GHA problem

[MistaOrange]

Ya I paid $20 up front and when I return it I get $10 back..

Say what? That's more than what they cost here in South Africa... We pay aprox $6 - $8 for one but that's to keep...

 

[Sdoutreefer]

Say what? That's more than what they cost here in South Africa... We pay aprox $6 - $8 for one but that's to keep...

Haha well I'm not complaining about spending $10. Except now I don't get the $10 back :mad:

 

[Sdoutreefer]

Figured I'd give an update since it's been a while... but phosphate sponge didn't do amything. I had to go out of town unexpectedly for work for 2.5 weeks and just got back yesterday. Idk if the phosphate sponge had anything to do with it but my sps that had really washed out and bland coloring have colored up exponentially during the time I was gone, but my GHA has gotten really bad. The tank went 3 weeks without a water change. I'm pretty certain this is why the GHA grew so much.

I'm gonna try and catch the peppermint shrimp and give the seahare another try.

 

[Sdoutreefer]

So I've been thinking what the root of the problem (the GHA) could be, and in the first chamber of my sump where I keep chaeto and some LR rubble there is a lot of junk that has settled at the bottom. This past water change I did my best to suck all of it out. There is still a good amount there and was curious if putting a small power head in that chamber to keep the junk from settling would be a good idea? There is still a decent amount of the crap in there and am nervous that stirring it up might cause another issue. Any thoughts?

 

[Reefing Madness]

Anyone who runs a sump gets that crap. But most would use a filter sock to remove that detritus before it settles on the bottom. Eveyone has to clean the old sump out, its bound to settle wheather you have a sock on it or not. But in your case, yup, ya gotta get that stuff outta there. Vacuum it out, then put whatever is necessary to keep it from building up again.

 

[McAllyn]

I hear lots of people talking about putting a powerhead in their sump to keep the detritus from settling... seems like that goes against what the sump is for. If you keep it stirred up, it will make it through the sump and back to the return pump. I've always been under the impression that I WANT it to settle in the sump so I can suck it out and keep it from the display.

Mac

 

[Sdoutreefer]

I hear lots of people talking about putting a powerhead in their sump to keep the detritus from settling... seems like that goes against what the sump is for. If you keep it stirred up, it will make it through the sump and back to the return pump. I've always been under the impression that I WANT it to settle in the sump so I can suck it out and keep it from the display.

Mac

Well ya but it won't settle in the display if you have enough flow. I'm just worried that all that junk could be leaching off nitrates and what not. I don't clean my sump enough so I think having a power head would help me out. And I've read you want some water movement for macro algae in your sump.

 

[Reefing Madness]

Youd be surprised what does settle in the DT, even with hurricane flow. Have you ever blown off your Rock?

 

[Sdoutreefer]

Youd be surprised what does settle in the DT, even with hurricane flow. Have you ever blown off your Rock?

Ya I blow my rocks off a lot. Prolly 3 times a week.

 

[Themonsterisme]

Why not build a algae scrubber? Had a small one on my 55 gal with a bad GHA outbreak and within 14 days it was out of my display and only in the scrubber with other algae...lowered my nitrates to untestable amounts and I have close to zero algae in the DT...there is a ton of DIY sites for building a scrubber for super cheap on the internet and tons of info on how they work ...I run scrubbers on all my tanks now and my skimmer barely has to do anything now....now my water changes are less frequent and are only done to replace trace elements in the water

 

[Themonsterisme]

here is a example of one type you could try

 

[Sdoutreefer]

here is a example of one type you could try

Algae scrubber? I don't have room for one..

 

[Themonsterisme]

That is only one type of scrubber...I have a compact one that goes in my sump against the glass and it only takes up a few inches of width

 

[Themonsterisme]

You could do some research before deciding that a scrubber won't work for you...I have 2 different types in use both up-flow style scrubbers...was the single best upgrade I've ever done on any tank I've owned with led lights being a close second

 

[Themonsterisme]

Try this design out

 

[Reefing Madness]

https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/eq...lgae-your-aquarium-hopefully-permanently.html

 

[Themonsterisme]

https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/eq...lgae-your-aquarium-hopefully-permanently.html

+1 great article and ideas for DIY scrubbers

 

[Sdoutreefer]

https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/eq...lgae-your-aquarium-hopefully-permanently.html

Thanks for the link! I somewhat have an algae scrubber, well it looks like one at least. On my first baffle I have egg crate across it to help keep chaeto from getting out of the first chamber in my sump. Now it and the first baffle are completely covered in GHA. Also, there's a ton of GHA growing in the first chamber with my chaeto.

 

[Themonsterisme]

With a properly set up scrubber your refugium will have a hard time growing algae because the algae in the scrubber will out compete and burn through nitrates quicker than the chaeto can so it dies

 

[bazeball05]

Have you ever rinsed your food? I got GHA from my food but ever since I started rinsing my food in a net, zero algea