It decimated your tank but you're still here to tell about it! So tell us about it!

[brandon429]

most scuba divers know/see the real reef always has algae (to feed grazers) even when params are great. To me thats a big takeaway...and that what we are wanting for our tanks is rather unnatural

thats why I dont see algae as indicative of bad things or necessarily bad params, its adapted as well as our corals to any source of nutrient or light. we r trying to make algae free tanks which is the real imbalance, but I prefer that to the forested look

 

[Crotalus]

UGH!! CRAP!!! NOOOOO!!!

That's what you say when you see it! ALGAE!! This is a good question and poll on a Monday because we have all week to discuss it!

Algae is going to happen in this hobby. No way around it. But sometimes algae can get such a strong foothold in your aquarium that it seems almost impossible to get rid of and at times destroy what you have built. It can be super frustrating and is probably one of the number one causes of people leaving the hobby. So let me ask you a few questions.

1. Have you ever had an incident where algae decimated your reef tank? (killed corals, caused a tank breakdown etc.) Tell us about it.

2. What type of algae did you have that caused a tank breakdown or that killed your corals?

3. If you were able to beat the algae how did you do it?


I was injured and couldn't do any maintenance for months. I had always had some GHA, but it took over. Mechanical removal and several tangs couldn't keep up.

I had GHA only.

I used Flux Rx and it totally eradicated the GHA over two weeks.. The resultant nutrient spike caused Cyano to take over. Chemiclean took care of that. Neither has come back except for some GHA in the sump. Some of the corals retreated for a bit but nothing died and everything recovered. I'm dosing Vibrant to keep things in check now.

 

[spidercrab]

Ive thought about it but the problem is that the algae doesnt seem to bother the coral while unsightly actually they seem to do even better during algae outbreaks for me.

 

[WallyB]

YUP!!!

This is BEFORE.

I left the tank alone for 1 year, but corals didn't grow and were very pale.

So I started feeding the Corals Daily, and they grew and got color.

First Came the Cyano Outbreak

Then came the Green HAIR ALAGE

I plucked and prune, got CUC, but eventually there was no hope.

Even made an DIY Contraption to Scrub/Siphon out the Algae.


THEN 2 consecutive TEAR DOWN/Rock-Scrubs solved it.

AFTER TEAR DOWN (Same Tank/rocks/corals)

The Cyano outbreak was HARMLESS. The GHA outbreak irritated the corals.

However since that last photo a few years ago....
I FOUND OTHER Creative WAYS to kill each and every Coral that made it that time.

There was a positive side to that GHA outbreak.
I worked with my Son to made ….

Two Star Wars Lego-Brick Parody movies (about Tank Algae)

The Tank and my struggles were used as the Set.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycQ9YPuAaVk&t=11s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbjrROyxjlo&t=218s

 

[jurgenph]

my very first tank... double whammy of red/purple turf algae and colonial hydroids.

nothing would beat this red turf algae, mexican turbos mowed it down, but always left something behind so it grew back.
then they starved to death.

running low nutrients didn't put a dent in it.

maybe today things like Vibrant may take care of it, has anyone beaten it these days?

and then the colonial hydroids... i went as far as blowtorching rocks with them. but i wan't able to get to all of it.

maybe not the whole reason that tank got taken down, some personal and family things contributed to that as well.
but i hated those two


J.

 

[S.Pepper]

No algae as of yet. But the tank has only been up a month as of today.

 

[Fishurama]

This was the worst my tank ever got. Its when i was running a predator tank. Triggers and eels are messy eaters lol. Since switching over to a reef I only have film algae and a slight bit of what looks to be cyano i have to blow off every week or so as it becomes somewhat noticeable without trying to look for it.

 

[jschottenfeld]

Haven't torn down my 125g but have come close. Tank is 15 years old and about 3 years ago I had a bad case of cotton candy algae. Tried basic remedies...increased water changes, decreased feedings , nothing worked. Kept trying different kinds of snails and eventually the snails kicked some serious butt! Problem is now, 3 years later I have the same thing happening again. I keep on buying either Mexican Turbo or star snails and they keep on dying. Getting very frustrated. Only now after my 3rd batch of snails am I seeing some of them living. Hopefully they're hungry?!?
Don't know why the snails keep on dying or going into a hibernation kind of state. No movement for weeks, but they are still alive.

 

[JohnD4g]

I haven't broken one down due to algae, but I have gotten close to it. Had a bad outbreak a few years ago on a previous tank (upgraded) and removed much of it by hand, then removed some rocks and bathed in vinegar then bleach. Put it all back together and added a clean up crew. Successful but frustrating.

 

[TVV]

And yes, I have been doing everything you're "supposed to" do. I have always done water changes weekly, change filter floss 2-3x/wk. Rowaphos renewed monthly. I also took rocks out to scrub with peroxide, which works for 4-5 days afterward. I pick and I brush with a toothbrush. I haven't in the past 2 weeks because it feels like there is no point. I have all these zoas growing on the rocks, now I don't know what to do. I would get new rock but not sure if that would even help at this point.

Im for sure no expert here, but I got advice from my LFS to turn down on white and increase blue to keep algae at bay. He suggested 65% blue and 25% white on the 32 biocube. I replaced the stock lights with Steve's LED's to make corals happy and have more control at the same time. I am happy with the Steve's LED lights. I also replaced the weak butt return pump with a much stronger, quieter one to increase filtering of the tank.

 

[TVV]

most scuba divers know/see the real reef always has algae (to feed grazers) even when params are great. To me thats a big takeaway...and that what we are wanting for our tanks is rather unnatural

thats why I dont see algae as indicative of bad things or necessarily bad params, its adapted as well as our corals to any source of nutrient or light. we r trying to make algae free tanks which is the real imbalance, but I prefer that to the forested look

I would tend to agree if you are referring to macro algaes. I tried that, couldn't keep it alive long.

 

[TVV]

No algae as of yet. But the tank has only been up a month as of today.

Build it and they will come!

 

[lapin]

Like others said, algae is not a bad thing unless it gets out of hand. I have a few different types and we all get along just fine.

 

[aarbutina]

How do i vote yes but kinda? I can't find any pictures but I had such a bad grape caulerpa infestation every square inch of my tank was covered. My solution was to do nothing. I essentially didn't touch the tank and let the algae continue to grow. Eventually it grew so much that the algae on the top block the light from the algae on the rock work and it died off. I scooped the mat off the surface of the water and didn't have an issue with that type of algae again. LOL

 

[fish farmer]

I got a good handle on my GHA and red algaes this past year. More frequent WC's, adding a cheato grow area, refreshing the cleanup crew, Mexican turbos did wonder on a red algae nothing else would touch.

GHA algae started to grow back around September. I expected low flow, one of my circulating pumps wasn't pushing like it used to. I came to find out my RO/DI filters were due for changing as well.

I was planning on a fresh clean up crew, but one shipment came in mostly DOA in September and another shipment of snails didn't acclimate well so I'm at the mercy of LFS purchases until spring. I'll be using the hand snail and tweezer urchin while I wait.

 

[WallyB]

my very first tank... double whammy of red/purple turf algae and colonial hydroids.

nothing would beat this red turf algae, mexican turbos mowed it down, but always left something behind so it grew back.
then they starved to death.

running low nutrients didn't put a dent in it.

maybe today things like Vibrant may take care of it, has anyone beaten it these days?

and then the colonial hydroids... i went as far as blowtorching rocks with them. but i wan't able to get to all of it.

maybe not the whole reason that tank got taken down, some personal and family things contributed to that as well.
but i hated those two


J.

After my Alage Outbreak, the post above.

I made a DIY Algae Scrubber (Built into my Sump).

Been years and NOT A SPOT of Algae.
Algae Scrubbers Take Time (Months) before they show long term results.

I don't believe in Chemical Solutions, since if you kill the Algae the toxins/Phosphate stay in your system. Plus Chemical will kill more than just the Algae.

Algae is a symptom of too many nutrients, insufficient nutrient processing/export, too much White/Red Lighting. NO CHEMICAL will make the cause go away.

If you need/wish to treat with Chemicals, (DO IT OUTSIDE OF YOUR SYSTEM), where you can flush the rocks before putting back), and chemical/garbage is removed.

I still would rather use a Brush/Rinse. (if you make the effort to remove rocks).

 

[WallyB]

How do i vote yes but kinda? I can't find any pictures but I had such a bad grape caulerpa infestation every square inch of my tank was covered. My solution was to do nothing. I essentially didn't touch the tank and let the algae continue to grow. Eventually it grew so much that the algae on the top block the light from the algae on the rock work and it died off. I scooped the mat off the surface of the water and didn't have an issue with that type of algae again. LOL

As bad as this.

 

[brandon429]

@jschottenfeld

I have a work example for you
Requires disassembly, to access, not as some do over we are keeping your rocks age and diversity but hitting the target:

ID Request - Red Plants and Spikey Plant

How about a Tang or two, mine eat this algae like crazy.

www.reef2reef.com

When you take the rocks out to access, use a kill method that gives the least growback. Your algae isn't due to anything bad it's just a hitchhiker

At fifteen years, the rocks and sand have absorbed plenty of detritus, we could clean all that + kill target and reassemble using skip cycle means.
Though your algae isn't same species it works just like that one. It's actually not hard to beat. Instead of doing whole tank, do one test rock now and we upscale efforts only when you find test rock variables that stop growback.

I enjoy collecting work examples. Anyone here message me for gha or algae rebuilds, let's map out an action matched to your issue

The initial cause of algae issues is permitting algae...to fragment. To self feed as detritus attaches to fronds and breaks down on site in ways you can't test. Algae has no cause, it's supposed to be on a reef it's us that want unnatural balances.

 

[robbyg]

To bad this poll did not have an option of having bad algae problems and then beating it without tearing down the tank.

After the house cleaning lady decided to use a whole can of insecticide to kill a trail of ants near my Tank it was pretty much a done deal for 6 years worth of grown SPS and LPS coral and about 10 fish. Including a breeding pair of Mandarins and Clown fish.

Tank sat for 2 years as an Algae farm with only two fish in it that somehow managed not to die with everything else. Six line wrasses seem to be immune to pesticides! As I pondered whether to throw in the towel or not I finally got back the urge to look at the tank again after 24 months of mental recuperation.

By this time it had turned into an Algae and Diatom farm as I had just about every form of it just living it up and enjoying life.

First step was to redo my complete RoDi system as this had been neglected for two years. I then did three water changes that removed about 80% of the water in a three week period. Second stage was to turn up the flow and turn up back the lights (I had cut them down by 50% to save electricity). Next step was to set back up my Sulfur reactor and my Phosphate Reactor.

Second step was to wait it out. The Algae was in heaven, it had more flow and more lights but did not realize that it's nutrient supply was rapidly dwindling. It grew faster than ever with nice 10" strands waving in the flow. The Diatoms but the bullet first. All the Red Algae soon started to also die. This gave a little more life to the GHA. It kept on going until at about the three month mark it started to loose its color and went from dark green to a lighter green. Soon the farthest ends started to whiten out. Now I came in and started to remove it by hand. I know Algae and it can live on its own dead like new trees live off of old dead trees.

Total time was about four months and the Algae was beaten back into submission. Phosphate and Nitrate almost zero and even the glass stayed almost perfectly clean for two weeks at a time. I now moved to running Carbon for a few days and then changed it out again and repeated. Next came one last big water change and I was ready to start restocking it.

 

[Rich Klein]

Never had to break a tank down (yet)...

I attribute this to always being super attentive/proactive, and never starting a tank with dry rock....

Most of my problems have been due to starting with Dry Rock. Never again. I got through it, but took 2 years to get where I would have been in 6 months if I have gone with all or part Live Rock.