GHA .... Need advice

[Johnhunterwork84]

Tank is a year old. 1 Snail, 1Emerald crab, 2 clowns (very small), 2 torches, and a small hammer. Steady parameters. Weekly water changes in my 40g tank. I have no sump or skimmer... Just the filter that hangs from side of tank...a powerhead...all has actually been great then recent gha outbreak. What can i do?

 

[Dave1993]

black out worked for me

 

[SchrutesReefs]

Add some clean up crew. 1 snail and 1 emerald isn't near enough by far for a 40g. The buildup of excess nutrients over time led to that algae.

 

[jpcrash1]

You must have to much phosphate or nitrates. Black out will help ,but need to remove them. You need end to remove them by upping water changes and don't over feed.

 

[New&no clue]

+1 for more CUC. I’d go the reefcleaners.org he has a description for what each invert eats. I would also agree with a blackout for three days.

 

[anthonygf]

I have 300+ assorted snails in my 75. Many are small, some larger and no crabs. At night my glass is covered with snails, when the lights start to ramp up they all go back into the sand or rocks. My sand is so clean, Just have some GHA on the rocks. When the GHA gets too long the snails won't touch it, I need to manually remove it. As the coraline algae start to grow over the rocks the GHA will subside. Some GHA is just part of the reef, keep it under control and don't let it grow too much.

EDIT: Yes Reefcleaners has the best assortment of snails.

 

[Hal3134]

Vibrant worked well for me.

 

[Johnhunterwork84]

Add some clean up crew. 1 snail and 1 emerald isn't near enough by far for a 40g. The buildup of excess nutrients over time led to that algae.

What do u suggest i might add?

 

[SchrutesReefs]

I would suggest some blue legged hermits and a mixture of snails. Turbos, nassarius, etc. An urchin may help with that hair algae. I have a 20g tank and I have about 20 total inverts.

 

[Johnhunterwork84]

Thank you... I'm still figuring this out. Im going to grab some inverts today. That brings me to another issue. I have no quarantine tank. Are inverts able to be dipped or treated b4 i put in the tank.

 

[SchrutesReefs]

I personally just do a quick acclimation. I have not heard of them being dipped before so I can’t answer that.

 

[Goaway]

No, don't dip inverts. I find it hard to believe they have fish diseases on them. UNLESS they were in an infested holding tank. Something we don't know. I don't know if coral pests will hitch hike on them.

In order for the clean up crew to help maintain GHA it must be trimmed down as well. It's too bitter at the top. But a tuxedo urchin is an amazing grazer. 3 inches max size. And comes in beautiful colors. I love mine. He's awesome.

You can also use a turkey baster to get into low flow areas to aggravate detritus build up to get it out of the water before a water change.

GL! Tanks get multiple ugly phases.

 

[Poof No Eyebrows]

What I do when this stuff shows up is manually pull it with my fingers and then put a snail on top of it. What the snail doesn’t finish my blennys do.

 

[Goaway]

What I do when this stuff shows up is manually pull it with my fingers and then put a snail on top of it. What the snail doesn’t finish my blennys do.

I always forget some blennies eat algae.

 

[anthonygf]

Tank is a year old. 1 Snail, 1Emerald crab, 2 clowns (very small), 2 torches, and a small hammer. Steady parameters. Weekly water changes in my 40g tank. I have no sump or skimmer... Just the filter that hangs from side of tank...a powerhead...all has actually been great then recent gha outbreak. What can i do?

Hello John. I have not seen an Emerald crab eat snails but I would not trust them. Plus I also heard the are only good if you have bubble algae, just what I hear on this site. Like I said you can have as many as 200 snails if they are small, reefcleaners.com are out of the Zig Zag Periwinkles which are about 1/8", Dwarf Ceriths are good maybe up to 40-60 of them only .17 cents each. I have no hermits left because they would climb and break branches off my branching Monti. I like Urchins but if your corals are not glued down they will move them.

 

[anthonygf]

Zig Zag Periwinkles are back in stock ReefCleaners.com, at only 0.15 cents I think i will get another 50. they have 540 in stock.

 

[Johnhunterwork84]

Update: Added a few snails and gha gone

 

[Johnhunterwork84]

Thank you for all the help

 

[anthonygf]

Great news. How many and what kind of snails? I just placed another order for 60 zigzag periwinkles, 40 dwarf ceriths, 5 cortez ceriths, 5 florida ceriths, 4 marginellas, 4 nerites, 5 ninja stars, 5 trochus radiatus, 2 turbans, and 6 virgin nerites. Most are small. Will get them tomorrow.

 

[Johnhunterwork84]

Great news. How many and what kind of snails? I just placed another order for 60 zigzag periwinkles, 40 dwarf ceriths, 5 cortez ceriths, 5 florida ceriths, 4 marginellas, 4 nerites, 5 ninja stars, 5 trochus radiatus, 2 turbans, and 6 virgin nerites. Most are small. Will get them tomorrow.

I got a conch, 2x turbo snails, and a tongan nessarius.