GHA continues to return again and again

[Mwhitedesigns]

Alright. I'm out of answers. I've been battling GHA now for 3 months.

I realize my tank is relatively green (new) if you will. My tank is about 6 months old, it is a 5 gallon Evo V.

I have an inTank Media basket running Filter floss, Chemi Pure Blue, and Purigen. I added a bag of GFO in there as well to try to reduce phosphates. I do a weekly 25% water change and I've been replacing the GFO (10g) each time (is that over kill?). I have also upgraded the return pump to the MJ606, am running the Marine Orbit LED IC light and have a mame protein skimmer clone. All my corals are growing nicely and the fish seem to be super happy.

The Stock is listed below
-Mated Clown Pair
-Goby
-RBTA
-Grape Cristata
-Pipe Organ
-Colony of Zoas
-Montipora Digitata
-2 Nassarius Snails
-2 Margarita Snails
-1 Turbo

Temp - 78.01
Ammonia - 0
Nitrites - 0
Nitrates - 10-15
Ph - 8
Salinity - 1.026
Phosphates - .04 (with Hanna Checker)

I currently only feed a pinch of Freeze Dried Mysis Shrimp once a day and the large chunks are gone within 2 minutes. I can't see that being over feeding.

About once ever two weeks there is enough GHA where I take out my rocks and scrub with a toothbrush before it gets out of hand. There is however one rock that seems to gather GHA quicker than the others. I can see small GHA starting before I see any on my other rocks. But GHA does start to form on the other rocks as well. I've tested the phosphate levels a day or two after a water change/scrubbing. As well as a week or so. My levels do rise seem to "rise" to about .06-.08. Can my rock be leaching that much phosphate after 6 months? That is the only thing I can think of.

I am at loss of what to do. Do I need a GFO reactor? It seems the addition in the media basket isn't enough. Thoughts? Questions? Advice?

Thank you!

 

[AllSignsPointToFish]

Can you post any pictures? Could you be mistaking bryopsis for GHA?

 

[Mwhitedesigns]

I don’t have any pics at the moment and am at work. However I am fairly certain (99%) that it’s GHA. It easily brushed off, and i see no leafy structures.

Heading to a meeting but I will see if I can find my other post with pictures and post them.

 

[dansreef]

Your tank is pretty new... That is one issue... that is critical for tanks of all sizes.... Some say it takes 12-18 months for most tanks to work through their uglies stages... Whether that is right or wrong will depend on a lot of factors. My experience is it is pretty accurate. My concern would be that you may have too much in the tank... too much bioload in a very short period of time. As a result....this could be making some of the uglies a bit more pronounced for your tank. A 5 gallon tank is pretty small... and not knowing the size of your fish... the tank seems to be working overtime to maintain itself.

Options for you may include:

• reducing bioload... removing the goby or... even the clowns.... with such a small tank.... these three fish are going to push the limits unless you have a better way to export nutrients. A better number is 2 or even one...
• add a chaeto reactor of some sort... This will help export phosphates which the GHA would be pulling up and thriving on. Even though they are at .04 with your hanna ... they are also being consumed by the GHA... so likely the real levels are higher...
• try feeding frozen over freeze dried... I would feed slowly and I would rinse the mysis in RODI... and then go a couple of mysis at a time... The key is to get the fish enough to be healthy....no more.... your tank is so small... you dont want it to get lost in the system...
• Look to upgrade your tank to one with more volume. Larger tanks are easier....than nano's. I had a 10g and 29 Bio Cube... the 10 was impossible. The 29 was tough. I went to a 72...then a 135.... now to a 220 TWV... In some ways... the small tanks are so tough to maintain stability.... Stability is the key to success with corals..and for tanks overall.

I am sure there are some other options people here who are expert at Nanos can share with you.

When you get a chance, share some pictures...

Good Luck!

 

[Mwhitedesigns]

Thanks @dansreef. I was afraid you might say that. Right now this is the largest tank I can have. It's in a bookshelf and don't really have a location any where else. Plus the wifey needs to give the okay and that won't be any time in the near future.

Can you advise of the benefits of frozen vs freeze dried? Would pellets be an even better solution for leftovers in the wc?

Right now there isn't any GHA as I just scrubbed this past weekend. However here are some that I posted a while back.

 

[dansreef]

I understand....there were a few times years ago.. when I was restricted in size of tank.

As for frozen over freeze dried... from my perspective is the readiness of the fish to eat. Your fish should snap freshly thawed frozen up. Re-constituted or freeze dried ...may not. I dont know the process of freeze drying... I have been told that both flakes and pellets can increase nutrients.. particularly if the fish do not eat it straight away. I feed almost exclusively frozen... both mysis and a variety of reef and algae blends. When I feed pellets... or flake... which is rare... I see a lot of these end up in the sump or around the tank.

For you... I think the frozen that is thawed where you can be very controlled in how much you feed would help you lower the nutrients. If the clowns start taking food to the nem... I would stop feeding them. I would feed smaller quantity overall... maybe during the course of a few hours if you can.

That is my two cents worth. I am sure others here may have other ideas.

 

[Elementalj]

I’ll second the age of the tank for being part of the culprit. I’ve been pulling it out for what seemed like months. It’s just now starting to subside with my weekly maintenance.

There is no magic pill that kills it. You have to be diligent and almost obsessed to conquer the menace.

Remember adding cleanup crew does help but if they die off could make the situation worse than before.

 

[AllSignsPointToFish]

Maybe you could also try a sea hare for algae control? That would be a fairly simple solution to try on a tank of that size.

 

[Elementalj]

Maybe you could also try a sea hare for algae control? That would be a fairly simple solution to try on a tank of that size.

If you introduce this guy keep an eye on him. If they die you could end up making a great big bloom.

 

[reefwiser]

Man a 5 gallon saltwater tank is going to be really difficult to keep your parameters in check and not have algae issues. I you just did a zoa tank with no fish you might be able to do it but it is a hard task to keep a super small tank in saltwater going in the right direction.

 

[Thales]

I don't think there is anything you can do to stop it growing - changing food, less food, nutrients in the water - I don't think any of that will make a difference. I think you will need to be the herbivore and manually remove the algae till you get ahead of it, or find something that eats it. Sometimes things will eat algae when it is cropped close, but not when it is long.
Can you pull the rocks that have the most algae and swap them for other rocks? I have also covered algae with epoxy which seems to work.
Good luck!

 

[Thales]

Sorry, missed it was a 5 gallon - I would swap out the rock. :D

 

[dansreef]

I think the 5 gallon size is a real challenge. I would not put a sea hare in there. I am not sure if they would add more to the problem... It could take care of the GHA but also they are fairly large and in that small of a tank... may add more nutrients... Plus... if it does die... it would certainly nuke the tank if not caught immediately.

I would also be careful of removing and replacing rock...as that is where a significant amount of denitrifying bacterias is... You would most likely cause a new cycle in that small of a tank...which would lead to more issues.

In addition to what I suggested.... two more suggestions....
a) go slow... do little incremental changes....
b) as @Elementalj suggests... if you are patient.... and manually remove... over time... the tank could settle out.

Having said this... I would still reduce your bioload... I would start with fish... if clowns are your thing keep them and move the goby out. Or vice versa. This will help a lot as I think the load is too much for the size of tank.... given the age of the tank.