Getting algae off live corals

[marksrush]

Hey reef tank people, I could use some advice. I have a 20g high nano that's got a serious algae problem. It's not hair algae: it's more of a soft-looking, thick, not unpleasant-looking growth that has all of a sudden started accumulating on everything. This all happened right at the time I switched from tap water to RO/DI. I bought a lawnmower blenny, but somewhere along the line she disappeared, so that was disappointing since I was hoping she'd make a dent in it. I have a nice-sized turbo snail in there (only comes out at night, if it even moves), and a few red-legged hermits...I think. I guess I should say I *used* to, and I think I saw one scrabbling around the other day, but alas, due to my lovely valentini Lu-Lu, nothing much like that seems to thrive - they usually have to learn to make do with partial limbs and more or less constant harassment. I used to have two emerald crabs in there, but she got to them, too. So basically everything I got that I was counting on to help with algae has been removed by Lu-Lu. I'd have moved her by now to one of my 55 gallons, but one has my Ceylon in it, and the other has my GSP.

Oh and the reason for my subject line: what's the safest way to get this stuff off my star polyps? Not all of them are being affected, just my white stars and the poor zoas that I had to take back to work to save them. I was wondering if rinsing the stars in tap water for a second or two would kill off the algae yet leave the polyps alone for the most part. (I can take them out easily because they've formed kind of a mat that they're all attached to.) I don't understand it because both the white stars and my purple cloves are on almost the same level, yet the cloves are algae free.

[Woodbutcher]

I use the small airline used for airstones, I then stick a hard plastic tube in the hose and use it as a pinpoint syphon. This removes less water and gives you great control of what you remove.

[Pufferpunk]

You're gonna have to pick most of it off between the corals with tweezers. There are many snail species that eat algae & seahares are supposed to slurp it right up.

[marksrush]

You're gonna have to pick most of it off between the corals with tweezers. There are many snail species that eat algae & seahares are supposed to slurp it right up.

Hmm, ok, I'll do that instead of rinsing it. I was reading today that nerite snails are good at eating algae, and we get in sea hares quite often at work, so maybe I'll bring one or the other home and see what happens, next time we get some in. I've just been afraid that my valentini would bother them.