i have some hair algae growing on back of glass. None growing on rocks. (i do not clean the back of glass). i notices some small an large parts of the algae breaks of time to time. and floats around. i am wondering if i should clean off the algae or let it be ? Thanks
I would clean any noticeable GHA, especially off the glass and anywhere you can get your hand into. Sign of GHA is high nutrient in your tank. If its too much it will get out of control. Have you test your water? especially Phosphate and Nitrate.
If you have a sump I would move some there. It is a sign of hih nutrients but as it grows it removes/uses the nutrients. If you remove it all it may pop up else where since nutrients are abundant
i dont have a phosphate tester. i check nitrate frequently along with ph, amonia and nitrite. i have the master test kit for SW. but i never seen the nitrate over 0pmm.
[quote=“Cash4Cars, post:4, topic:3933”]
… but i never seen the nitrate over 0pmm.[/quote]
Ahhh here is the interesting part. You can’t test for nitrates because your hair algae is using them as food and keeping them out of the water column. This is the same reason we grow macro algae in our refugiums. To keep nitrates in check.
The longer you spend in this hobby the more times you’ll hear people say they are having a horrendous algae outbreak but all of their parameters are dead on 0. And they’re right. I liken it to my wife coming home and finding me passed out on the kitchen floor - by reason I couldn’t possibly be drunk - there’s no beer in the fridge. But of course there is no beer in the fridge because I drank it all already.
Basic rule of thumb - if you have hair algae growing then you have nitrates (and possibly phosphates - but that’s not always a guarantee)
[quote=“Cash4Cars, post:1, topic:3933”]
i have some hair algae growing on back of glass. None growing on rocks. (i do not clean the back of glass). i notices some small an large parts of the algae breaks of time to time. and floats around. i am wondering if i should clean off the algae or let it be ? Thanks[/quote]
I looked you up on forums history and it shows that you just set this system up 4+ weeks ago. Hair algae will appear in maturing aquarium, and perfectly normal. Most likely this is indicator that newly setup aquarium is well on its way to reaching maturity and you can add fish and inverts to control it.
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Here is link of mine showing same alga at same time, look at back wall. I added snails and it was replaced by coralline algae by 3rd month.
My Lawn Mower Blenny eats any algae 
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