GHA

[Ro Bow]

My tank is overrun with GHA and some byropsis. I am doing multiple things to slow it down and eventually stop it, is there anything else I can try? I will attatch my parameters and what I am doing to stop it so far.

Parameters:

Alk: 8.4
SG: 1.026
temp: 78 F
Nitrate: 0
Nitrite: 0
Ammonia: 0
Phosphate: 0.01/0
Ca: 420


What I am doing to stop it:

10% water change twice a week
added multiple layers of black construction paper on sides of tank
Shortened light schedule
Only blue lights (temporarily)
Manually remove algae multiple times a day, and use water change water to scrub the rocks in (I use a toothbrush to gently remove the GHA)
using brigthwell to help remove detritus and hopefully the GHA - razor marine

CUC:
Tomini tang - my tomini tang is extremally shy and barely gets anything done, but occasionally is spotted cleaning
7 blue legged hermits
1 pincushion urchin
1 turbo snail
3 astrea snails
1 fighter conch
I may be forgetting someone but I think thats it

My tank is 65 gallons with a 10 gallon sump



any advice will be appreciated

 

[rmorris_14]

If you are tanking the rock out to scrub, after you do that, spray or brush 3% hydrogen peroxide on it, let it sit our for about 3 minutes and then rinse with the water you took out for the water change. Then put back in the rock. Don't do all the rocks at once. maybe just 1 a week or 1 every few days.

 

[Ro Bow]

bump

 

[Wasabiroot]

Another urchin and about 5-10 turbo snails will greatly help. Turbos do great work on hair algae

 

[Ro Bow]

Another urchin and about 5-10 turbo snails will greatly help. Turbos do great work on hair alga

Thanks

 

[Wasabiroot]

Would also add - no experience with razor marine but not sure what's in it - would avoid if not clearly labeled. Probably not necessary with a sufficient regime like you're doing. Keep at it, you got this

 

[Ro Bow]

Would also add - no experience with razor marine but not sure what's in it - would avoid if not clearly labeled. Probably not necessary with a sufficient regime like you're doing. Keep at it, you got this

Thank you. It is a struggle but I hope you are right. I've been manually removing this stuff every day and its getting slightly better each week.

 

[Wasabiroot]

Gha ebbs and flows. Also manual removal is very good. You are the best cleanup crew.

 

[neonreef3d]

you can also try this, it has worked for me as far as algae.

PNS ProBio™

By removing ammonia, nitrite and nitrate, consuming organic waste products, providing a nutritious food source for filter-feeders and acting as a powerful probiotic, PNS ProBio™ is a highly beneficial addition to your aquarium's microbial community. This product is especially useful for feeding...

www.algaebarn.com

 

[Ro Bow]

you can also try this, it has worked for me as far as algae.

PNS ProBio™

By removing ammonia, nitrite and nitrate, consuming organic waste products, providing a nutritious food source for filter-feeders and acting as a powerful probiotic, PNS ProBio™ is a highly beneficial addition to your aquarium's microbial community. This product is especially useful for feeding...

www.algaebarn.com

Ill check it out

 

[Wasabiroot]

Careful with dosing. Neat product but have to account for side effects of bacterial metabolism (parameter shifts etc) but I hear great things about it. I believe it is sulfur loving anaerobic bacteria/archaea

 

[Lavey29]

I have the same size tank and had a jungle much bigger then yours. 3 tuxedo urchins and 2 turbos along with raising my magnesium to 1500 and manual removal had every bit gone in 3 weeks. I also dose PNS twice a week.

 

[paintman]

Gha ebbs and flows. Also manual removal is very good. You are the best cleanup crew.

This right here. Best advice on the web. Perhaps the best post in the history of the internet! This should be the only sticky on R2R!

Please don't let people come in here and tell you to spend hundred of dollars on CUC's. I think most of them are just giving advice to make themselves feel better about themselves by thinking they're helping you. When in fact they're just reguratating bad advice they heard from someone else.

Your just wasting your money. First off 80% of the time CUC's don't touch GHA. Or even worse, you have to watch as most of your turbos fall over and die. In my opinion us taking inverts from the ocean is a sin. Again you and a turkey baster are the best CUC!

Why do I say this????????????/ Because I have just spent hundreds of dollars over the last few months buying and taking inverts (snails, crabs, urchins, etc), from their natural environment to battle my GHA woes, only to watch them ignore all of it.

In my opinion CUC's should be banned from being sold! The simple fact of the matter is if you do your husbandry and stop being lazy CUC's are not needed! Flame me if you want, I don't care.

 

[Lavey29]

This right here. Best advice on the web. Perhaps the best post in the history of the internet! This should be the only sticky on R2R!

Please don't let people come in here and tell you to spend hundred of dollars on CUC's. I think most of them are just giving advice to make themselves feel better about themselves by thinking they're helping you. When in fact they're just reguratating bad advice they heard from someone else.

Your just wasting your money. First off 80% of the time CUC's don't touch GHA. Or even worse, you have to watch as most of your turbos fall over and die. In my opinion us taking inverts from the ocean is a sin. Again you and a turkey baster are the best CUC!

Why do I say this????????????/ Because I have just spent hundreds of dollars over the last few months buying and taking inverts (snails, crabs, urchins, etc), from their natural environment to battle my GHA woes, only to watch them ignore all of it.

In my opinion CUC's should be banned from being sold! The simple fact of the matter is if you do your husbandry and stop being lazy CUC's are not needed! Flame me if you want, I don't care.

Post a close up picture of your GHA strands flowing in the current. You probably don't know you have briopsis and don't realize that most cleaner crews don't like to eat it. Funny how a vast majority of people have some or complete success with their cleaner crews but your hundreds of dollars just sits there huh? Did you ever identify and correct the source of your algae? If so what was it and why hasn't that helped you along with manual removal? Do you remove a good amount each day by hand or do you just sit back and watch it like your cleaner crew?

 

[ColdWafflez]

This right here. Best advice on the web. Perhaps the best post in the history of the internet! This should be the only sticky on R2R!

Please don't let people come in here and tell you to spend hundred of dollars on CUC's. I think most of them are just giving advice to make themselves feel better about themselves by thinking they're helping you. When in fact they're just reguratating bad advice they heard from someone else.

Your just wasting your money. First off 80% of the time CUC's don't touch GHA. Or even worse, you have to watch as most of your turbos fall over and die. In my opinion us taking inverts from the ocean is a sin. Again you and a turkey baster are the best CUC!

Why do I say this????????????/ Because I have just spent hundreds of dollars over the last few months buying and taking inverts (snails, crabs, urchins, etc), from their natural environment to battle my GHA woes, only to watch them ignore all of it.

In my opinion CUC's should be banned from being sold! The simple fact of the matter is if you do your husbandry and stop being lazy CUC's are not needed! Flame me if you want, I don't care.

My CUC has been amazing for me. My 2 tuxedo urchins are like underwater lawnmowers lol. My turbo's haven't been dying either, just getting fat haha

 

[djf91]

This right here. Best advice on the web. Perhaps the best post in the history of the internet! This should be the only sticky on R2R!

Please don't let people come in here and tell you to spend hundred of dollars on CUC's. I think most of them are just giving advice to make themselves feel better about themselves by thinking they're helping you. When in fact they're just reguratating bad advice they heard from someone else.

Your just wasting your money. First off 80% of the time CUC's don't touch GHA. Or even worse, you have to watch as most of your turbos fall over and die. In my opinion us taking inverts from the ocean is a sin. Again you and a turkey baster are the best CUC!

Why do I say this????????????/ Because I have just spent hundreds of dollars over the last few months buying and taking inverts (snails, crabs, urchins, etc), from their natural environment to battle my GHA woes, only to watch them ignore all of it.

In my opinion CUC's should be banned from being sold! The simple fact of the matter is if you do your husbandry and stop being lazy CUC's are not needed! Flame me if you want, I don't care.

I’ll echo this. I’ve spent hundreds recently on a cleanup crew for my system for GHA and they aren’t very effective (Astreaes, turbos, urchins, etc).

Turbos just simply do not last in my experience. I’ve had dozens of them drop dead. Urchins are the only ones that do any real work. Astreaes keep the rocks polished but that’s it.

 

[Jon's Reef]

There must be a source of excess nutrients in the system. Nitrate/ Phosphate read 0 because the algae is sucking it all up. Sometimes you just have to wait it out. Since the algae is on the rocks, they likely are releasing small amounts of phosphate.

 

[MarshallB]

There must be a source of excess nutrients in the system. Nitrate/ Phosphate read 0 because the algae is sucking it all up. Sometimes you just have to wait it out. Since the algae is on the rocks, they likely are releasing small amounts of phosphate.

This.

If you cannot pull the algae off the rocks easily then they are able to pull enough nutrients out of the water column to stay healthy. When you have that much algae, if some dies off then it fuels the growth of the rest of the algae. Try easing off a bit of what you are feeding.

Pullout what you can each time you touch the tank. Any you remove is excess nutrients that will not be released back into the water.

CUC is good for a preventive measure. Urchins do great, but they cannot get into the tight spaces in rock work.

 

[Bucs20fan]

If you can manually remove some and get some good die off, some tuxedo urchins and the largest turbo snails you can find, will definitely without a doubt put a hurting on GHA they wont eat what is fully grown like over an inch long, but anything shorter than that, they will mow down without mercy.

 

[Jon's Reef]

The GHA is just the nutrients in a different form (NO3 and PO4). If a CUC eats it, it is still in the tank. The solution is to either remove it from the tank. For the nitrates, ensure you are only feeding enough for the fish. This is a surprisingly small amount. For the phosphate, it can come from the food, but since the algae is isolated to the rocks, they are likely the source. I would recommend GFO. If you have a reactor, put it in there, otherwise just buy a bag of Chemipure Elite (the elite is a mix of carbon and GFO). Stick it in a high flow area of your sump. Change it every 3-4 weeks. It will take 2-3 months.

I would not recommend LaCl3 (the liquid phosphate removers).

If you want to try a blackout, then you need to completely block all light for 1-2 days. Then before turning the lights on, do a very large water change (50%+) The blackout will cause the nutrients to go back into the water, so you need to take it out. Follow up with the GFO.