I Need Help. GHA battle

[RWReefer]

There’s no other way to put it. GHA is destroying my enjoyment of this hobby. It’s on everything. Glass, rocks, growing in GSP, powerheads, etc.

Tank is over a year old now. Started with dry Marco rock aquascape and live rock in sump. 7 current fish, plus an abundance of turbo snails, ceriths, an urchin, a couple conchs. Just added a tomini tang to help.

Current parameters:
Nitrate: 7.9
Phosphate: 0.23
Alk: 7.8

Was lax on tank care for a bit as life took over. I’ve been diligently pulling GHA out, scrubbing rocks clean and siphoning out the GHA, have auto water change set up and going, pulling clumps of GHA off the sand bed every couple of days, running an algae scrubber in the sump.

Currently feeding frozen brine shrimp that has been defrosted and rinsed as well as a snack of TDO chromaboost every now and then.

Not sure what else I can do to get this under control. Any help is appreciated.

 

[jman2u]

There’s no other way to put it. GHA is destroying my enjoyment of this hobby. It’s on everything. Glass, rocks, growing in GSP, powerheads, etc.

Tank is over a year old now. Started with dry Marco rock aquascape and live rock in sump. 7 current fish, plus an abundance of turbo snails, ceriths, an urchin, a couple conchs. Just added a tomini tang to help.

Current parameters:
Nitrate: 7.9
Phosphate: 0.23
Alk: 7.8

Was lax on tank care for a bit as life took over. I’ve been diligently pulling GHA out, scrubbing rocks clean and siphoning out the GHA, have auto water change set up and going, pulling clumps of GHA off the sand bed every couple of days, running an algae scrubber in the sump.

Not sure what else I can do to get this under control. Any help is appreciated.

I don’t have experience with them but have seen people suggest sea hares for outbreaks this bad. It likely will take care of all of that and then starve to death.

If someone knows more please feel free to correct me!

 

[Idech]

Have you tried a blackout ? I would pull as much as possible out and then do a 4-5 days black-out. Or maybe peroxyde, or both.

 

[W31Olds]

I have GHA in my Tank also and it is a real pain and discouraging to say the least. I would start by adjusting your light spectrum, duration/ intensity. I use a toothbrush with a Cannister filter to suck it up. If you get it short enough your fish and cleanup crew will eat it. Your Phosphate is high so you may want to work on that also. Dosing PODS Can also help. I would check your RODI Water as it may be a contributing factor.

 

[EnterName]

I'm just throwing in some thoughts maybe one of them is something you didn't try or double check yet:

- Have you done an ICP test? Maybe something is leeching iron into your water which is a great fertilizer for algae.
- Do you have enough water flow everywhere? Dead spots can really cause nutrient build ups and hair algae can slow down water flow significantly making it collect more and more detritus. Try moving 30 - 40 times your tanks volume through the flow pumps within an hour for a while.
- What's your pH? Did you try attaching a CO2 scrubber to your skimmer? CO2 also boosts algae growth and maybe there is a lot of CO2 that doesn't get out of the system fast enough.
- Even though there is so much algae you have moderate nitrate and phosphate levels. Are you sure you aren't overfeeding and there isn't some other source of excessive nutrients?
- Is your RO/DI system working properly? It's another possible source of the issue when certain things aren't filtered out properly. Another possibility is the salt mix.

Herbivores can help with cleaning up the rocks but they won't get rid of the nutrients for you. So your filters have to be prepared once you decide to let herbivores do the removal. All the nutrients bound to algae might suddenly show up in your tests, so water changes, adsorbers, etc. might be necessary.

If really nothing helps (and I hate to say this because I prefer finding the actual cause and fix it) you can check for chemical options. I don't really like them because they mess with the biology but sometimes it seems like there is no other way. I think Fluconazole would work but I'm pretty sure others on this forum will have better ideas and more experience regarding these things, so please wait for someone more knowledgeable than me to suggest the right option.

 

[RWReefer]

Have you tried a blackout ? I would pull as much as possible out and then do a 4-5 days black-out. Or maybe peroxyde, or both.

I’ve tried weeks long blackouts when I didn’t have any corals. No dice.

 

[RWReefer]

I have GHA in my Tank also and it is a real pain and discouraging to say the least. I would start by adjusting your light spectrum, duration/ intensity. I use a toothbrush with a Cannister filter to suck it up. If you get it short enough your fish and cleanup crew will eat it. Your Phosphate is high so you may want to work on that also. Dosing PODS Can also help. I would check your RODI Water as it may be a contributing factor.

Thank you. RODI not an issue, I’m on like an 8 stage BRS filter system.

 

[RWReefer]

I'm just throwing in some thoughts maybe one of them is something you didn't try or double check yet:

- Have you done an ICP test? Maybe something is leeching iron into your water which is a great fertilizer for algae.
- Do you have enough water flow everywhere? Dead spots can really cause nutrient build ups and hair algae can slow down water flow significantly making it collect more and more detritus. Try moving 30 - 40 times your tanks volume through the flow pumps within an hour for a while.
- What's your pH? Did you try attaching a CO2 scrubber to your skimmer? CO2 also boosts algae growth and maybe there is a lot of CO2 that doesn't get out of the system fast enough.
- Even though there is so much algae you have moderate nitrate and phosphate levels. Are you sure you aren't overfeeding and there isn't some other source of excessive nutrients?
- Is your RO/DI system working properly? It's another possible source of the issue when certain things aren't filtered out properly. Another possibility is the salt mix.

Herbivores can help with cleaning up the rocks but they won't get rid of the nutrients for you. So your filters have to be prepared once you decide to let herbivores do the removal. All the nutrients bound to algae might suddenly show up in your tests, so water changes, adsorbers, etc. might be necessary.

If really nothing helps (and I hate to say this because I prefer finding the actual cause and fix it) you can check for chemical options. I don't really like them because they mess with the biology but sometimes it seems like there is no other way. I think Fluconazole would work but I'm pretty sure others on this forum will have better ideas and more experience regarding these things, so please wait for someone more knowledgeable than me to suggest the right option.

No ICP test yet but will do one if it’ll help.

I’ve got two MP40s and an MP10 running alternate reef crest and steady, algae is moving around in the tank so flow should be good.

pH fluctuates between 8.4 and 8.7, was less when I had the lights off.

For feeding everything is consumed within a couple minutes of adding to the tank. I don’t feel like I’m over feeding.

I’ve got a 7 stage BRS and threw on an extra mixed bed at the end so I am 0 TDS for all water.

I want to go as natural as possible and I appreciate you taking the time to write all that up.

 

[RWReefer]

I will note that my phosphates do swing, so maybe it’s leaching from the aquascape? I test st the start and end of each GFO run and the chart shows the following:

 

[EnterName]

I'm just throwing in some thoughts maybe one of them is something you didn't try or double check yet:

- Have you done an ICP test? Maybe something is leeching iron into your water which is a great fertilizer for algae.
- Do you have enough water flow everywhere? Dead spots can really cause nutrient build ups and hair algae can slow down water flow significantly making it collect more and more detritus. Try moving 30 - 40 times your tanks volume through the flow pumps within an hour for a while.
- What's your pH? Did you try attaching a CO2 scrubber to your skimmer? CO2 also boosts algae growth and maybe there is a lot of CO2 that doesn't get out of the system fast enough.
- Even though there is so much algae you have moderate nitrate and phosphate levels. Are you sure you aren't overfeeding and there isn't some other source of excessive nutrients?
- Is your RO/DI system working properly? It's another possible source of the issue when certain things aren't filtered out properly. Another possibility is the salt mix.

Herbivores can help with cleaning up the rocks but they won't get rid of the nutrients for you. So your filters have to be prepared once you decide to let herbivores do the removal. All the nutrients bound to algae might suddenly show up in your tests, so water changes, adsorbers, etc. might be necessary.

If really nothing helps (and I hate to say this because I prefer finding the actual cause and fix it) you can check for chemical options. I don't really like them because they mess with the biology but sometimes it seems like there is no other way. I think Fluconazole would work but I'm pretty sure others on this forum will have better ideas and more experience regarding these things, so please wait for someone more knowledgeable than me to suggest the right option.

No ICP test yet but will do one if it’ll help.

I’ve got two MP40s and an MP10 running alternate reef crest and steady, algae is moving around in the tank so flow should be good.

pH fluctuates between 8.4 and 8.7, was less when I had the lights off.

For feeding everything is consumed within a couple minutes of adding to the tank. I don’t feel like I’m over feeding.

I’ve got a 7 stage BRS and threw on an extra mixed bed at the end so I am 0 TDS for all water.

I want to go as natural as possible and I appreciate you taking the time to write all that up.

ICP tests never hurt. I really can't imagine everything is fine after so much algae growth. Sure fixing it would also feed the algae but knowing if something is off could prevent further issues.

A pH between 8.4 and 8.7 sounds quite extreme. How are you maintaining Calcium and Alkalinity? All for Reef/Balling/Something else?
At these pH levels I would expect quite some phosphates to fall out of solution instead of leeching into your tank, but I think the chemistry is a bit more complicated than that, so I don't want to completely rule out that possibility.

Maybe the tank is simply overstocked?

 

[RWReefer]

ICP tests never hurt. I really can't imagine everything is fine after so much algae growth. Sure fixing it would also feed the algae but knowing if something is off could prevent further issues.

A pH between 8.4 and 8.7 sounds quite extreme. How are you maintaining Calcium and Alkalinity? All for Reef/Balling/Something else?
At these pH levels I would expect quite some phosphates to fall out of solution instead of leeching into your tank, but I think the chemistry is a bit more complicated than that, so I don't want to completely rule out that possibility.

Maybe the tank is simply overstocked?

pH could be a calibration issue. Recalibrated and will see where it falls.

I just added first corals like 2 weeks ago so I haven’t had to do any dosing to date. Observing GSP now for how much I will need to dose based on uptake. But the tank is literally just a one spot foxface, a tiny tomini tang, two clowns, a mccoskers wrasse, purple firefish, and royal gramma in a water box 110. Shouldn’t be an overstock issue.

 

[CHSUB]

Nothing is going to fix that algae but better maintenance and manual removal. Already mentioned is a toothbrush and canister filter. Additionally I would remove rocks and scrub in WC water. Obviously over feeding, all fish food in my tank is eaten by fish in 5 to 10 seconds, none gets blown around because all flow is off.

Nutrients are high which doesn’t help anything, with better maintenance, blowing and scrubbing rock during Wc, etc etc…nutrients will go lower naturally and algae will start disappearing……honestly simply stuff, you should be able to get a handle of this easily.

 

[jdpeters]

There’s no other way to put it. GHA is destroying my enjoyment of this hobby. It’s on everything. Glass, rocks, growing in GSP, powerheads, etc.

Tank is over a year old now. Started with dry Marco rock aquascape and live rock in sump. 7 current fish, plus an abundance of turbo snails, ceriths, an urchin, a couple conchs. Just added a tomini tang to help.

Current parameters:
Nitrate: 7.9
Phosphate: 0.23
Alk: 7.8

Was lax on tank care for a bit as life took over. I’ve been diligently pulling GHA out, scrubbing rocks clean and siphoning out the GHA, have auto water change set up and going, pulling clumps of GHA off the sand bed every couple of days, running an algae scrubber in the sump.

Currently feeding frozen brine shrimp that has been defrosted and rinsed as well as a snack of TDO chromaboost every now and then.

Not sure what else I can do to get this under control. Any help is appreciated.

Trade you, I have ostreopsis and lyngbya bacteria

 

[RWReefer]

Nothing is going to fix that algae but better maintenance and manual removal. Already mentioned is a toothbrush and canister filter. Additionally I would remove rocks and scrub in WC water. Obviously over feeding, all fish food in my tank is eaten by fish in 5 to 10 seconds, none gets blown around because all flow is off.

Nutrients are high which doesn’t help anything, with better maintenance, blowing and scrubbing rock during Wc, etc etc…nutrients will go lower naturally and algae will start disappearing……honestly simply stuff, you should be able to get a handle of this easily.

Appreciate the reply. I will pull back on feeding for a while and keep up with manual removal. Scrubbed rocks clean a week ago and it all came back with a vengeance within that next week. Slightly discouraging but we forge on.

 

[ReeferMo]

There’s no other way to put it. GHA is destroying my enjoyment of this hobby. It’s on everything. Glass, rocks, growing in GSP, powerheads, etc.

Tank is over a year old now. Started with dry Marco rock aquascape and live rock in sump. 7 current fish, plus an abundance of turbo snails, ceriths, an urchin, a couple conchs. Just added a tomini tang to help.

Current parameters:
Nitrate: 7.9
Phosphate: 0.23
Alk: 7.8

Was lax on tank care for a bit as life took over. I’ve been diligently pulling GHA out, scrubbing rocks clean and siphoning out the GHA, have auto water change set up and going, pulling clumps of GHA off the sand bed every couple of days, running an algae scrubber in the sump.

Currently feeding frozen brine shrimp that has been defrosted and rinsed as well as a snack of TDO chromaboost every now and then.

Not sure what else I can do to get this under control. Any help is appreciated.

Relax, we all go through this stage
First 4-5 day blackout could help but also I’m not sure if you mentioned you need some algae eaters. Tangs and an emerald crap will clean it up in no time. Especially in a blackout. Ones it’s gone it won’t come back so fast or at all

 

[RWReefer]

Nothing is going to fix that algae but better maintenance and manual removal. Already mentioned is a toothbrush and canister filter. Additionally I would remove rocks and scrub in WC water. Obviously over feeding, all fish food in my tank is eaten by fish in 5 to 10 seconds, none gets blown around because all flow is off.

Nutrients are high which doesn’t help anything, with better maintenance, blowing and scrubbing rock during Wc, etc etc…nutrients will go lower naturally and algae will start disappearing……honestly simply stuff, you should be able to get a handle of this easily.

Can you elaborate a little more on the canister filter? Just something to hang on the display when doing the rock scrubbing to pick up the algae in the water column?

 

[CHSUB]

Can you elaborate a little more on the canister filter? Just something to hang on the display when doing the rock scrubbing to pick up the algae in the water column? Yes!

50$ on Amazon…scrub the rock vigorously with a stiff brush, blow the rocks with a turkey baster, vacuum the top layer of sand, remove all detritus, feed less, and do weekly. Soon it will be gone, removing rocks that are easily removed for extra scrubbing is great. When you think it’s clean, it’s likely not and do it again until all algae is gone….scrub, scrub, scrub, blow, blow blow, daily if necessary.

Here is my canister filter only used to clean aquarium while doing scrubbing and blowing of rock. This removes all crud, might take a month or two while doing weekly. I’m assuming you have a properly set up aquarium with a protein skimmer, good flow, and no dead spots that collect detritus.

More about you aquarium so I can be sure and some more pictures. Do worry about nutrients bottoming out, that is none sense at this point in your aquarium.

 

[CHSUB]

Trade you, I have ostreopsis and lyngbya bacteria

Not a problem either if you follow my advice, or you could go down the yellow brick road with the wizard of oz.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

If you've been lax on maintenance then it will take a few months of diligent maintenance to get it back in shape. Its just back to basics with hair algae; cut nutrient import, increase nutrient export, manual removal, increase cuc, water changes, etc... in time it will improve just like it took time to get this way.

 

[zwalter38]

Can you elaborate a little more on the canister filter? Just something to hang on the display when doing the rock scrubbing to pick up the algae in the water column?

I had a hair algae outbreak and I used a canister filter I had the output of the canister in the tank like normal and held the intake side in my hand with a tooth brush in the other. That way I could suck out the algae right as I removed it from the rocks without draining the tank. I did this for about a month once a week. And at one point I did get a sea hare to help me out. I made sure I could return the sea hare once I was done and honestly that’s was helped me turn the corner. For me it was manual removal, sea hare, and lots of patients.