GHA- should I try vinegar? Im very very new...

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Jennyw

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If you take out the white filter floss stuff, there are three black sponges. They look like sponges, nothing exciting. The guy who sold it to me said to never rinse them or throw them away. (Although I did rinse them in some used tank water after cleaning out algae the other day. But it was non chlorinated so I thought it was okay.)
 
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Oh, and charcoal in a bag at the bottom of all the sponges. It says phosphate reducing on the label. I just replaced it this week
 
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These are my snails. Both upside down right now

15476073892274175965653376421181.jpg


15476074168023876370691828608747.jpg
 

Justfebreezeit

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It dosen't look to bad. I'd let it sort it self out for another couple months before doing anything serious. Maybe add a blue tuxedo urchin to help keep it under control.
 

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I have fls that will test for free, some 2 or 3 bucks. I would hope the one your spending your money at would be VERY reasonable. The Petco where I live probably wouldnt have a clue and looking at their tanks I wouldnt trust them. But that's me. Your Petco could be much better.
If it were me I would move that power head down some and get some flow a little lower.
 

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I would slow down... Your algae is not bad. You have good coraline growth. I would not add any livestock, corals, urchins or nothing right now. Give your tank time to balance out. Feed sparingly. Keep testing. I hate hermit crabs. They kill snails. Keep doing your research. There are lots of biocube 32 videos. BRS also has great videos.

I run a 32 biocube and I do a 64 oz water change every day. Very easy and accomplishes the same nutrient export while maintaining stability. You need to get to know your system and do what it wants. It will take time.
 
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I wondered if they killed the other two snails. They certainly ate them.
 

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So, I want to add...
Don;t rush to add a bunch of chemicals/cures/vinegar to your tank. Keep good clean water and nutrient export happening and be patient. Light sand vacuum once a month (this = water change), hand pull algae in trouble spots. Keep those sponges free of debris. Rinsing in tank water is just fine. The stock biocube lights are pretty weak, so you don;t have to worry about bleaching corals with them. I run moonlight for about 10 hours per day, whites for about 6 with ramp up on either end. Less light will feed the GHA less. Keep the tank away from windows/sunlight.
 

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I'd second the slowing down. Give it a bit of time and it will likely recede on its own. For GHA, I would not recommend adding any specific livestock unless you actually want that animal in your tank.

I have a goto for spot-cleaning algae (hydrogen peroxide), but I would not recommend it on a tank that is still in the maturing phase.
 
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So, I want to add...
Don;t rush to add a bunch of chemicals/cures/vinegar to your tank. Keep good clean water and nutrient export happening and be patient. Light sand vacuum once a month (this = water change), hand pull algae in trouble spots. Keep those sponges free of debris. Rinsing in tank water is just fine. The stock biocube lights are pretty weak, so you don;t have to worry about bleaching corals with them. I run moonlight for about 10 hours per day, whites for about 6 with ramp up on either end. Less light will feed the GHA less. Keep the tank away from windows/sunlight.
Okay. That's pretty much what I've been doing. (A toothbrush, moved gently around the coral catches the algae better than I can. I'm not really scrubbing, more just catching the stuff) It got a few minutes of sunlight around the solstice, but I think the sun is high enough is the horizon we don't get any sunlight in that spot now. We live in MN, so it's cloudy weak sunlight anyway. I'll keep waiting and get water tested at the lfs. Thank you. I've just been worried about this dumb algae.
Those crabs might need new homes if they're killing my snails. The snails have such interesting things growing on them too. (A purple sponge or something)
 

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Okay. That's pretty much what I've been doing. (A toothbrush, moved gently around the coral catches the algae better than I can. I'm not really scrubbing, more just catching the stuff) It got a few minutes of sunlight around the solstice, but I think the sun is high enough is the horizon we don't get any sunlight in that spot now. We live in MN, so it's cloudy weak sunlight anyway. I'll keep waiting and get water tested at the lfs. Thank you. I've just been worried about this dumb algae.
Those crabs might need new homes if they're killing my snails. The snails have such interesting things growing on them too. (A purple sponge or something)

I take the tube off of my siphon, and temporarily zip tie it to a toothbrush, and scrub!!! Then I am sucking and scrubbing at the same time. When the algae comes off, most of it goes out the tube. Then I let the pumps run for an hour or so. Then clean filter floss and sponges. You don;t want that loose algae sitting in the filter.

Your LFS may take the crabs, worth an ask...
 

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