I'm done, please help

stanleo

Valuable Member
View Badges
Joined
Jan 11, 2014
Messages
1,508
Reaction score
1,976
Location
Statesville, NC
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
When I had my first tank it was with canister filters and I had GHA like crazy. The only thing I found was doing frequent water changes. It was 55 gallons and I would do 2 to 3 gallon water changes daily. It was a pain but it seemed to help a lot. That and I had a lot of animals that ate algae and once every two weeks I would brush the rocks and clean the power heads. Also, one of the canister filters was filled with nothing but GFO. GHA still grew well but it was manageable.

This tank i have now has a fuge and its the only place GHA grows.
 

Megability

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Oct 19, 2019
Messages
221
Reaction score
175
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Also have you considered a sea hare?
The one time I tried one he worked great... until he got into and disintegrated by the Vortech MP10, yuck
 

Waynerock

2500 Club Member
View Badges
Joined
Jul 4, 2018
Messages
2,619
Reaction score
5,307
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Ok. I can't Id this stuff and it's really taken off after trying to control it manually. I've been dosing peroxide at 1ml per 10 gallons and it has not slowed a bit, almost seems like it's spreading faster.

ALK at 8dkh(Hanna checker), no3 is 0, po4 is .12(red sea). Not sure on mag but last test was 1380 awhile back. Salinity/iorc salt. Spectrapure rodi.

I assume no3 is zero due to algae growing everywhere. Does not seem to bother any corals other than covering them.

Tank is roughly 3 years old but has been moved twice, last was hundreds of miles. The sandbed was removed during last move. No algae issues before last move. Have 4 fish, 2 clowns, tailspot blenny, yellow watchman goby. Tuxedo urchin. Various snails like cerith, trochus, and unfortunately nassarius snails with a small bin of sand. Some red leg and scarlet crabs, 1 Halloween crab. Tank has been up for around 6 months after last move. Gets no sunlight. Coral seem to be doing ok. My blenny does randomly pick at the algae.

I tried removing a piece of rock and scrubbing it, algae came back just as strong after a week or two.

IMG_20191205_210716239.jpg IMG_20191205_211800000.jpg
Vibrant period! Go slow and follow the directions and you will be amazed. I have some super delicate SPS and LPS in my tank and they don’t ha e a care in the world after dosing once a week for the last 4 weeks. I am going to start dosing every 2 1/2 weeks now for maintenance. Stuff is a miracle IF you go slow. Like BRS said, the infestation happened over months and if needs to work slowly so it does not hurt anything. My GHA is almost totally gone
 

Chris Villalobos

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Dec 24, 2017
Messages
384
Reaction score
250
Location
Boise, ID, USA
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
If you have a small tank you should be able to manually remove all the GHA. I had great success with scrubbing the rocks with regular H2O2 on a toothbrush, while making sure to keep NO3 and PO4 under control. Repeat each week until GHA is gone. It took me months to finally get GHA under control but now my tank is beautiful!
 
OP
OP
J

Jeeperz

Valuable Member
View Badges
Joined
Sep 28, 2019
Messages
1,637
Reaction score
1,090
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
My issue with removing and scrubbing rocks with peroxide is 1. I have sps and other corals directly growing on the rock. Peroxide kills sps, ask me how I know. 2. I have a large rbta that is firmly attached to one of the main rocks. I have 6 rocks total. Weighing about 26lbs or so.

I will read up on vibrant. Is it invert safe? I love my snails and urchin and don't want to harm them.
 

All Mixed Up

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Jan 31, 2017
Messages
109
Reaction score
234
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
You could also try adding an emerald crab.

I've had success in both my current tank and past tanks with emerald crabs controlling gha.

Once the gha is gone they will act as janitors cleaning up uneaten food, detritus, and anything else they can scavenge. Some people have had issues with emeralds eating zoas, but I've never personally had that issue.
 

14 foot reef

Valuable Member
View Badges
Joined
Feb 22, 2018
Messages
2,166
Reaction score
3,445
Location
Apex NC
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
You should look into a Fluconazol/Vibrant combo. Jeff at Under Water Creations(Vibrant) prescribed just that to me and my 1350 gallon system that was infested, overgrown, and absolutly ugly is now 2 weeks later, 80% clean from GHA. I have NEVER had a "method" prescribed so effective ever in my 40 years of reefing.
 

DeepintheReef

Well-Known Member
View Badges
Joined
Oct 25, 2019
Messages
571
Reaction score
556
Location
Cape Coral
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
You should look into a Fluconazol/Vibrant combo. Jeff at Under Water Creations(Vibrant) prescribed just that to me and my 1350 gallon system that was infested, overgrown, and absolutly ugly is now 2 weeks later, 80% clean from GHA. I have NEVER had a "method" prescribed so effective ever in my 40 years of reefing.

Just received my fluconazole in the mail today. Looking forward to trying this as well as manual removal and nutrient monitoring haven't been able to defeat the issue.
 

Bossman

Well-Known Member
View Badges
Joined
Nov 3, 2018
Messages
580
Reaction score
678
Location
WAYLAND
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I agree on the Vibrant solution!

I have 4 tanks and every one has gone through a several month long period of green and brown algae. Currently running vibrant in my RS 425 after exhausting other methods. I still do some manual removal to speed things along. But it's made a world of difference.

As others have said, give vibrant a try. BRS did a recent video on Vibrant. Check it out.
 
OP
OP
J

Jeeperz

Valuable Member
View Badges
Joined
Sep 28, 2019
Messages
1,637
Reaction score
1,090
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I had an emerald crab but it turned white and died. I've tried them several times but they don't live more than a month or so in my tank. I even purchased one recently from reef cleaners along with nerites and dwarf cerith but the emerald was about 3"+ and was worried about it killing other stuff at that size so I gave it away and my snails are in qt now for about 3 weeks.
 
OP
OP
J

Jeeperz

Valuable Member
View Badges
Joined
Sep 28, 2019
Messages
1,637
Reaction score
1,090
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Would a Santa Monica drop .2 help? Would a sea hare need to be qt'd before putting in tank or treat it like an urchin? Best place to online order a small one?
 

Damon Jensen

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Dec 7, 2019
Messages
208
Reaction score
170
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Ok. I can't Id this stuff and it's really taken off after trying to control it manually. I've been dosing peroxide at 1ml per 10 gallons and it has not slowed a bit, almost seems like it's spreading faster.

ALK at 8dkh(Hanna checker), no3 is 0, po4 is .12(red sea). Not sure on mag but last test was 1380 awhile back. Salinity/iorc salt. Spectrapure rodi.

I assume no3 is zero due to algae growing everywhere. Does not seem to bother any corals other than covering them.

Tank is roughly 3 years old but has been moved twice, last was hundreds of miles. The sandbed was removed during last move. No algae issues before last move. Have 4 fish, 2 clowns, tailspot blenny, yellow watchman goby. Tuxedo urchin. Various snails like cerith, trochus, and unfortunately nassarius snails with a small bin of sand. Some red leg and scarlet crabs, 1 Halloween crab. Tank has been up for around 6 months after last move. Gets no sunlight. Coral seem to be doing ok. My blenny does randomly pick at the algae.

I tried removing a piece of rock and scrubbing it, algae came back just as strong after a week or two.

IMG_20191205_210716239.jpg IMG_20191205_211800000.jpg
I love my sea hare Blooberta, she (I have no idea) eats hair algae like a bad mamajama! I have zero hair algae and will often move her to the sump for a few days to keep it in check. I like to try to respond to different issues with critters. Some sea hares can produce toxins, but I did lose Bloobert with no ill effects. With any poisonous animal,, the issue is stress. Death may not always be stressful.

I tend to keep aggressive fish, Niger, Clown and Picasso triggers they all leave the sea hare alone.
 
OP
OP
J

Jeeperz

Valuable Member
View Badges
Joined
Sep 28, 2019
Messages
1,637
Reaction score
1,090
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I like the idea of biological control vs dosing something. What specific sea hare am I looking for? Do they grow fast?
 

miniChou

Community Member
View Badges
Joined
Apr 23, 2016
Messages
91
Reaction score
56
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I agree on the Vibrant solution!

I have 4 tanks and every one has gone through a several month long period of green and brown algae. Currently running vibrant in my RS 425 after exhausting other methods. I still do some manual removal to speed things along. But it's made a world of difference.

As others have said, give vibrant a try. BRS did a recent video on Vibrant. Check it out.
 

Megability

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Oct 19, 2019
Messages
221
Reaction score
175
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I just watched that BRS video testing Vibrant, thanks, interesting, I think I’m going to get some and try it too...

So it won’t affect coral?
Someone above said no but BRS didn’t say one way or another

Also, why does that guy talk exactly like Ryan too?
Odd... maybe it’s just me ;)
 
OP
OP
J

Jeeperz

Valuable Member
View Badges
Joined
Sep 28, 2019
Messages
1,637
Reaction score
1,090
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Just because it's on BRS doesn't mean I trust it. Their salt test is nothing like what I experience with the same salt. YMMV. I know mine did with their salt tests and I call 100% bs based on my own testing of reef crystals.
 

Mastering the art of locking and unlocking water pathways: What type of valves do you have on your aquarium plumbing?

  • Ball valves.

    Votes: 71 53.4%
  • Gate valves.

    Votes: 68 51.1%
  • Check valves.

    Votes: 34 25.6%
  • None.

    Votes: 29 21.8%
  • Other.

    Votes: 9 6.8%
Back
Top