GHA BATTLE.. HELP!.

[Cbray305]

Hey guys, thanks in advance. I have been battling GHA for months now..its embedded in my sand. I have siphoned, scooped it out, scrubbed rocks, added new sand, which stirring things up maybe why i lost 3 fish this week. I have used flux rx, doesnt really do much. Its just got me so defeated.
Just upgraded my cleanup crew to 3 emeralds, roughly 20 blue leg hermits 12 astera snails.
I use api test kits and my LFS does the same and they pretty much end up with the same readings as me. BUT
Parameters are
55 gallon with small sump, not sure size.
Ammonia-0
Nitrate-0
Nitrite-0
Calcium-415
Phosphate-0
Mag..?
Alk..?
Ph..8.2
Salinity..1.25/1.26..fluctuates depending on when i add fresh ro because of my long work hours.

Light-fluval sea 3.0. Blues 100% white 70%(upped 10%weekly from 30). Purple 50%. Running about 12 hours.. than 3 hrs 10%blue.
I do realize i run my lights a little long, just like to see and feed before work and see a bit after is all.
Did a water change and scraped glass on saturday. NOT THE BACK GLASS, but this is the growth.

 

[Retro Reefer]

Good move on the clean up crew.. How old is the tank? Make sure your make up water is "0" TDS, I would also reduce your lighting, go back to 20-30% whites and cut your total photo period to 10-12 hours max.

 

[Cbray305]

Its is either 1 year old or about to be 1

 

[GeoSquid]

The best thing I've ever used for GHA is to start up a DIY Algae Turf Scrubber. Best GHA eaters are Trubo Snails, Urchins and, for a small fish, Lawnmower blenny......Turbos were the best but they fall over and you have to put them back in place. Not sure how big your tank is...but fish (Tangs) tend to only eat the short GHA.....turbos mow everything.

 

[NS Mike D]

order test kits. no alk or mg numbers.

you lost fish, that's a sign of a bigger problem

zero nitrate and phosphate is a problem, but API test kits are not reliable for reef tanks.

@brandon429 might have questions for you about what you did to the sand and your rock scrubbing procedure,

 

[Dan_P]

Its is either 1 year old or about to be 1

From the photo it looks like a widespread problem. You don’t seem to have much in the aquarium to be generating waste. Was maintenance on this aquarium ramped up only recently?

 

[Cbray305]

The first 6-7 months was not proper maintenace, the algea wasnt out of hand either, but u had flourescent bulbs... after i really kept up with tank and had stabsard blue and white led's, with some algea, it just got worse, i got the fluval sea about 2 months ago, and its been a HUGE algea bloom since. The 3 fish that died, 1 was a week and half tang that possibly had parasites, and spread, OR i stirred the sand too much and released that gunk. Brandon has already told me ti tear my tank down and clean the sand

 

[brandon429]

I’ve been on a tank surgery tear lately / understand the hesitation.

the test rock part of the rant was fair n balanced

simply making one rock comply by doing something special doesn’t mean you have to rip clean anything. Merely observing one rock among many: harmless and easy.

your pics above show zones algae doesn’t grow, even when the rest is permitted to grow unchecked in the pic

we’d be boosting those coralline areas that’s for sure.

imagine if your dentist didn’t use any paste but was only water and the pic the whole time he worked on teeth and mouth


it wouldn’t feel clean, tongue on teeth squeak clean, if he left out flavored surfactants portion + the flush out of dislodged plaque.


ur steps above missed my favorite reef dentistry cheat step: peroxide applied post-rasp, where algae once was. But just on the test rock.
you’re evaluating if rasp+ burn is true sustained target kill, or not.

 

[brandon429]

W never advise to clean with rocks and fish in the tank for sure, customization of tank fixes often doesn’t turn out well.

I just noticed above where several methods have been blended, that factors into your chemical presence in this reef, which isn’t present after surgery. killing algae in tank without removal puts dead plant compounds (irritants) into play

we like to jet all that right out.


Worth considering. Plus our after pics~ two hundred extremely bright after pics are also fair motivation.

 

[brandon429]

Can this light be made much bluer

show pics of how it normally runs

that much led white above would grow algae in most reefs for sure

 

[Cbray305]

So did a 15 gallon water change, reduced white lighting back to 50%, scrubbed rocks, glass and added phosphate sponge to sump, and added a tuxedo urchin. Before and after. Wish me luck guys... and brandon, by all mean i do not disregard the tear down suggestion, just trying to make it my last resort. If this does not go well, than i will take you up on that offer. Thank you for even offering the help