of that algae down.

[PlanB]

Re: Need help with hair algae

Also forgot to mention that unlike nerites in freshwater, mystery snails are slutty little creatures that will get it on whenever possible and lay their egg clutches above water. So if you're tank doesn't have a canopy, you may find crusty white masses in odd places around your aquarium.

[thomas]

Re: Need help with hair algae

Thanks for the infor. I plan to go buy 2 amano shrimps tomorrow for the 30gal. But the thing is anyone tried amano with CRS, this is my most horrible nightmare. Please share your experience with amano and CRS.

Remember the hair algae (clado) is only in HC and E. Tenus. So,  should I just buy one amano to clean up the algae, and after it is done with the job, take it away.

[thomas]

Re: Need help with hair algae

Finally the picture is up.

[PlanB]

Re: Need help with hair algae

Okay, I wrote a response before the weekend started then everything went kaput, but here goes again... In the short time I had amanos with CRS they got along just fine. Mind you, I only had 2 amanos to 21 CRS but there were no instances of predation or anything even though they look so much bigger and menacing in comparison. I don't know if two amanos will be enough for a 30 gal. Might want to try 4-6 good size ones. They will eat the food instead of algae if available though, so long term exposure might not be that great for the simple fact of them bogarding all of the CRS's food. May want to make a small amano ranch out of another tank and let them graze in the tanks that you need when the algae problem arises. I acclimate mine by putting them in a big fish bowl, then doing gradual water changes between the two tanks.

[eklikewhoa]

Re: Need help with hair algae

Amano's will become aggressive eaters once the algae is exhausted and they will also uproot HC.