Any solutions to hair algae that won't go away?

[VintageReefer]

Tried out-competing my GHA with Pom Pom illuminated 24/7 and display down to 20% for 8 hours and the GHA won. Has now smothered my Pom Pom and I've quit this experiment. Now back to testing Fuge with GHA and how best to provide structure so it can still out-compete my display. GHA in the make-shift algae box was however stronger than that in the display which was also being affected by hydrogen peroxide I was dosing yet that under the stronger all duration light was unaffected. This included Pom Pom and the overrunning GHA. Much lusher and greener too. Back to dosing higher levels of peroxide to see if kills off all GHA and allows the Pom Pom to recover. Only one way to find out. Do it.

Pom pom is not an effective enough
Gha vs gha is equal and you’ll have little effect

If you want this to have any effect you need turf or slime algae

 

[VintageReefer]

Consumers is the only solution. Algae does not even need any detectable po4 or no3 since it can get phosphorous from polyphosphates/metaphosphates (do not show up on orthophosphate test kits) and get nitrogen from ammonia. You limit algae, you limit the corals - the algae has every advantage it seems

“consumers is the only solution” Is an absolute statement that is absolutely untrue. So everyone out there without algae is due to consumers? Everyone who ever fixed an algae problem was because of adding consumers?

I’m not saying “consumers” don’t or can’t help…but plenty of people have tanks algae under control from scrubbers, carbon dosing, skimmers/water changes, good husbandry, etc.

Here’s my “limited corals” that must be starving from my scrubbing

 

[jda]

Nah. Your photos before showed algae all over your rocks and fish or something else was keeping in check. You credit the scrubber despite every expert constantly telling you that the consumers were doing the work with the algae.

If you stepped away from this with some objective thinking you would see that what I am saying is that you are not limiting anything, which is why you corals are fine. You have consumers too.

 

[VintageReefer]

Nah. Your photos before showed algae all over your rocks and fish or something else was keeping in check. You credit the scrubber despite every expert constantly telling you that the consumers were doing the work with the algae.

If you stepped away from this with some objective thinking you would see that what I am saying is that you are not limiting anything, which is why you corals are fine. You have consumers too.

Nah. You are mistaking me with scubaskeet

Sometimes experts and teachers have room to learn also fyi

Doctors, vets, forum experts - wrong all the time. Many times correct also. But nobody is always right.

I’m not getting into this again you can go reread the last thread. I have 3 cardinal fish and a purple filefish. And 4-5 turbos and 3-5 hermits in my 75 gallon tank

No water changes 30 months, no skimmer, and nothing providing nutrient control besides a scrubber. I have before picture of the tank covered in 2-3” hair algae. The scrubber fixed it. Sorry if it blows your mind and you can’t explain or accept it. I’ve been keeping reef tanks 23 years. My results speak for themselves. Guess I’m not an expert because I haven’t published a paper

 

[jda]

We have to get into it again so that the new folks know that you are the only one who 1). believes this and 2). claims that this is true. Some don't want to follow the only person since betting on the exceptions almost never have good endings.

There are many people who are wrong some of the time. For sure. People who are the only ones who experience or believe something are wrong nearly all of the time.

 

[Biokabe]

has anyone attempted using an Algae Scrubber without success?

Apart from GHA, anybody have success have your ATS outcompete other types of algae ?

Here, right here.

I have a Reefer 350 that is covered in algae.



I'm running ChemiPure Blue in the sump, I have a Reef Octopus INT-110 skimmer, a very productive refugium, and an IceCap Algae Scrubber Pro ATS. When I initially added the skimmer, I had a major reduction in algae about 6 weeks after I added it. The rocks were clean for about two weeks... then, immediately after my second harvest from the scrubber, the algae started coming back and has stayed in more or less the state that you see in the pictures for about 8-10 months.

 

[VintageReefer]

No sir you are on your own in this debate today. Scroll up. Search post history. Numerous people mentioned how scrubbers fixed their issues.

You are the one challenging the statement. You provide the evidence of them not working. Real world examples please. Photos help. No articles over the heads of the population. Scrubbers were mentioned in a recent macna speech as a viable method of nutrient control.

 

[VintageReefer]

Here, right here.

I have a Reefer 350 that is covered in algae.



I'm running ChemiPure Blue in the sump, I have a Reef Octopus INT-110 skimmer, a very productive refugium, and an IceCap Algae Scrubber Pro ATS. When I initially added the skimmer, I had a major reduction in algae about 6 weeks after I added it. The rocks were clean for about two weeks... then, immediately after my second harvest from the scrubber, the algae started coming back and has stayed in more or less the state that you see in the pictures for about 8-10 months.

Have you checked iron levels? Sounds like it was starting to work and you depleted a trace element needed for the growth in the scrubber. Is the scrubber still growing algae quickly?

 

[jda]

Here, right here.

You don't have to engage too much - just enough for the noobies to know that this is not a real solution. There has never been any real evidence that growing algae in one places makes it not grow in others. Some confuse nutrient control with algae removal and they are not the same thing. Scrubbers do lower nutrients just like many other methods, but you don't need any detectable/testable nutrients at all for algae to grow.

After all, a guy who is a nationally recognized expert in chemistry and had a reef tank, a guy who ran perhaps the largest captive reef in the world (or one of), others with podcasts and make money as professionals in the industry cannot find anybody to agree either the claims that growing algae in one place makes it not grow in others.

There seems to be some sort of thought that is not capable of the different levels needed to adequately sort this.

 

[Garf]

slime algae

Well, this isn't likely algae at all, to be honest. It's probably just called that because either nobody has checked to see what it is or it's something that nobody wants to admit growing.

 

[VintageReefer]

I offer my advice based on over two decades of experience, and my desire to help and guide others.

There isn’t one thing that works 100% of the time. I promise you though, the success rate of scrubbers is far beyond 0%. And many times that they don’t work, it’s little tweaks that need to be made. It’s a living filter, it’s not a skimmer you take out of a box and sit in 8” of water and call it a day. Everyone’s tank is unique and no one suggested solution will fix an issue 100% of the time

Others can take my advice or leave it. That’s up to them. People are welcome to dm me if they have questions or want advice as well.

 

[VintageReefer]

From ReefNerd who has great tank and dedicated channel


“In my opinion, there is no better way to keep nutrients in check, and combat algae in your display than a properly size refugium, algae reactor or algae turf scrubber.”

I am not alone in this belief, and I am not the only one with success from a scrubber.

Enjoy your weekend! I’ll help others but I’m not spending any more of my Friday bickering on the internet

 

[Garf]

Anyone claiming "The scrubber did it" could easily prove it by dangling a roughed up bit of knitting canvas in their herbivore free tank, then posting some before and after photos, say after a month. The canvas cannot touch the tank sides, must be suspended and rinsed every week in fresh water to remove tiny herbivores.

 

[ScubaSkeets]

I have done a "semi" rip clean at least 3 times. (Removing rocks, pressure washing them, etc., and returning them to the tank)
EVERY time, long hair algae returned (hence having to do it more than once)

I did a final (hopefully) semi rip clean (about half of my rocks), and started my scrubber. It's going on 6 months and still no signs of long hair algae.
I have done nothing else different. Added nothing. No new cucs. No lighting changes)
Are my rocks green under white lights?Yep. I don't care. What I care about is not having what looks like small furry animals In my tank.

Did the pressure washing help? Probably. But again, I've done that several times before.

What else could it be if it's not the ATS?
Did my fish suddenly have a hankering for long hair alage that they did not have before this?

 

[GARRIGA]

Pom pom is not an effective enough
Gha vs gha is equal and you’ll have little effect

If you want this to have any effect you need turf or slime algae

Agreed but I was hoping to establish Pom Pom which was working until GHA started growing on it. Perhaps as the last part of filtration after UV it might stand a chance. want something ultimately that I can also feed to the fish but pipe dreams give way to practicality, ultimately. Why now I'm back to encouraging GHA in a Fuge setup vs ATS or perhaps combining both as I need nutrient removal along with co2 for which submerged more pragmatic as an ATS gains efficiency from access to atmospheric co2 and less dependent on what I want removed.

 

[ScubaSkeets]

Alage scrubber discussion starts at 16:11

 

[Garf]

Alage scrubber discussion starts at 16:11

Particularly enjoyed the part where he said he spends a fortune on replacing minor and trace elements that the scrubber removes. But hang on a minute, he's replacing the elements whose absence are restricting algal growth in the tank? That's makes no sense, lol. You'll probably find when he stopped scraping the frag plugs the tiny herbivore population increased, albeit with a reproduction lag time.

 

[VintageReefer]

I believe his point was he initially was spending a lot because he is a commercial facility and was using hobbiest trace element products and since then has gotten better sources for them and reduced his costs. And other point is that the algae grown on the scrubbers is the same as what grows on the reefs, and is different from the typical algae we get in tanks displays, and it uptakes different trace elements, some of which he found he was depleting causing the scrubber performance to reduce and the display algae to take over again. Replenishing the trace elements restored scrubber performance and then corrected his display issues.

Here is another video about it

 

[Garf]

I believe his point was he initially was spending a lot because he is a commercial facility and was using hobbiest trace element products and since then has gotten better sources for them and reduced his costs. And other point is that the algae grown on the scrubbers is the same as what grows on the reefs, and is different from the typical algae we get in tanks displays, and it uptakes different trace elements, some of which he found he was depleting causing the scrubber performance to reduce and the display algae to take over again. Replenishing the trace elements restored scrubber performance and then corrected his display issues.

Here is another video about it

He needs to dangle some roughed up screen in his system, to see what happens to it. I can't think of any reason why he couldn't.

 

[VintageReefer]

He needs to dangle some roughed up screen in his system, to see what happens to it. I can't think of any reason why he couldn't.

And how is that relevant ?

Dangling roughed up screen in a display is not comparable to a scrubber in any way