Gha has won tank breakdown

[DanConnor]

Also did it kill any of your cuc or fish?

No, everything was fine. Some small feather dusters retracted for a day.
Yes, it was quite bad. Very complete coverage of exposed rocks and I couldn't kick it. Different species of algae though.

 

[Ling_Thing]

This is what it looked like with some improvement.....

This is now:

Man what a difference what did you change? What happened to the regal?

 

[WallyB]

Hi OP,

First of all let me say I know EXACTLY How you Feel.

I went thru exactly what you are going through ( about 2+ years ago) , and it was the worst period of my 20 years in the hobby.

Similar sequence of events

-> New 65 Gallon Tank (Muratic Bleached Dead Rocks, given to me)
-> About a 9-12months later.... Major Cyano Outbreak (which cleared)
-> and then Followed right way by a GHA Outbreak like no other (lasting many, many weeks, Never ended....)

I have many theories on why it happened to me....(I'll explain below)

Like you, I had GHA battle with IN-TANK(Scrubbing, Plucking, getting Tons of Snails, Crabs, etc)
I lost the battle, since GHA just kept getting worse....
One thing I never did was any GHA chemical Treatments, since my thinking was No chemical can magically remove GHA.

I'm not saying you have to tear down your tank to solve this. Folks before this post have given you some ideas.
However I personally have learned or watched that drastic Chemical Treatments (for Algae, Cyano, Bubble Algae), do more damage then good.

So when I reached that point of GHA misery in my 65 Gal Tank, I did tear down the Tank (Corals, Rock outs, Scrubbed and put back)

This photo show the EXACT same rocks (as in photo above) NOT LONG after scrubbing/Tear-down, Rebuilt with new Rock layout (no other changes to system)

I actually did two thorough rock scrubbing of GHA. Once to Get everything out for first scrub and put back rocks roughly in Tank. Then a few weeks later took them out for one more scrub (since I missed spots, and some GHA came back), and then did new Final Rock layout.

To me it was the best thing I ever did. Re-Rock scaping is fun, and I forgot about that the BAD GHA days.

Tear downs/restarts (if you have the space and bins, and temp storage for Corals) can be a positive thing.

Now Fast Forward to today...I had a flood in the basement a year ago (not tank flood)
and I rebuilt my setup with a NEW Larger 110G Tank (same everything else)

Started from Scratch again (new Frags), but Same ROCKS again (plus a couple of arch pieces).
It's been running just over 1 year 100% Algae Free (using all the Lessons from my Past Failure)

So now my theories, on why the GHA happened to me. Your situation may be similar, or different. Just giving you info I have...Use what you find useful, if anything....
I'll also explain what I did right, or didn't do wrong this time.

I think the Reason my First GHA outbreak happened was the following:
-> Young Rocks (thirsty to soak up nutrients)...Invisibly for months they were soaking up Phosphates
-> Months of Doing Additives (All kinds of Coral Foods Daily) to make corals better, so rock were also being infused with Nutrients.
-------> Both Above were A Ticking CYANO/GHA Time Bomb
-------> For months, my Salifert P test was 0. I bought a Hanna Phosphate Meter, P=0.0 I bought a ULR Hanna Phospherous Meter P=0.00 (I was scratching my head)
-> I also added a LED Light just before the Dual Outbreak and was using Too Much RED Spectrum
-----> I basically turned my Tank into An Algae Scrubber (with Rocks loaded with Nutrients+Phosphates) = ALGAE BLOOM

So what did I do different this time (with Zero Algae problems)
- I did have a minor Cyano outbreak like all new setups do. Did CyanoClean (bacteria) treatment, and it went away in about 6 weeks. (PATIENCE)
- A few new rocks (the Arches) did go thru a ugly brown algae stage. I removef them once for a light clean, and put them back. Coraline took over and no algae.
- I improved my Algae Scrubber (with a better Grow Plant LED Panel), and it gives me Massive Harvests every two weeks. (NUTRIENT EXPORT)
- I do water changes (at least every other week), since Algae Scrubber can consume some needed Elements. (Natural/Balanced Trace Eement Supplementation)
- I stuck to Basic Dosing two part, and NO additives, NO coral foods for first year. (NO JUNK)
- During that year I worked on getting natural nutrients into the system to support my Corals (More Fish, More Fish Feeding)
- During that year I let the rocks get fully covered by Coraline (which resists algae, and forces Algae to grow in a better_place=ALGAE-Scrubber)
- LAST BUT NOT LEAST ( NO Sand Bottom, another Slow Ticking Time Bomb!!)

I basically let the Tank Age one year naturally without much interference. (Patience, PATIENCE)

Currently My Nitrates are 25ppm and My Phosphates 0.25 and I don't worry about either since Both STABLE.
(I Tried GFO type stuff to reduce P and I did damage to SPS [with P swings] so I stopped).

Just a few weeks ago, I felt I could trust the tank and my routines, to start feeding Corals, and some Amino Additives to improve things (SLOWLY)

Hope this helps. Sorry, no quick/magic solution for you, just my thoughts on what I did wrong in the Past.

 

[Dsnakes]

I’m bookmarking this thread, as I think there is a lot of great advice. I’ve been away from my tank for 3 months and I will have an algae fixing party when I return. ;Woot

 

[Hemmdog]

Hi OP,

First of all let me say I know EXACTLY How you Feel.

I went thru exactly what you are going through ( about 2+ years ago) , and it was the worst period of my 20 years in the hobby.

Similar sequence of events

-> New 65 Gallon Tank (Muratic Bleached Dead Rocks, given to me)
-> About a 9-12months later.... Major Cyano Outbreak (which cleared)
-> and then Followed right way by a GHA Outbreak like no other (lasting many, many weeks, Never ended....)

I have many theories on why it happened to me....(I'll explain below)

Like you, I had GHA battle with IN-TANK(Scrubbing, Plucking, getting Tons of Snails, Crabs, etc)
I lost the battle, since GHA just kept getting worse....
One thing I never did was any GHA chemical Treatments, since my thinking was No chemical can magically remove GHA.

I'm not saying you have to tear down your tank to solve this. Folks before this post have given you some ideas.
However I personally have learned or watched that drastic Chemical Treatments (for Algae, Cyano, Bubble Algae), do more damage then good.

So when I reached that point of GHA misery in my 65 Gal Tank, I did tear down the Tank (Corals, Rock outs, Scrubbed and put back)

This photo show the EXACT same rocks (as in photo above) after scrubbing, and new layout.

To me it was the best thing I ever did. Re-Rock scaping is fun, and I forgot about that the BAD GHA days.

Tear downs/restarts (if you have the space and bins, and temp storage for Corals) can be a positive thing.

Now Fast Forward to today...I had a flood in the basement a year ago (not tank flood)
and I rebuilt my setup with a NEW Larger 110G Tank (same everything else)

Started from Scratch again (new Frags), but Same ROCKS again (plus a couple of arch pieces).
It's been running just over 1 year 100% Algae Free (using all the Lessons from my Past Failure)

So now my theories, on why the GHA happened to me. Your situation may be similar, or different. Just giving you info I have...Use what you find useful, if anything....
I'll also explain what I did right, or didn't do wrong this time.

I think the Reason my First GHA outbreak happened was the following:
-> Young Rocks (thirsty to soak up nutrients)...Invisibly for months they were soaking up Phosphates
-> Months of Doing Additives (All kinds of Coral Foods Daily) to make corals better, so rock were also being infused with Nutrients.
-------> Both Above were A Ticking CYANO/GHA Time Bomb
-------> For months, my Salifert P test was 0. I bought a Hanna Phosphate Meter, P=0.0 I bought a ULR Hanna Phospherous Meter P=0.00 (I was scratching my head)
-> I also added a LED Light just before the Dual Outbreak and was using Too Much RED Spectrum
-----> I basically turned my Tank into An Algae Scrubber (with Rocks loaded with Nutrients+Phosphates) = ALGAE BLOOM

So what did I do different this time (with Zero Algae problems)
- I did have a minor Cyano outbreak like all new setups do. Did CyanoClean (bacteria) treatment, and it went away in about 6 weeks. (PATIENCE)
- A few new rocks (the Arches) did go thru a ugly brown algae stage. I remove them once for a light clean, and put them back. Coraline took over and no algae.
- I improved my Algae Scrubber (with a better Grow Plant LED Panel), and it gives me Massive Harvests every two weeks. (NUTRIENT EXPORT)
- I do water changes (at least every other week), since Algae Scrubber can consume some needed Elements. (Natural/Balanced Trace Eement Supplementation)
- I stuck to Basic Dosing two part, and NO additives, NO coral foods for first year. (NO JUNK)
- During that year I worked on getting natural nutrients into the system to support my Corals (More Fish, More Fish Feeding)
- During that year I let the rocks get fully covered by Coraline (which resists algae, and forces Algae to grow in a better_place=ALGAE-Scrubber)

I basically let the Tank Age one year naturally without much interference.

Currently My Nitrates are 25ppm and My Phosphates 0.25 and I don't worry about either since Both STABLE.
(I Tried GFO type stuff to reduce P and I did damage to SPS [with P swings] so I stopped).

Just a few weeks ago, I felt I could trust the tank and my routines, to start feeding Corals, and some Amino Additives to improve things (SLOWLY)

Hope this helps. Sorry, no quick/magic solution for you, just my thoughts on what I did wrong in the Past.

That was a great write up man, props!

 

[stefanm]

theres a neat trick about arresting gha and cousins, they’re among the easier invaders to beat -for any tank where one has complete access-

Given incomplete access, pick your battle option as many are good. Nutrient tuning, adding cuc, adding direct kill meds. All can kill off the invasion in certain lucky ish situations

But if you are willing to access the tank then the entire game changes. After willingness to access then comes willingness to cheat kill the target. Brushing gha distributes via fragmentation. Willingness to follow a known order of ops will zap your tank clean / skip cycle

By that I mean if a full water change is called for, doing one doesn’t require you to work through nine levels of hesitation. It would be done, twice if called for, no hesitation-level access.

It doesn’t matter if your tank is one gallon and you’re willing to access it, or if it’s 65 gallons and making 1.5 brute cans of ready water is just another day in reefing/ can do

Fluconazole is a valuable tool

So are grazers

But grazers add to detritus, and fluc never removes it. Leaves it for trade off invasions

If you clean the system top to bottom all at once in message with me, you will have a pristine tank soon after (but we apply kill steps so the algae doesn’t grow back like it does currently)

Friendly dare: anyone here with an invaded nano reef sight unseen to message me for a cure challenge run.


I don’t care if you have nine variants of ostreopsis or the worst gha nestled among acro, if you are willing to part clean that tank to the bone with me then it will be uninvaded. All we need is someone willing to follow a set order of ops and not customize it. The record has been set for using the word willing the most ever in a reef post

pls send me your worst invaded nano of all time in message let’s surgically rework it.

Hi OP,

First of all let me say I know EXACTLY How you Feel.

I went thru exactly what you are going through ( about 2+ years ago) , and it was the worst period of my 20 years in the hobby.

Similar sequence of events

-> New 65 Gallon Tank (Muratic Bleached Dead Rocks, given to me)
-> About a 9-12months later.... Major Cyano Outbreak (which cleared)
-> and then Followed right way by a GHA Outbreak like no other (lasting many, many weeks, Never ended....)

I have many theories on why it happened to me....(I'll explain below)

Like you, I had GHA battle with IN-TANK(Scrubbing, Plucking, getting Tons of Snails, Crabs, etc)
I lost the battle, since GHA just kept getting worse....
One thing I never did was any GHA chemical Treatments, since my thinking was No chemical can magically remove GHA.

I'm not saying you have to tear down your tank to solve this. Folks before this post have given you some ideas.
However I personally have learned or watched that drastic Chemical Treatments (for Algae, Cyano, Bubble Algae), do more damage then good.

So when I reached that point of GHA misery in my 65 Gal Tank, I did tear down the Tank (Corals, Rock outs, Scrubbed and put back)

This photo show the EXACT same rocks (as in photo above) NOT LONG after scrubbing/Tear-down, Rebuilt with new Rock layout (no other changes to system)

I actually did two thorough rock scrubbing of GHA. Once to Get everything out for first scrub and put back rocks roughly in Tank. Then a few weeks later took them out for one more scrub (since I missed spots, and some GHA came back), and then did new Final Rock layout.

To me it was the best thing I ever did. Re-Rock scaping is fun, and I forgot about that the BAD GHA days.

Tear downs/restarts (if you have the space and bins, and temp storage for Corals) can be a positive thing.

Now Fast Forward to today...I had a flood in the basement a year ago (not tank flood)
and I rebuilt my setup with a NEW Larger 110G Tank (same everything else)

Started from Scratch again (new Frags), but Same ROCKS again (plus a couple of arch pieces).
It's been running just over 1 year 100% Algae Free (using all the Lessons from my Past Failure)

So now my theories, on why the GHA happened to me. Your situation may be similar, or different. Just giving you info I have...Use what you find useful, if anything....
I'll also explain what I did right, or didn't do wrong this time.

I think the Reason my First GHA outbreak happened was the following:
-> Young Rocks (thirsty to soak up nutrients)...Invisibly for months they were soaking up Phosphates
-> Months of Doing Additives (All kinds of Coral Foods Daily) to make corals better, so rock were also being infused with Nutrients.
-------> Both Above were A Ticking CYANO/GHA Time Bomb
-------> For months, my Salifert P test was 0. I bought a Hanna Phosphate Meter, P=0.0 I bought a ULR Hanna Phospherous Meter P=0.00 (I was scratching my head)
-> I also added a LED Light just before the Dual Outbreak and was using Too Much RED Spectrum
-----> I basically turned my Tank into An Algae Scrubber (with Rocks loaded with Nutrients+Phosphates) = ALGAE BLOOM

So what did I do different this time (with Zero Algae problems)
- I did have a minor Cyano outbreak like all new setups do. Did CyanoClean (bacteria) treatment, and it went away in about 6 weeks. (PATIENCE)
- A few new rocks (the Arches) did go thru a ugly brown algae stage. I removef them once for a light clean, and put them back. Coraline took over and no algae.
- I improved my Algae Scrubber (with a better Grow Plant LED Panel), and it gives me Massive Harvests every two weeks. (NUTRIENT EXPORT)
- I do water changes (at least every other week), since Algae Scrubber can consume some needed Elements. (Natural/Balanced Trace Eement Supplementation)
- I stuck to Basic Dosing two part, and NO additives, NO coral foods for first year. (NO JUNK)
- During that year I worked on getting natural nutrients into the system to support my Corals (More Fish, More Fish Feeding)
- During that year I let the rocks get fully covered by Coraline (which resists algae, and forces Algae to grow in a better_place=ALGAE-Scrubber)
- LAST BUT NOT LEAST ( NO Sand Bottom, another Slow Ticking Time Bomb!!)

I basically let the Tank Age one year naturally without much interference. (Patience, PATIENCE)

Currently My Nitrates are 25ppm and My Phosphates 0.25 and I don't worry about either since Both STABLE.
(I Tried GFO type stuff to reduce P and I did damage to SPS [with P swings] so I stopped).

Just a few weeks ago, I felt I could trust the tank and my routines, to start feeding Corals, and some Amino Additives to improve things (SLOWLY)

Hope this helps. Sorry, no quick/magic solution for you, just my thoughts on what I did wrong in the Past.

Two good options worth having a go, I've done @brandon429 's method, I removed the rocks as the corals weren't attached, I completed in only two short sessions, I missed 3 rocks, partially because of lack of time and secondly I wanted to see if the remaining algae would die off or spread, it done neither, so still in stasis but not spread to other rocks, this I'd done in November, at that time my tank was 6.5 months old, once I get some free time I'll treat the remaining rocks.

@brandon429 has been studying this for years, the nuisance algae thread began on nano reef 7-8 or more years back, plenty of success stories, it seems that using dry or DIY rocks are more supceptable than actual live rocks to hair algae.

 

[Greg’s_525xl-Reefer]

Man what a difference what did you change? What happened to the regal?

Regal is just in the cave in the second pic. He’s good. I also have a yellow tang, hippo, and spotted Kole you can’t see.

As for what I changed.....not too much actually. During this nightmare I had an icp run and my nitrates were a bit high (20 ppm), but not surprising the amount I had to feed to get my regal eating and I took the sample right before a weekly water change because I wanted to see worst case values. I just got him at that point. I also started a refugium with macro algae. I use Sea lettuce because then I can feed it to my fish to. I continue to stir up the tank a bit every few days. The fish are all used to it at this point and don’t care. I guess you can say I feed a little less too but not much. With the regal and copperband I need to feed often to keep them away from my coral. It’s a balance I guess. In the end I didn’t change too much. I do a weekly water change and take out an extra 5 gallons now. I think part of it is just new tank syndrome and these things just happen and we need to cycle through it.

 

[livingcolors]

After a move about 9 months ago, my tank went septic, literally. I had a virtual garden of algae growing in the tank. The fish were gone because of the move as were most of the corals. I toyed with the idea of shutting it down and nuking everything. I didn't and I'm glad. After about three months and water changes every other week I added about 75 assorted hermit crabs, the bulk being the tiny blue-legged kind. It was like watching a herd of buffalo in the tank, and literally within a week, they had cleaned the rock. The pics of your tank are minor, believe me, especially given the young age of the tank. Hang in there, stop dosing nitrates. dose carbon, SPS corals seem to respond just as well to carbon dosing if that's what your aim is.

 

[Sassifrass7]

Do you have a huge cleaning crew? And have you talked to Sally Jo at GARF yet? You can find her on Facebook. Just google GARF.org
She's a lot of help. I think you would be nuts to tear that tank down and start over, but I also understand how you feel. I bought some Walt Smith rock for my new 25 gallon Lagoon tank. I don't know what was wrong with it,....Walt says it is made with Carribean ocean sand,....but for some reason it totally killed my corals. Needless to say, that rock is now outside in 3 degree weather! I just couldn't seem to fix the problem even when I checked everything. The parameters would be fine,....but the corals would just melt! I did start over. But this time I used Sally Jo's handmade reef rock. I just put it in,....so now we see how it goes. I also recommend Saltwater Mollies! They love to pick at the algae all day long. Sally Jo has them available too. Best wishes with whatever you decide,....I totally understand how frustrating this hobby can be!

 

[RobertP]

Same issue for me last year as well and I was able to fix it. Yes, it took several months to get it all but it is gone. Every week (or more often if you have time) I would siphon off the algae using the thumb over a tube to rip out the algae. I had the other end of the siphon going into a sock in the sump so I could throw the algae out. Do NOT keep the algae, otherwise it just dies and releases the nutrients it was holding. My champion was an algae blenny. Little guy was fat on GHA for a few months. Urchin ate very little of it for me and the sea slug did nothing either. Lights out did not help for me either.
I used NoPox to keep nitrates and phosphates low and kept my refugium going as hard as I could. My chaeto was not growing well at this time but it was still alive. Eventually the GHA started dying off and you could tell because it started turning a little white and it was much easier to siphon off the rocks.

You can beat it...dont reboot!

 

[DaNkness]

I’m just lost for words at this point. Gha has won the war and I’m breaking down my reefer 450 only after 10 months I’m beyond devastated. Let me tell you how I failed. Tank went wet last March and I slowly added fish the next month or 2 as they passed qt they were introduced. Everything was good for a couple more months until I started adding sps and some acropora, I now know way too soon for sps, and noticed they didn’t like my clean water. Mind you I had the bottom sump turned into a chaeto department with some miracle mud running reverse cycle. Chaeto never really grew only some brown hair algae and every 3 weeks or so I would take my turbo snails from my dt and put them in the sump to clean the algae and then after a few days back in my dt.

That was going on for a couple months until I decided I needed to up my nutrients to help my sps. Started dosing me coral nitrate got my n03 up to 5 ppm and stable and didn’t need to dose n03 to keep it up anymore. Had to dose a good amount of p04 to keep it detectable in my Hanna ulr Meter. Mind you I had zero algae growing in my dt. So I realized it was counter productive to grow chaeto and dose nutrients. So I removed the chaeto, miracle mud, algae baffle in my sump and was just running skimmer (I never run carbon or only once and while temporarily). Got sick
Of daily dosing p04 so I made my own solution with TSP and added that to ato water and that was perfect for me. Solid stable p04 of .02-.04 and n03 was always 3-5ppm and my acropora we’re looking unbelievable. So that was going on for a few months and then late November I started seeing small patches of brown and green hair algae randomly and would pick it out here and there not really thinking about it. My hippo and yellow tang doesn’t touch the stuff neither does my lawn mower blenny. Then beginning of December it started to get bad so I stopped p04 dosing and just let the tank do it’s thing with daily feeding of the fish and some acropower etc to get my levels down to try and starve out the algae. No noticbale change in algae from stopping dosing and my acros we’re starting to lose color. I bought more cuc they made no Change. I tried nopox for a couple weeks drove my n03 to 0 and got a nasty outbreak of cyano from it. Stopped the nopox and have stable n03 of about 1-2ppm now with no nopox and only a touch of cyano here and there now. I then used gfo for a week and stripped the p04 and acros immediately got white tips and some base recession so I said screw it im gonna go back to p04 dosing and stop the gfo cause the algae is growing no matter what the levels are and my acros only look good and won’t rtn if I dose p04 daily. But now I’m in a daily battle of hand scrubbing the rocks in the tank and honestly not making much of a difference.

I have bought probably $400 worth of additional cuc over the past 2 months and they didn’t do anything even Sea hares! I tried fluconozole but it only killed my bryopsis. installed a cw-100 ats 2 weeks ago and I have some nice hair algae growing on that already but it’s not stopping the algae in my dt. I’ve literally lost sleep over this and I’m at the point where I’m gonna break down the tank, remove the sand, soak all the rock in h202 and rebuilt and re start and pray that it doesn’t happen again. How would you guys prevent gha from taking over the tank while maintaining p04 and n03? My nuvo 10 and jbj 20 are going along great with the same nutrient levels and 0 algae.

Going forward I will use ats from the start to give the algae a place to grow outside my dt. Don’t add sps for atleast a year. And pray it doesn’t come back. How sad...

I recently had a 6 mo battle w the stuff and finally while researching lanthanum chloride I stumbled across “brightwell razor” - 1 week of treatment and my tank is GHA free and has been since. I will say I would only recommend this product on established tanks and it did cause a cyano bloom after use that I was able to combat w a single treatment of chemi-clean and a W/C.

Here is a link to this magical elixir that saved my tank. And a picture of the tank after treatment.

https://www.marinedepot.com/500ml_R...ts-Brightwell_Aquatics-BW01902-FIADBS-vi.html

 

[landlubber]

I used dry pukani rock to start my system and it took a full 2 years before the algae lost out despite the myriad of interventions I attempted during that time. I will never start a system again without first, curing my rock and second using at least some aged rock to help the process along.
it was a tough start and I spent thousands on corals that were doomed from the point of order in a system that was not ready for them. expensive lessons are the norm in this hobby for the impatient and I wanted to learn them all lol.

 

[Ling_Thing]

Hi OP,

First of all let me say I know EXACTLY How you Feel.

I went thru exactly what you are going through ( about 2+ years ago) , and it was the worst period of my 20 years in the hobby.

Similar sequence of events

-> New 65 Gallon Tank (Muratic Bleached Dead Rocks, given to me)
-> About a 9-12months later.... Major Cyano Outbreak (which cleared)
-> and then Followed right way by a GHA Outbreak like no other (lasting many, many weeks, Never ended....)

I have many theories on why it happened to me....(I'll explain below)

Like you, I had GHA battle with IN-TANK(Scrubbing, Plucking, getting Tons of Snails, Crabs, etc)
I lost the battle, since GHA just kept getting worse....
One thing I never did was any GHA chemical Treatments, since my thinking was No chemical can magically remove GHA.

I'm not saying you have to tear down your tank to solve this. Folks before this post have given you some ideas.
However I personally have learned or watched that drastic Chemical Treatments (for Algae, Cyano, Bubble Algae), do more damage then good.

So when I reached that point of GHA misery in my 65 Gal Tank, I did tear down the Tank (Corals, Rock outs, Scrubbed and put back)

This photo show the EXACT same rocks (as in photo above) NOT LONG after scrubbing/Tear-down, Rebuilt with new Rock layout (no other changes to system)

I actually did two thorough rock scrubbing of GHA. Once to Get everything out for first scrub and put back rocks roughly in Tank. Then a few weeks later took them out for one more scrub (since I missed spots, and some GHA came back), and then did new Final Rock layout.

To me it was the best thing I ever did. Re-Rock scaping is fun, and I forgot about that the BAD GHA days.

Tear downs/restarts (if you have the space and bins, and temp storage for Corals) can be a positive thing.

Now Fast Forward to today...I had a flood in the basement a year ago (not tank flood)
and I rebuilt my setup with a NEW Larger 110G Tank (same everything else)

Started from Scratch again (new Frags), but Same ROCKS again (plus a couple of arch pieces).
It's been running just over 1 year 100% Algae Free (using all the Lessons from my Past Failure)

So now my theories, on why the GHA happened to me. Your situation may be similar, or different. Just giving you info I have...Use what you find useful, if anything....
I'll also explain what I did right, or didn't do wrong this time.

I think the Reason my First GHA outbreak happened was the following:
-> Young Rocks (thirsty to soak up nutrients)...Invisibly for months they were soaking up Phosphates
-> Months of Doing Additives (All kinds of Coral Foods Daily) to make corals better, so rock were also being infused with Nutrients.
-------> Both Above were A Ticking CYANO/GHA Time Bomb
-------> For months, my Salifert P test was 0. I bought a Hanna Phosphate Meter, P=0.0 I bought a ULR Hanna Phospherous Meter P=0.00 (I was scratching my head)
-> I also added a LED Light just before the Dual Outbreak and was using Too Much RED Spectrum
-----> I basically turned my Tank into An Algae Scrubber (with Rocks loaded with Nutrients+Phosphates) = ALGAE BLOOM

So what did I do different this time (with Zero Algae problems)
- I did have a minor Cyano outbreak like all new setups do. Did CyanoClean (bacteria) treatment, and it went away in about 6 weeks. (PATIENCE)
- A few new rocks (the Arches) did go thru a ugly brown algae stage. I removef them once for a light clean, and put them back. Coraline took over and no algae.
- I improved my Algae Scrubber (with a better Grow Plant LED Panel), and it gives me Massive Harvests every two weeks. (NUTRIENT EXPORT)
- I do water changes (at least every other week), since Algae Scrubber can consume some needed Elements. (Natural/Balanced Trace Eement Supplementation)
- I stuck to Basic Dosing two part, and NO additives, NO coral foods for first year. (NO JUNK)
- During that year I worked on getting natural nutrients into the system to support my Corals (More Fish, More Fish Feeding)
- During that year I let the rocks get fully covered by Coraline (which resists algae, and forces Algae to grow in a better_place=ALGAE-Scrubber)
- LAST BUT NOT LEAST ( NO Sand Bottom, another Slow Ticking Time Bomb!!)

I basically let the Tank Age one year naturally without much interference. (Patience, PATIENCE)

Currently My Nitrates are 25ppm and My Phosphates 0.25 and I don't worry about either since Both STABLE.
(I Tried GFO type stuff to reduce P and I did damage to SPS [with P swings] so I stopped).

Just a few weeks ago, I felt I could trust the tank and my routines, to start feeding Corals, and some Amino Additives to improve things (SLOWLY)

Hope this helps. Sorry, no quick/magic solution for you, just my thoughts on what I did wrong in the Past.

Props on this wrote up!

 

[CZS_0017]

I would not call it quits! You have been given some great advice so far. Many have gone thru this before you and successfully won the GHA battle, myself included. Basically your chain of events seems to me like you were chasing numbers and making too many adjustments. As others have already stated, below is what I have done and recommend:

1. Do Not use any algae removing chemicals
2. Get your phosphate & nitrate in check with GFO and carbon dosing and regular water changes. Phosphate below .08, Nitrate 5ppm or less
3. If you feel your SPS are starving dose some Reef Energy or equivalent
4. Once nitrate and phosphate levels are in check, remove the rock and scrub all the gha off. Also give your sand bed a good siphoning.
5. Continue to keep nitrate and phosphate low and the gha will run its course. You may have to repeat step 4 one or more times. But if you keep your nitrate and phosphate in check it will run its course
6. In the future I would never ever dose nutrients, I would simply feed more.

Good luck and dont get discouraged. The bottom line is if you control your nutrient levels the gha will run its course.

 

[gcrawford]

Also bookmarking this thread for reference this spring when I plan to wage war against my GHA........ Great advice here!

 

[AngryOwl]

Maybe I missed it. But did OP ever mention what kind of rock was used to start the tank? Pukani, Macro, Haitian, etc. and then dry dead rock, dry live rock, real live rock etc.

 

[dutch27]

Maybe I missed it. But did OP ever mention what kind of rock was used to start the tank? Pukani, Macro, Haitian, etc. and then dry dead rock, dry live rock, real live rock etc.

Also interested in this. My worst algae battles were on tanks started with the Florida quarried rock. Boat rock and collected live rock never gave me the same issues.

That said, if you're ready to break down, go nuts and try things, throw caution to the wind. Use chemicals, add urchins, do whatever, you have nothing to lose. I've beaten GHA in the past. It took the following:

1. Patience
2. Manual removal, once a week min, sometimes more, regular weekly water changes
3. Addition of a phosban reactor

Took months of diligence, but it got beat back to a point I could live with. Had another tank where it ran rampant, I used a couple of chemical products, had success, but then the tank imploded after a little negligence. You can also remove the rock, put a little hydrogen peroxide on the GHA directly, let it sit for a half a minute, then put it back in the tank. I found this kills the GHA quickly, and the residual peroxide had no adverse impact on tank inhabitants.

 

[shollis2814]

My tank was a lot smaller than yours so this process may not be feasible. There are other ways to battle this and some really good stuff in this thread. This has worked (so far) for me.
My tank was bad. Really bad. When my wife got cancer (all is well now) I overfed and undercleaned. We were all in survival mode, including the tank. When I started to get back on track with my maintenance as we all recovered. This is the process that worked for me. This is a 36-bowfront that I moved to a 20-long when I developed a leaky seam.

1. Do as much manual removal as you can. Tweezers, toothbrush, etc. If I could take the rock out and scrub it in a bucket of tank water, I did it.
2. I took two large black garbage bags, cut down one side and taped them together to make an even larger black garbage bag. I fed the fish, unplugged the lights, and covered my tank with the garbage bag. I mean I taped down the edges to the stand so no light could get in.
3. Wait 3 days. Do not peek. Keep it as dark as you can.
3a. During your 3 days, cut a piece of filter material (mine is blue on one side and white on the other) where it will wrap around your largest power head.
4. On the 4th day, the GHA should still be there, but it will be weak and easily broken. Get to scrubbing again. I didn't take my rocks out this time. Do a minimum of a %50 water change. As the algae dies it will spike your nitrates and phosphates as it releases some of that back into the water.
5. Before you refill, take the filter material from 3a, and use a rubber band or rubber hair tie to wrap the material around your powerhead. You now have an in tank filter sock to catch the algae as it dies and breaks free.
6. For about a week, do %5-10 water changes daily. Yes, daily. This helps reduce the nitrates and phosphates released in your massacre.
7. Hit the pieces of the rock you can with a toothbrush, pipette, or turkey baster every day. Rinse that filter material on the powerhead as it gets green/brown.
8. Move some powerheads around and it possible, direct it right at your largest remaining patch of GHA. In its hopefully weakened state, it will break free and get caught by the filter material or your filter sock.
9. Weekly %10-15 water changes will help.
10. Vibrant does work, but you have to give it time. It is not a cure-all for overfeeding (which was my root problem). I add weekly.

11. (in progress) setting up a ball of chaeto in my sump with a decent light to help it out compete the algae in my tank.

I can't imagine the work it would take in a larger tank. This took me a solid half day to do step 1 on a 20 gallon. My tank has a few patches left that are in dead flow area and I am trying to move powerheads around to reach them. This was a tank that was long neglected. I hope you don't give up the hobby.

 

[drblakjak55]

The first three pics from Wally B show you a very natural progression of turning dead rock into live rock.
First the green and red algaes than GHA. With a very new tank it takes time to set up the ecosystem to compete for the nutrients keeping gha alive. I found a really vigorous turkey basting of the detritus that sits in the cracks in these rocks feeds the algae. Do that with physical removal. You can decrease the light levels some but you’ll be surprised how much stuff you get out and the gha stops returning. Not just return pump hose blow. Turkey baster. PS my sea hare is really cool. My Tomini ate it up as well.

 

[Andrewalex11]

Some may be against what I’m about to say, but I would dose Hydrogen Peroxide into your system. Maybe pull rocks out and let it sit in a bucket with a high level of it.