Hi

My new 120 liter reef tank is 3 weeks old.  It has started developing hair algae -- is this normal? Should I do anything to control it?

zoas

Hi Zoas, get a cleaning crew in place, is the tank still cycling and if so are you turning the lights on or keeping them off ?

Hi Admin

Thanks for the prompt reply.

The tank seems to have cycled now.  For the last 3 weeks I've been live rock watching & I've kept the lights on most of the time during the day... maybe the cause of the hair algae.

What would you suggest I need as a clean up crew for my 120 ltr tank?  Should I get a lawnmower blenny as one of my first fish?

zoas 

during tank cycle it's always best to leave the lights off. You need to test the parameters to know if the tank has finished cycling unless you test there is no way of knowing.

As per cleaning crew -

turbo snails (Big snails and cover a big area in your aquarium, only problem is that they can topple rock work)

Asterea snails (Great for eating brown and freen algae from rock and glass)

Trochus snails (Same as Asterea, but Torchus can save themselves if they are flipped over)

Nerite snail (Small sized snail that gets into tough to reach places

Nassarius snails (Excellent for sand sifting as it gets under the substrate)

I would avoid hermits as they will try to get into the shell of turbo snails

I would add a couple of cleaner shrimps as they are excellent in scavenging for left overs.

Can I actually buy these snails from local LFS?

yes all are available locally, but please test your parameters first as you will be throwing money down the drain if the tank has not cycled yet.

turn all lights off if the tank is not cycled unless you have live rocks with coralline algae.

I do have live rock with coralline algae...

Ok, I'll be testing my water parameters again this morning.

I'm continuing this topic in my other thread for the sake of logic.  See "New 120ltr Reef Tank Diary"

zoas