GHA in a newer tank

[MacieKnis]

My tank is only about a week old. When I received it, I saved all the cycled water, and rock. I saved a small Tupperware of sand but the rest is new.. I only ended up using about 10 gallons of distilled water and the rest was the cycled water that was in the tank. (It’s a 32 gallon tank).
Anyways, I wish I would’ve paid more attention to the algae on the rock. Now looking at it today, green hair algae has really taken over.
During the move of the tank, I really tried to treat it just like a water change, however my ammonia is 0, pH is 8.2, and no nitrites or nitrates.
The tank came with a clown, goby, shrimp and crab that all seem to be doing well.
I feel that I’m stumped with this overgrowth of algae and my levels are still 0.
What’s the best way of getting rid of this algae if my tank technically isn’t cycled anymore? I’ve read to take out the rocks and scrub it manually, I’ve just got the rock all settled and really don’t feel like starting that over. If I manually pluck it, will I ever get ahead?
Thanks everyone.

 

[blaxsun]

Manual, animal or chemical are the three ways once it's taken hold.

 

[gbroadbridge]

My tank is only about a week old. When I received it, I saved all the cycled water, and rock. I saved a small Tupperware of sand but the rest is new.. I only ended up using about 10 gallons of distilled water and the rest was the cycled water that was in the tank. (It’s a 32 gallon tank).
Anyways, I wish I would’ve paid more attention to the algae on the rock. Now looking at it today, green hair algae has really taken over.
During the move of the tank, I really tried to treat it just like a water change, however my ammonia is 0, pH is 8.2, and no nitrites or nitrates.
The tank came with a clown, goby, shrimp and crab that all seem to be doing well.
I feel that I’m stumped with this overgrowth of algae and my levels are still 0.
What’s the best way of getting rid of this algae if my tank technically isn’t cycled anymore? I’ve read to take out the rocks and scrub it manually, I’ve just got the rock all settled and really don’t feel like starting that over. If I manually pluck it, will I ever get ahead?
Thanks everyone.

What you are describing is normal for tanks in their first 6-9 months.

It really doesn't matter if it was old rock, the tank will still have an ugly stage until it gets settled into its new home.

You'll just have to get in there with a toothbrush.

 

[MacieKnis]

What you are describing is normal for tanks in their first 6-9 months.

It really doesn't matter if it was old rock, the tank will still have an ugly stage until it gets settled into its new home.

You'll just have to get in there with a toothbrush.

Thank you for your response. As I scrub it, do I just the algae go to the sump? Or should I try to collect it?

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

Thank you for your response. As I scrub it, do I just the algae go to the sump? Or should I try to collect it?

Try to remove it. Or, take the rocks out of the tank and scrub in old tank water... you don't need to do them all at once.

 

[MacieKnis]

Try to remove it. Or, take the rocks out of the tank and scrub in old tank water... you don't need to do them all at once.

I just got the epoxy to cure and super glue on last week.. if I scrub it under with a toothbrush would that work? Or does it need to be plucked?

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

I just got the epoxy to cure and super glue on last week.. if I scrub it under with a toothbrush would that work? Or does it need to be plucked?

Post a picture under white lights. It may be part of the normal "uglies" and not need any intervention. What sort of cuc do you have?

 

[UMALUM]

What you are describing is normal for tanks in their first 6-9 months.

It really doesn't matter if it was old rock, the tank will still have an ugly stage until it gets settled into its new home.

You'll just have to get in there with a toothbrush.

Would you mind elaborating on why you feel this is normal for tanks in their first 6 - 9 months? I mean beyond using the phrase " ugly stage ".

 

[gbroadbridge]

Would you mind elaborating on why you feel this is normal for tanks in their first 6 - 9 months? I mean beyond using the phrase " ugly stage ".

Well, the ugly stage is normal

There is a lot going on in a new tank which cannot be seen or even measured.

The simple stuff such as balancing the chemistry takes very little time at all in the grand scheme of things, however the unseen bacterial battlefield on the tank surfaces cannot be measured or controlled. Eventually it reaches an equilibrium with all the zillions of bacterial strains having won/lost their battles and at that point everything settles down.

It usually takes around 6 months or so even if you've added bottles of magic potions that are for sale.

That's why everyone keeps referring back to the number 1 talent. -- patience.

 

[MacieKnis]

Post a picture under white lights. It may be part of the normal "uglies" and not need any intervention. What sort of cuc do you have?

I have some zombie snails, I believe I have two Mexican snails, I believe they’re called? I have a Sally lightfoot crab and a coral banded shrimp..

 

[jkcoral]

Mexican turbos and blue leg hermits are really good at dealing with hair algae.

Sometimes, and depending on the type, snails won’t touch hair algae if it’s become too long. That’s where plucking/trimming with tweezers or scrubbing with a tooth brush comes in handy, because once trimmed a bit more clean up crew will start mowing through it.

If you have any free standing rocks that are easy to remove (like in the first picture) you can pull the rock out and use a pipette to place drops of hydrogen peroxide on problem patches for 5-10 minutes. Once you put them back in the tank, the hair algae will turn white and disentigrate over a few days.

 

[MacieKnis]

Mexican turbos and blue leg hermits are really good at dealing with hair algae.

Sometimes, and depending on the type, snails won’t touch hair algae if it’s become too long. That’s where plucking/trimming with tweezers or scrubbing with a tooth brush comes in handy, because once trimmed a bit more clean up crew will start mowing through it.

If you have any free standing rocks that are easy to remove (like in the first picture) you can pull the rock out and use a pipette to place drops of hydrogen peroxide on problem patches for 5-10 minutes. Once you put them back in the tank, the hair algae will turn white and disentigrate over a few days.

I believe I have two Mexican turbos. I’ll have to look into the blue hermits.
The hydrogen peroxide is a great idea, I think I can do that on the free standing rock. As far as my other rock, I just take a toothbrush and scrub? It’ll flow to my filter and my sump will catch it? Maybe there’s a YouTube video

 

[jda]

I feel that I’m stumped with this overgrowth of algae and my levels are still 0.

I assume that you mean nitrate and phosphate levels are at zero? Nearly everything in your tank will prefer to get nitrogen from ammonia or nitrite over nitrate... and it does not take much. You need so little phosphorous to grow algae, but it does take some. Unless you have a Hannah ultra-low checker that measures in PPB, then you could be below detection limits and still have plenty.

If you want to spend some time reading about building blocks like phosphorous and nitrogen, then you might be far ahead of most other reefers on here. Nitrate and phosphate do not mean much and are just a small part of the larger picture - no corals, algae or anything need nitrate or phosphate, but they all need nitrogen and phosphorous.

 

[MacieKnis]

I assume that you mean nitrate and phosphate levels are at zero? Nearly everything in your tank will prefer to get nitrogen from ammonia or nitrite over nitrate... and it does not take much. You need so little phosphorous to grow algae, but it does take some. Unless you have a Hannah ultra-low checker that measures in PPB, then you could be below detection limits and still have plenty.

If you want to spend some time reading about building blocks like phosphorous and nitrogen, then you might be far ahead of most other reefers on here. Nitrate and phosphate do not mean much and are just a small part of the larger picture - no corals, algae or anything need nitrate or phosphate, but they all need nitrogen and phosphorous.

I’m sorry for the confusion. As far as my nitrogen cycle goes, my levels are reading 0. As far as Calcium, Mag, Phosphorus, phosphates, I don’t have testing kits for those yet. I’m just wondering if my phosphorus is a little high currently since I’m having algae blooms.
I’m trying to see if it’s possible to get rid of some of the algae since my tank doesn’t seem to be cycled.
I don’t think a water change is a good idea because the tank isn’t cycled. Or is it a good idea to lower phosphorous (if it is higher when I get it tested.
I’m also unsure of getting more livestock in a tank that isn’t cycled. I don’t want to kill them. However, the stock that came with the tank seems to be doing great.
Maybe manual removal is the best answer until I can get the nitrogen cycle going..

 

[jkcoral]

I believe I have two Mexican turbos. I’ll have to look into the blue hermits.
The hydrogen peroxide is a great idea, I think I can do that on the free standing rock. As far as my other rock, I just take a toothbrush and scrub? It’ll flow to my filter and my sump will catch it? Maybe there’s a YouTube video

Most types of hermit crabs are good algae eaters, I just mention the blue legs because they are very common and the most well behaved (hermits can be jerks sometimes).

And yep, that’s basically it. I’d recommend getting a soft bristle toothbrush from the dollar store (or I think I got my last 2 pack for $1 from target). You can pluck the longer strands and remove them by hand, and for the trimmed or shorter patches you just brush with the tooth brush. It’ll make a mess, but if you have a filter sock or run some filter floss/filter pad, it should clean up relatively quick over night.

 

[Scotty8284]

My tank is 3 years old and I’ve been battling massive GHA for the last 9 months. Monthly I pull brushfulls out of the tank. I’ve tried snails, crabs, fish, and urchins. Nothing could get ahead of it. I’ve tried a couple chemical solutions. I even have salt water mollies and a sea hare on order. Anything to keep me from tearing down and starting over.

However, this week, and on a fluke, I tried a different approach. My phosphates are .16 but my nitrates are 0. I blamed the algae for sucking the nitrates out of the system. So I wondered what might happen if I started to dose nitrates? I bought a bottle of ESV Nitrate, and started dosing 1ml/20 gallons of system volume. I’m only on day 6, but the GHA is dissolving daily! I’m not kidding when I say more than 75% is gone. It’s breaking free of the rocks and I’m capturing it in my filtration system. The film algae on the front glass is coming off as well. My intentional goal was to go for the Golden Ratio of 100-1, so 16 nitrates to .16 phosphate, but I’ll settle for what looks good. At this rate, I may have to get sheets of sea weed to feed the mollies and sea hare once they arrive until I possibly rehome them. Can anyone else confirm that this might be a solution? I don’t know if it is for sure, but the tank hasn’t looked this good in a year.

 

[MacieKnis]

Post a picture under white lights. It may be part of the normal "uglies" and not need any intervention. What sort of cuc do you have?

1 coral banded shrimp, 3-4 hermits, 1 Sally Lightfoot crab, 1 conch

 

[MacieKnis]

My tank is 3 years old and I’ve been battling massive GHA for the last 9 months. Monthly I pull brushfulls out of the tank. I’ve tried snails, crabs, fish, and urchins. Nothing could get ahead of it. I’ve tried a couple chemical solutions. I even have salt water mollies and a sea hare on order. Anything to keep me from tearing down and starting over.

However, this week, and on a fluke, I tried a different approach. My phosphates are .16 but my nitrates are 0. I blamed the algae for sucking the nitrates out of the system. So I wondered what might happen if I started to dose nitrates? I bought a bottle of ESV Nitrate, and started dosing 1ml/20 gallons of system volume. I’m only on day 6, but the GHA is dissolving daily! I’m not kidding when I say more than 75% is gone. It’s breaking free of the rocks and I’m capturing it in my filtration system. The film algae on the front glass is coming off as well. My intentional goal was to go for the Golden Ratio of 100-1, so 16 nitrates to .16 phosphate, but I’ll settle for what looks good. At this rate, I may have to get sheets of sea weed to feed the mollies and sea hare once they arrive until I possibly rehome them. Can anyone else confirm that this might be a solution? I don’t know if it is for sure, but the tank hasn’t looked this good in a year.

Wow this is awesome. I’m glad it’s working for you! Has the ESV nitrate hurt the fish at all? Is it something you’re going to continue to dose? Or once you back off will the GHA come back? I’d like to try this..