GHA - Losing the battle

[A_Poythress]

Hey all,

I have been battling GHA since August of 2022. I feel like I am losing the battle here and do not really know what else to do.

little info about my current tank:
25G Innovative Marine Nuvo
- 2 clown fish
- 1 pink spotted goby
- 1 tuxedo urchin
- 3 peppermint shrimp
- 1 reef glass skimmer
- auto water changed so about 10% turnover each week

So far I have added 6 jars of pods from AlgaeBarn from October to February. I see no evidence of pods in the tank at all.

I also dosed 2 bottles of coralline from AlgaeBarn to help promote that growth.

I run ZeoVit and have been dosing Coral Snow + and BioMate (both zeo products) in accordance with Zeovit plan instructions.

this tank has been running for a year and a half now. I started the system with 4 months no fish no light, then started adding in love stock slowly.
Since this outbreak I have done 3 large manual water changes with tooth brush and manual remove for rocks. Each water change was 10 gallons or more.

of course nitrates and phosphates read zero. I am only feeding once in the evening most days with some morning and afternoon feed once or twice a week just so the fish are getting fed enough. I change out my filter pads religiously.

What am i doing wrong here?

 

[Troylee]

Pull the rocks out and spray with h202 in a squirt bottle and then scrub the hair off.. rinse in a bucket with tank water and put them back in… do you have any sort of clean up crew? Turbo snails will help a lot if it’s short and new.. once it gets long it’s up to you..

 

[A_Poythress]

Here are photos

 

[p1u5h13r4m24]

I’ve been there. Get some turbo snails and manual remove as much as possible. Are you running a protein skimmer?

 

[p1u5h13r4m24]

I’ve been there. Get some turbo snails and manual remove as much as possible. Are you running a protein skimmer?

Lots of turbos snails

 

[ilikefish69]

It seems like you are doing everything correctly . Have you thought about an ICP test? It would be a great start in identifying any problems with your levels. As far as the GHA - does your tank get any natural sunlight? When there is GHA outbreak and no obvious root cause, I am seeing the natural sunlight being the cause of the issue.

I had a nasty outbreak of GHA and bryopsis in my 125. I did a treatment of reef flux and it was all gone in a week, however that created a case of cyano which i treated with ChemiClean and it cleared it up . I don't like resorting to chemicals, but these two really helped with my situation that sound very similar to yours.

 

[14 foot reef]

I would try back to back Fluconazol treatments ..... Do exactly as the directions say, and it will be gone in 2 months.

 

[A_Poythress]

It seems like you are doing everything correctly . Have you thought about an ICP test? It would be a great start in identifying any problems with your levels. As far as the GHA - does your tank get any natural sunlight? When there is GHA outbreak and no obvious root cause, I am seeing the natural sunlight being the cause of the issue.

I had a nasty outbreak of GHA and bryopsis in my 125. I did a treatment of reef flux and it was all gone in a week, however that created a case of cyano which i treated with ChemiClean and it cleared it up . I don't like resorting to chemicals, but these two really helped with my situation that sound very similar to yours.

Not really seeing any direct sunlight, but I also have not paid that much attention so definitely something I will look in to.

I have not considered ICP. Might be very good info to have for this issue though.

I really want to avoid the chemical side of things as much as possible but I also understand if it comes down to it I may need to consider it.

 

[A_Poythress]

I’ve been there. Get some turbo snails and manual remove as much as possible. Are you running a protein skimmer?

Yes I am running a reef glass protein skimmer. It is not producing a ton though and I have it running pretty wet.

 

[BitReef]

Do you plan on adding corals? I don’t know if this will be a popular opinion, but on top of the good suggestions people have made so far, I think you need something to compete against the algae. Either a macro algae like chaeto, or some corals. You need some kind of “algae” in there consuming the nitrates and phosphate. I have a tank with lots of coral and have almost no algae. I don’t run my skimmer any more, and don’t really do anything to control algae. I really think my lack of algae is due in large part to coral.

 

[A_Poythress]

Do you plan on adding corals? I don’t know if this will be a popular opinion, but on top of the good suggestions people have made so far, I think you need something to compete against the algae. Either a macro algae like chaeto, or some corals. You need some kind of “algae” in there consuming the nitrates and phosphate. I have a tank with lots of coral and have almost no algae. I don’t run my skimmer any more, and don’t really do anything to control algae. I really think my lack of algae is due in large part to coral.

I do have 4 corals in the tank currently.
2 ricordias, 1 zoa, and 1 encrusting type coral. Can’t remember the name of it honestly. Purchased from WWC.

reluctant to add more until I can figure out this issue. I did have 3 ricordias but one died and I’m assuming it’s due to the algae suffocating it. Can’t keep them clean enough.

 

[PocketGoose]

What are your test kits saying as far a nutrient levels?

 

[p1u5h13r4m24]

What are your test kits saying as far a nutrient levels?

With that much gha his levels I’d assume will say 0 or close to 0 n & p.

 

[A_Poythress]

What are your test kits saying as far a nutrient levels?

0 reading. GHA is just eating it all so cannot get any values from testing

 

[p1u5h13r4m24]

Yes I am running a reef glass protein skimmer. It is not producing a ton though and I have it running pretty wet.

Ur bacteria need to grow and out compete algae’s in the tank. Right now what little bacteria you have are starving and being out competed by the gha. What bacteria you do have is being skimmed out by your skimmer. Turn the skimmer off. Manual remove the gha by hand and add turbo snails. In a week or two your gha will start to get under control and nutrient levels may or may not start to rise. If they aren’t rising it’s because you may notice your glass is getting cloudy more frequently. This is because now your bacteria population is building again. I’d say after your gha is under control then turn the skimmer back online. U also can leave ur skimmer online the whole time but let it drain back into the sump. This would probably be your best option

 

[A_Poythress]

Ur bacteria need to grow and out compete algae’s in the tank. Right now what little bacteria you have are starving and being out competed by the gha. What bacteria you do have is being skimmed out by your skimmer. Turn the skimmer off. Manual remove the gha by hand and add turbo snails. In a week or two your gha will start to get under control and nutrient levels may or may not start to rise. If they aren’t rising it’s because you may notice your glass is getting cloudy more frequently. This is because now your bacteria population is building again. I’d say after your gha is under control then turn the skimmer back online. U also can leave ur skimmer online the whole time but let it drain back into the sump. This would probably be your best option

This makes a lot of sense! Would it benefit to put a bottle of bio in to the tank now to help? Unsure if this will have any negative effects.

 

[p1u5h13r4m24]

I prefer not to use bottled bacteria as I believe it out competes natural bacteria and than you will still need to allow it establish. There’s no evidence to support that, just my own theory. But just take things slow you will get things back on track in no time. Gha is just part of the uglies and a good clean up crew is important. Those turbo snails will do great things for you

 

[vetteguy53081]

Here are photos

You have both GHA and chrysophytes.
Is this tank at or near a window?
This tank may have limited filtration and/or circulation. You may want to add a nano powerhead but first you will have to clean this up.
Give the tank a good siphon and clean all filters and skimmer if you have one.
Scrub the rock with a firm toothbrush Or auto detail brush and 3% peroxide. Agitate to shake off particles and add cleaners such as Pitho crabs, chiton snails, ninja star snails and caribbean blue leg hermits to help with control and reduce white intensity a little and increase water flow.

 

[A_Poythress]

You have both GHA and chrysophytes.
Is this tank at or near a window?
This tank may have limited filtration and/or circulation. You may want to add a nano powerhead but first you will have to clean this up.
Give the tank a good siphon and clean all filters and skimmer if you have one.
Scrub the rock with a firm toothbrush Or auto detail brush and 3% peroxide. Agitate to shake off particles and add cleaners such as Pitho crabs, chiton snails, ninja star snails and caribbean blue leg hermits to help with control and reduce white intensity a little and increase water flow.

I have done 3 large water changes where I have scrubbed the rock with a tooth Brush, siphoned sand and scrubbed back glass of build up as well.
I have water mixing now to do another one tonight or tomorrow as well.
Are all CUC you listed compatible with Pink Goby?

The tank is on the opposite side of the room from all windows. I do not “think” it is getting any direct sunlight at all, but I do plan on monitoring this over the next couple of days since I have never paid close attention to it.

 

[Tamberav]

I don't see any snails listed?

You can scrub it short but if you don't have a robust CUC, then it will just grow back.