Help!! I need advice! About to throw in the towel!

[Bugger]

Feed once a day thats all they need. the peroxide will kill everything on the rock but your tank will still survive i've done it a number of times and the fish and coral were just fine.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

I have used fluconazole with no luck

how much did you use?

+1 to the young tank not processing nutrints btw, so lots for the algae and coral.

If you decide to use peroxide and scrub out side the tank, do a piece at a time or dont use much. You might have some wonky PH issues, but then beef up the snails.

sorry for the woes. Been there. And fwiw. I was in the hobby 5 years before I bought a skimmer. it is about bacteria and feeding.

 

[Bacon505]

I have a dip all of the rocks in a water peroxide mix will that kill everything on the rock? Will the tank have to cycle again?

Just do one rock at a time with a week gap or something. if you're dipping in peroxide do it with no dilutions just completely in perxoide for an hour or so. Saw you have a seahare, i would suggest giving the seahare a few weeks to do its job while you cut down on the nutrients.

 

[bobman]

He dont have a skimmer so any sort of carbon dosing is a no go.

I would recommend running a skimmer. Reef octo makes some pretty decent han on back skimmers along with a few others out there. Then I would carbon dose its easy and effective. Can also allow you to feed more while controlling nutrients. I have carbon dosed all the tanks I have ever owned and never had any problems

 

[Flippers4pups]

Just do one rock at a time with a week gap or something. if you're dipping in peroxide do it with no dilutions just completely in perxoide for an hour or so. Saw you have a seahare, i would suggest giving the seahare a few weeks to do its job while you cut down on the nutrients.

H202 will kill it, but hate to say that it may just come back once back in the tank. What's feeding the GHA is leaching out of the rock, deeper than the surface.

You need to strip the top layer of the rock with acid. H202 will only kill the surface GHA.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

H202 will kill it, but hate to say that it may just come back once back in the tank. What's feeding the GHA is leaching out of the rock.

You need to strip the top layer of the rock with acid. H202 will only kill the surface GHA.

seems a bit extreme. gfo will pull the PO4 off the rock too. Lanthanum chloride will blast it off.. so will the GHA.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

The plan tonight is to scrub the rocks and pick out as much hair algae as I can (again) and do a large heathy water change while I clean the sand bed, change out all my socks, media and floss.

I think this is the best advice so far.

 

[Flippers4pups]

seems a bit extreme. gfo will pull the PO4 off the rock too. Lanthanum chloride will blast it off.. so will the GHA.

I agree, but the OP is at wits end and about to give up. GFO will strip the water of PO4, as will Lanthanum chloride, but not the source which is coming from deep in the rock. Fastest way to be done would be acid. Now if he's willing to wait it out, Lathanum chloride would do the trick.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

e, but not the source which is coming from deep in the rock.

I don't believe its deep in the rock. I dont belive acid will burn out Po4 from deep in a rock. Lanth actually blasts the Po4 off of the surfaces its bound to and needs to be mechanically removed so it would be faster than recycling the tank after using acid.
But its also just GHA. Its a lesson we all learned.

 

[Maacc]

When you say consistent water changes, how much and how often? Even with no skimmer, with your light bioload, you could probably get excellent export with a 5 gallon weekly change. If you were willing you could probably get things under control with a 5 gallon, 10 gallon alternating week schedule coupled with manual removal. Do you blow off your rocks twice weekly with a powerhead or large turkey baster? You could also vacuum about 1/3 of your sandbed each change until you get no cloudiness when you are stirring it up. If you get big clouds of detritus consider another powerhead for flow.

 

[jeff williams]

There's a product that removes phosphate melvsreef.Com sells it and you us a 10 micron filter sock to remove the flocking so no Protien skimmer required I think it's phosRX. It's dosed once every few months melv also has a video on YouTube how to use it.

 

[jeff williams]

Here's the YouTube link to melvsreef phosphate rx

 

[NakiFantaki]

For the record I had my rock for 6 weeks curing in saltwater... I can't believe it's deep in the rock either... maybe it is...

 

[NakiFantaki]

I do a 5 gallon a week water change. Every week always 5 gallons. Tonight I am going to do a little more.. close to 7-8 gallons

 

[NakiFantaki]

When you say consistent water changes, how much and how often? Even with no skimmer, with your light bioload, you could probably get excellent export with a 5 gallon weekly change. If you were willing you could probably get things under control with a 5 gallon, 10 gallon alternating week schedule coupled with manual removal. Do you blow off your rocks twice weekly with a powerhead or large turkey baster? You could also vacuum about 1/3 of your sandbed each change until you get no cloudiness when you are stirring it up. If you get big clouds of detritus consider another powerhead for flow.

Excellent advise. Thanks man. I will start blowing my rocks over off regularly.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

For the record I had my rock for 6 weeks curing in saltwater... I can't believe it's deep in the rock either... maybe it is...

The first year in tank really is a pain. Hang in there!

The rock takes a LONG time to hit the sweet spot. Its the bacteria deep inside we wait to develop not for stuff to come out of it. .So starting dry really does take longer.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

There's a product that removes phosphate melvsreef.Com sells it and you us a 10 micron filter sock to remove the flocking so no Protien skimmer required I think it's phosRX. It's dosed once every few months melv also has a video on YouTube how to use it.

Basicly the Lanthanum chloride. def test the Po4 before use.

You wanna see a reef with the Po4 at 3? not .03, not .3, 3.0

 

[thaitopher]

I have a 20 gallon too. I use a Reef Octopus NS80 HOB skimmer. Skims really well. I am in the middle of a 3 day blackout. I do a 4 gallon weekly water change

 

[prsnlty]

its not that bad.

Id look into a quieter skimmer like a tunze. You may want to look at fluconazole too. its pretty effective with gha it seems. we can ask some of the Fluconazole pros here if you'd like.

a good thing a guy said once. "Nothing good happens fast in this hobby only bad things happen overnight, if you think you go slow, slow down even more" - Diesel

so its a bummer, but it is not the worst tank I have ever seen.

so you know, you can strip the nutrints till the zoas die the algae wont.

feed the fish healthfully. the corals will eat poop, light and nutrints from the water.

The red yellow bla bla spectrum is Banana Sandwiches BTW. ocean plants like blue light. the ocean has blue light no?

its new tank stuff. dont panic.

+1! Don't give up. You just have to do a major cleanup.

While waiting on the fluconazole (I answered your question in the bryopis thread) take a 5g bucket and fill to 1/2 with RODI, add a full bottle of hydrogen peroxide. Take out all rock that have no corals on them or that an be removed. Scrub off the excess gha, rinse then put them in the bucket or buckets (might need 2) making sure the rocks are covered. If not you fill the rest of the way with RODI. Let it sit all night (but I like 24hrs better). Clean up the tank. Do a decent wc afterwards. Change all filters out before treating with fluconazole.

One thing to note: when you get rid of the majority of this green hair algae your numbers are all going to jump because they're not masking or soaking it up anymore. I would begin dosing nopox also. Secondly your alk is at 10 I believe you said. When your numbers start dropping you need to lower your alk slowly. Alk that high is only good with higher nutrient levels.

I do agree with adding a skimmer or fuge to your system you need something that will bring you positive results. The skimmer will take out waste and the fuge will remove phosphates nitrates and add back good micro fauna. However I wouldn't do this until after the fluconazole treatment is over.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

+1! Don't give up. You just have to do a major cleanup.

While waiting on the fluconazole (I answered your question in the bryopis thread) take a 5g bucket and fill to 1/2 with RODI, add a full bottle of hydrogen peroxide. Take out all rock that have no corals on them or that an be removed. Scrub off the excess gha, rinse then put them in the bucket or buckets (might need 2) making sure the rocks are covered. If not you fill the rest of the way with RODI. Let it sit all night (but I like 24hrs better). Clean up the tank. Do a decent wc afterwards. Change all filters out before treating with fluconazole.

One thing to note: when you get rid of the majority of this green hair algae your numbers are all going to jump because they're not masking or soaking it up anymore. I would begin dosing nopox also. Secondly your alk is at 10 I believe you said. When your numbers start dropping you need to lower your alk slowly. Alk that high is only good with higher nutrient levels.

I do agree with adding a skimmer or fuge to your system you need something that will bring you positive results. The skimmer will take out waste and the fuge will remove phosphates nitrates and add back good micro fauna. However I wouldn't do this until after the fluconazole treatment is over.

+1
Fwiw, in 8 years ive never dosed anything like nopox . my gfo is 6 years old. I do however have a really nice scrub brush set.