Covering Hair Algae

[fish_collector]

I may suggest watching some of the videos published by Rich Ross, he's a marine researcher who specializes in algae. IIRC he has said that algae does not grow faster in the presence of more nitrate/phosphate. My frag tank has high nutrients but no problem algae. Some gha does grow in the overflow that is easy to harvest every few weeks, the zebra turbos keep the rest of the tank pretty clean.

 

[mcarroll]

I watched that video and yea probably 80% of my hair algae is so strongly attached I cannot pull it off the rocks with my hands or tweezers

if you could get a good close-up of this algae, it may help.

That said make sure you're only grabbing a few strands at a time... once it's mature it can be surprisingly strong.

So just like you can pull somebody's hair and not pull their hair out – unless you grab just a few! Same is true for the algae on the rocks.... don't try to pull clumps, you have to pull strands. That's why I was saying to work in small areas and take your time. Don't go nuts with it. This will save your sanity so you can possibly hit it every day if your schedule allows.

If your schedule really does not allow you to hit it but every week or every other week, I would very strongly recommend a UV sterilizer.

Much smarter than using antibiotics.

 

[fish_collector]

Much smarter than using antibiotics.

What antibiotics are used for algae control?

 

[mcarroll]

What antibiotics are used for algae control?

Folks have in the past and continue to do crazy things to their tanks in response to algae growth.

I was referring to FluxRX and similar, technically an antifungal....fluconazole. It's a WHO essential, so us not abusing it for something as pedestrian as algae cleanup would be wise. Not killing off everything that uses a P450 enzyme system in our tanks would also be wise.

It so happens that algae also use P450 for similar purposes. It's just that algae is not a disease, and it can't be cured, so it's really not "ecologically sound" on so many levels for us to use this drug this way. Yet, so many folks have...even though success rates overall are low and the marketing flim-flammy.

It might be somewhat "coral safe" (but look how many people DO have problems with corals during/after treatmtent....a very non-zero number of people), but it's not reef safe no matter what you read from the hobby. Folks have claimed "there's no fungus in reefs, so it's safe". First, that's untrue. But also, algae and fungus are only two places P450 is used.

Cytochrome P450 enzymes (P450s) are a superfamily of heme (iron protoporphyrin) proteins that are broadly distributed in human, animals, plants, algae, fungi, bacteria, archaea and even viruses1, 2, 3, 4.

...from the last link above.

So we can damage a WIDE range of reef critters with it....mostly microscopic though, so we can't see the damage happening until it's too late.

To boot, it often takes many treatments, not just one, to kill off a standing crop of algae. And sometimes it just doesn't work. Plus, algae often comes right bake once treatment is done – sometimes a worse kind of algae!

And again, that it doesn't work (or work well) isn't the whole problem....sometimes there really are bad side effects.

 

[fish_collector]

^^^ Nothing I'll disagree with. I used fluconazole in my tank and it did greatly help me get the gha under control. It didn't seem to harm too much of the rest of the biome, there's still amphipods and copepods around, there's still tubeworms and bristleworms, there's still sponges, there's still algaes of all types, but the gha is finally gone and under control. As I understand it, fluconazole breaks down rapidly so nothing poured down the sewer will do any harm at the treatment plant either, I'm not too concerned about using such a pharmaceutical.

Fluconazole is prescribed here in the southwest to treat Valley Fever, a respiratory infection caused by a fungus that lives in the soil and is stirred up when we have a wind storm.

But my question regarding what antibiotics are used to treat gha wasn't me being facetious, I was asking because maybe there's more out there that will kill gha that I wasn't aware of.

 

[mcarroll]

As I understand it, fluconazole breaks down rapidly so nothing poured down the sewer will do any harm at the treatment plant either, I'm not too concerned about using such a pharmaceutical.

All kinds of "creative sunshine" like that have been spread about this medicine, so what you say is not surprising to hear.

likewise, it should not be surprising to hear that is not true at all.

Fluconazole is a persistent and mobile pharmaceutical azole fungicide observed in natural waters globally. It does not significantly degrade via traditional wastewater treatment, resulting in likely environmental and human exposure and environmental-origin azole fungicide resistance.

From...

https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.est.4c13539

Your example is a good one too… If we want this med to keep working for "valley fever" then we should not use it like this.

 

[fish_collector]

No sir not “creative sunshine” on my part. That’s what I’ve read about it, and why I used the term “as I understand it”. I’m not an environmentalist, a scientist or a chemist and I don’t read technical publications. Perhaps what I’ve read about it has been incorrect, I don’t typically go deep into research when I buy a common over the counter product such as ReefFlux, it’s been used for a while to combat algae issues. Thank you for correcting me on the lingering effects of fluconazole I’ll take note of that.

The problem with pharmaceuticals in the environment is not my fault, if its even a problem at all.

 

[fish_collector]

All kinds of "creative sunshine" like that have been spread about this medicine, so what you say is not surprising to hear.

likewise, it should not be surprising to hear that is not true at all.



From...

https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.est.4c13539

Your example is a good one too… If we want this med to keep working for "valley fever" then we should not use it like this.

And I’d appreciate it in the future if you’d not use me as the poster child for your agenda. I’m the first one to accept the fact I may have been wrong with something I’ve said, not a crime and not something that should be made an example of.

 

[mcarroll]

Good one.

 

[Mrcote1]

Well both my sea hares died. I dont understand why I cant keep sea hares alive. My cheato is also struggling to grow even after adding the new reef breeders refugium light.

All 3 sea hares ive added have died within 3 days which is odd. I have all sorts of coral, fish, urchins doing fine. Ill grab a closeup photo of the algae in the morning when my lights are back on. I have a feeling this isnt normal GHA. Its VERY thick

 

[Mrcote1]