I-O Method (GHA)

[TonyNguyen]

BTW thank you for those who stuck around, i didn't realize that there were so many impatient reefers out there.( This hobby is all about patience) They won't even give me a chance to explain and showed my method. I'm starting to feel hostile and not friendly atmosphere here. I was just trying help out other reefers and showed my success on winning the battle. Anyways Good luck to all! I will post less from now on.

 

[sghera64]

BTW thank you for those who stuck around, i didn't realize that there were so many impatient reefers out there.( This hobby is all about patience) They won't even give me a chance to explain and showed my method. I'm starting to feel hostile and not friendly atmosphere here. I was just trying help out other reefers and showed my success on winning the battle. Anyways Good luck to all! I will post less from now on.

Impatient + reefer. Why does that seem like an oxymoron to you. We only grow coral. What does patience have to do with it. [emoji6]

 

[BoomCorals]

BTW thank you for those who stuck around, i didn't realize that there were so many impatient reefers out there.( This hobby is all about patience) They won't even give me a chance to explain and showed my method. I'm starting to feel hostile and not friendly atmosphere here. I was just trying help out other reefers and showed my success on winning the battle. Anyways Good luck to all! I will post less from now on.

I think a lot of the posts were made tongue in cheek, not serious or hostile.

 

[mta_morrow]

It might be a tight fit in most reef tanks, but I've heard that a pair of these will take care of an algae problem:

http://vtichthyology.blogspot.com/2013/05/the-ugliest-fish-in-world-by-zach-moran.html

Humblefish has a pair of these in quarantine right now!

 

[Turbonut]

Quickest way to get rid of it?

Tell the algae you Love it.


Worked with my Ex girlfriend.

lol

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

BTW thank you for those who stuck around, i didn't realize that there were so many impatient reefers out there.( This hobby is all about patience) They won't even give me a chance to explain and showed my method. I'm starting to feel hostile and not friendly atmosphere here. I was just trying help out other reefers and showed my success on winning the battle. Anyways Good luck to all! I will post less from now on.

No one wants you to post less, and we are not making fun of you or your method. Sorry you took it that way, and thanks for posting your method.

We are just trying to have fun in a hobby that is supposed to be fun, but can get dragged down in endless problems that people have.

 

[Fudsey]

@TonyNguyen Don't take any of this seriously. I would have to agree with Randy. Just a bunch of peeps having fun

 

[ZoWhat]

+1 on Randys comment. We didn't like the delivery.IIt was nothing personal...at all...

Its like waking into a Hospice Cancer Center and yell down the hall, "I have the cure to cancer!!! ....but I'm a little too busy to talk about it right now"....then walk out the front door. No hard feelings towards you....we were all just frustrated on the tease.

Where's the posted methodology? Did he remove it?

 

[TonyNguyen]

I'm sorry guys, it was not my intention for teasing anyobdy. I was pretty excited to finally tell others what worked for me. I'm not getting paid to advertise any of this nor wanting any credits. I just wanted to showed what I did to win the fight. Again It was bad timing on my end, it was Father day weekend and we had visitor from out of town. If any of you guys have a boss lady then you would understand that, I can't just be on the phone and type a 2 page step by step. I will admit that I should have done it at first then post the topic. I didn't realize there was that many people involved in this thread.




So here it is again:



Tony’s I-O Method


As I first mention this only occurred to me with this current reef tank. I never had this issue in my past with 10+ years in reefing and many reef tanks build. I done plenty of reading and asking Dr.Google for advice all the tips and tricks. After wasting so much of my hard earn money clean up crew like: Zebra turbo and Mexican turbo, Crab you name it I got it. I’m tired of investing hundred of dollars on stuff that doesn't work. They have a very small percentage of eating your GHA. I gotten lawnmower blenny, and was hoping he will handle up. ( All he does is hang out on the grass)

I finally stopped reading and taking advice from people that thinks or have a idea of how to get rid of it. Every tank is different and depends on what you have going on. I don't have a science or Marine Biology degree, I’m just a hobbyist that is tired of my GHA taking over and suffocating my SPS corals. So please don't judge my understanding!. All my intention is to show other how and what I did to get rid of my massive GHA issue.My tank have been clean and clear and under control.


Step number one, is you need to write down all the BIOLoad you have that can affect or feed the GHA:


For Example:

2x Ai running 8 hours

1x Radion Running 8 Hours

2x Auto Feeder 2x feed a day with xxxx amount

ATO water PPM

Fish:

Corals:

ETC...


Step number two, you need to see what mechanical filter or Biological filter you have going on:


For Example:

100lb Live sand

200LB rocks

Skimmer (Dry or Wet Skim)

Reactor: GFO

Reactor: Carbon

Reactor: Biopellet

UV Light:

Filter Shocks

Etc….



Step three, is once you look at your chart of comparison and make notes to see a good picture of your intake and outtake. This is one of the key point your intake should not be more than your outtake. If you feel like your intake/feeding or leakage is higher than the out take you need to balance it out. Just like a diet you can’t eat more than your body can used.. One way I was testing to see if my adjustment have been working is literary pulling on the GHA and seeing how hard it was to rip out. If there is any tension then you have a very high intake. If the GHA is easily pulled then you have a higher chance of getting rid of them.



Step four, is to give the tools that is needed to fight this battle. You will need some reactors of some sort. Now this depends on what your intake is to add the correct amount. I am a firm believer on Biopellet and it have proven to work for me in the past tanks. Start with a very small amount of pellets and have it tumble, and the outtake is not directly on your skimmer intake. I think that the Bacteria that is flowing around needs a little more time to work. Have it in the general area. Once you have your biopellet hook up and running do crank up your skimmer and have a pretty thick skimate. Now the next procedure is adding GFO and Carbon, please buy them from a reputable company like BRS or a trusted source. There are some bad carbon out there that will do more harm than good. This process also determine on what your intake valve is. Please refer to your chart to see how much you should add. You need to strip your water from all the food source that is feeding the GHA, you need to hit them hard so they won’t have a chance to come back.


Step five: You will need to cut back on feeding and light in half until you win this battle. If possible the feeding is gonna have to slow down a bit in order to see results. If possible feed every other day, I know it's hard to see your fish not eat. Once you starve the GHA they will eventually give up and throw in the towel. Remember once you win this battle you have to find a good balance on how much your tank needs. Those of you to loves to overfeed your fish, just remember your also feeding the GHA! You can counteract by having more mechanical filtration to backup your heavy feeding.




Step number six: Test the water and do some landscape. Pull on a sample GHA and see if the tension is not there anymore and you can removed. Once you can tell that the loosening up you are on the right track to win this battle. I do check daily and once I felt like the GHA is soft and easy to pulled off. This is when you need to get your hands dirty. I came up with a custom brush /sucking tool that helps me get in and scrub the rocks. It's just a simple water change sucker with some cut up toothbrush superglue to the end for scrubbing. Now you will need to have some pylon bags or very fine mesh bags in your sump at the end of the tubbing. Once you suck and scrub the GHA is caught in your sump with the bags. This method is the best way to keep your water and removed the GHA. Your tank needs a jump start to beating the GHA, your tangs and snails won’t touch the GHA if it is long.


20180618_093529 by Tony Nguyen, on Flickr

20180618_093523 by Tony Nguyen, on Flickr

20180618_093521 by Tony Nguyen, on Flickr




Step number seven: Now I did mention about wasting money on snails and such. There is a good side of the story, if you have the GHA under control and its very small amount of GHA left your tangs and critters will be able to handle that. There is no shortcut in fighting this you will need to make a good balance and treat your tank like a your body, what comes in must come out. Do your 10% water changes and happy reefing.




Disclaimer:

I am not a professional of any kind, please don’t try these method unless you know what you are doing. I am not in anyway responsible for any loss or death of your live stock. This is just a write up that works in my tank. I am not affiliated with any company mention above and I am not trying to sell you anything. Do at your own risk!

 

[mta_morrow]

I'm sorry guys, it was not my intention for teasing anyobdy. I was pretty excited to finally tell others what worked for me. I'm not getting paid to advertise any of this nor wanting any credits. I just wanted to showed what I did to win the fight. Again It was bad timing on my end, it was Father day weekend and we had visitor from out of town. If any of you guys have a boss lady then you would understand that, I can't just be on the phone and type a 2 page step by step. I will admit that I should have done it at first then post the topic. I didn't realize there was that many people involved in this thread.




So here it is again:



Tony’s I-O Method


As I first mention this only occurred to me with this current reef tank. I never had this issue in my past with 10+ years in reefing and many reef tanks build. I done plenty of reading and asking Dr.Google for advice all the tips and tricks. After wasting so much of my hard earn money clean up crew like: Zebra turbo and Mexican turbo, Crab you name it I got it. I’m tired of investing hundred of dollars on stuff that doesn't work. They have a very small percentage of eating your GHA. I gotten lawnmower blenny, and was hoping he will handle up. ( All he does is hang out on the grass)

I finally stopped reading and taking advice from people that thinks or have a idea of how to get rid of it. Every tank is different and depends on what you have going on. I don't have a science or Marine Biology degree, I’m just a hobbyist that is tired of my GHA taking over and suffocating my SPS corals. So please don't judge my understanding!. All my intention is to show other how and what I did to get rid of my massive GHA issue.My tank have been clean and clear and under control.


Step number one, is you need to write down all the BIOLoad you have that can affect or feed the GHA:


For Example:

2x Ai running 8 hours

1x Radion Running 8 Hours

2x Auto Feeder 2x feed a day with xxxx amount

ATO water PPM

Fish:

Corals:

ETC...


Step number two, you need to see what mechanical filter or Biological filter you have going on:


For Example:

100lb Live sand

200LB rocks

Skimmer (Dry or Wet Skim)

Reactor: GFO

Reactor: Carbon

Reactor: Biopellet

UV Light:

Filter Shocks

Etc….



Step three, is once you look at your chart of comparison and make notes to see a good picture of your intake and outtake. This is one of the key point your intake should not be more than your outtake. If you feel like your intake/feeding or leakage is higher than the out take you need to balance it out. Just like a diet you can’t eat more than your body can used.. One way I was testing to see if my adjustment have been working is literary pulling on the GHA and seeing how hard it was to rip out. If there is any tension then you have a very high intake. If the GHA is easily pulled then you have a higher chance of getting rid of them.



Step four, is to give the tools that is needed to fight this battle. You will need some reactors of some sort. Now this depends on what your intake is to add the correct amount. I am a firm believer on Biopellet and it have proven to work for me in the past tanks. Start with a very small amount of pellets and have it tumble, and the outtake is not directly on your skimmer intake. I think that the Bacteria that is flowing around needs a little more time to work. Have it in the general area. Once you have your biopellet hook up and running do crank up your skimmer and have a pretty thick skimate. Now the next procedure is adding GFO and Carbon, please buy them from a reputable company like BRS or a trusted source. There are some bad carbon out there that will do more harm than good. This process also determine on what your intake valve is. Please refer to your chart to see how much you should add. You need to strip your water from all the food source that is feeding the GHA, you need to hit them hard so they won’t have a chance to come back.


Step five: You will need to cut back on feeding and light in half until you win this battle. If possible the feeding is gonna have to slow down a bit in order to see results. If possible feed every other day, I know it's hard to see your fish not eat. Once you starve the GHA they will eventually give up and throw in the towel. Remember once you win this battle you have to find a good balance on how much your tank needs. Those of you to loves to overfeed your fish, just remember your also feeding the GHA! You can counteract by having more mechanical filtration to backup your heavy feeding.




Step number six: Test the water and do some landscape. Pull on a sample GHA and see if the tension is not there anymore and you can removed. Once you can tell that the loosening up you are on the right track to win this battle. I do check daily and once I felt like the GHA is soft and easy to pulled off. This is when you need to get your hands dirty. I came up with a custom brush /sucking tool that helps me get in and scrub the rocks. It's just a simple water change sucker with some cut up toothbrush superglue to the end for scrubbing. Now you will need to have some pylon bags or very fine mesh bags in your sump at the end of the tubbing. Once you suck and scrub the GHA is caught in your sump with the bags. This method is the best way to keep your water and removed the GHA. Your tank needs a jump start to beating the GHA, your tangs and snails won’t touch the GHA if it is long.


20180618_093529 by Tony Nguyen, on Flickr

20180618_093523 by Tony Nguyen, on Flickr

20180618_093521 by Tony Nguyen, on Flickr




Step number seven: Now I did mention about wasting money on snails and such. There is a good side of the story, if you have the GHA under control and its very small amount of GHA left your tangs and critters will be able to handle that. There is no shortcut in fighting this you will need to make a good balance and treat your tank like a your body, what comes in must come out. Do your 10% water changes and happy reefing.




Disclaimer:

I am not a professional of any kind, please don’t try these method unless you know what you are doing. I am not in anyway responsible for any loss or death of your live stock. This is just a write up that works in my tank. I am not affiliated with any company mention above and I am not trying to sell you anything. Do at your own risk!

I like your approach Tony. I take a similar approach in my mind. But you have gone a bit more in depth and wrote it down.

That will be my next step.

Thanks for documenting!

 

[CraftDaddy]

I'm sorry guys, it was not my intention for teasing anyobdy. I was pretty excited to finally tell others what worked for me. I'm not getting paid to advertise any of this nor wanting any credits. I just wanted to showed what I did to win the fight. Again It was bad timing on my end, it was Father day weekend and we had visitor from out of town. If any of you guys have a boss lady then you would understand that, I can't just be on the phone and type a 2 page step by step. I will admit that I should have done it at first then post the topic. I didn't realize there was that many people involved in this thread.

Thanks for the write-up. I've been battling GHA myself and mostly losing. I love what you did with the toothbrushes. I'm about to go to town on my tank and will be using your example.

Question: Is it just the whites that affect the GHA or is it the blues as well? I run moonlights 14 hours, blues 12 hours, and whites 6 hours a day. I have just upgraded my lights and the GHA and algae growing on the glass seem to be growing faster than ever.

 

[GoVols]

@TonyNguyen

Your write up is great, Tony

If I offended you with the gif, then I'm sorry.
I just like to play around and have fun.

Please keep posting and I truly hope that you feel at home.

Freddie

 

[TonyNguyen]

Thanks for the write-up. I've been battling GHA myself and mostly losing. I love what you did with the toothbrushes. I'm about to go to town on my tank and will be using your example.

Question: Is it just the whites that affect the GHA or is it the blues as well? I run moonlights 14 hours, blues 12 hours, and whites 6 hours a day. I have just upgraded my lights and the GHA and algae growing on the glass seem to be growing faster than ever.

Correct me if I'm wrong but they both promote growth. Just try to cut it down when you are gonna go to war.

 

[TonyNguyen]

Thanks, guys for taking your time to read it. Sorry for the bad Gramma, I have a Criminal Justices degree not a English major. Again sorry for the misunderstanding. Let's all have peace and help each other out on this Hobby. I really hope I can help 1 person with the GHA and my work is done.

Cheers!

 

[Scrubber_steve]

Posted

Hi Tony.
What is the reason your present tank got GHA but none of your previous tanks did?

 

[drblakjak55]

Water changes, manual scrubbing, turkey baste the rocks every few days. The detritus that gathers in the cracks of the rocks becomes the soil for the algae. With every scrub less and less comes back til it’s gone

 

[TonyNguyen]

Hi Tony.
What is the reason your present tank got GHA but none of your previous tanks did?

Sorry, I deleted my first post and almost all of the other along that line...lol

Anyhow I believed that because this is the only tank that I started with 100% dried rock, and they had to leaked out. I can't pin point any other reason, I always did the same method of setup. I make my own rodi water and salt mix and I'm extra cautious of what goes in my tank. But these rocks was acid soak, and neutralize. I even went a extra 3 months soak in bleach and vinegar. Then a fresh water soak and hitting them up with pressure wash. Still not fool proof, so that and my bad habbits of over feeding and nature just takes it course.

 

[mike werner]

why was this thread title edited to something that makes no sense?and they removed tony's really cool lawn mower picture.i miss tony.

 

[sghera64]

why was this thread title edited to something that makes no sense?and they removed tony's really cool lawn mower picture.i miss tony.

Oops! Thanks for pointing out the deletion. Sure many readers just finding this thread are going to think that those of us who posted responses early on are a bunch of incoherent eggheads doing late night Ambien replying.

But I think you just straightened that all out.

 

[sghera64]

@TonyNguyen does the new title I-O method mean Input - Output method?