need advice on how to rid 2 corals of algae

[cracker]

I'm at my wits end here. I have a Monti & I think an open brain maybe . They are literally covered with hair & a broad leaf stuff Iv'e not seen before. As of last night , No3 was 2 , Po4 0.00 .
I'm about to try a peroxide dip! Please give me other options. These corals are getting smothered !

 

[ddrueckh]

Usually a Coral gets covered with algae if it (or most of it) has died. How do the other corals look? Are they all healthy?

 

[jsker]

Toothbrush and peroxide, Toothbrush first to knock of the heavy stuff and then a quick 10 parts water to 1 peroxide dip of 30 seconds.

 

[cracker]

Thanks for the replies ! So the pics look worse than they really are. (Couldn't get the light right.)
The monti ,where it still shows has got good color & is encrusting on the rest of the plug ! when I brush it I can see some color underneath.
The other has good polyps but are scattered & choked out in between ! I swear the tank over all isn't that bad with algae The others look pretty good
Just these 2 are covered?
They will get smothered & die anyway so why not try harsh dipping?

 

[cracker]

Ok after research on H2o2 dip all I got was "can't" dip sps & a bunch of differing concentrations & time spent. I will take Jsker's advice . Will do this tomorrow . Thanks again !

 

[cracker]

Ok, I performed the dip using a 10 to 1 tank water/ H2o2 . I added 10 more seconds to Jskers 30 sec recommendation . Barely dented the existing algae with the tooth brush fearing of ripping out the polyps.
So I'll see what happens & be back in a couple days hopefully sooner. The worry was not clearly stated in the original contract !

 

[Sarah24!]

Hello,

Was curious, I couldn’t see the pic super well to be honest, but is there anyway you can cut around the coral? Meaning, if there is alage growing on parts (where the coral isn’t, then cut it off if possible). With the parts that are encrusted, I know you can’t but it will help eliminate it. I have seen a few people cut the rock or whatever it’s on, as close as possible. It’s fragged and smaller yes but, saves the coral and ride the alage. @jsker advice is really good also, but I haven’t tried it yet. I don’t have many issues with algae because I run my uv sterilizer probably too much. Even when I see tiny amounts of bubble alage, lol I take the whole dang rock out. Then I go to surgery on it in my kitchen sink. That way if I break a bubble or lose one, down be garbage disposal it goes. I don’t rinse with my tap water, but will rinse with fresh saltwater outside of my tank.

 

[JoshH]

@cracker I had a similar issue with two of mine and did exactly what @jsker suggested once a day for 3 days and I killed every last strand of the stuff. Also where I knew it Wouldn't directly contact the coral I squirted 100% peroxide. These were acans and blastos so a little different but it worked.

 

[cracker]

Thank You Josh ! I was already considering another dip if this one dip wasn't enough. Your post gives me confidence .So we shall see !
Hi Miss Sarah , thanks for stopping by ! If all fails I will frag these pieces & try to save what I can . I have an older Huge UV on the shelf . I don't think I need it though. The tank over all isn't all ate up with algae. I do admit I have a wide variety . Like algae never discovered in the sea before !

 

[JoshH]

Thank You Josh ! I was already considering another dip if this one dip wasn't enough. Your post gives me confidence .So we shall see !
Hi Miss Sarah , thanks for stopping by ! If all fails I will frag these pieces & try to save what I can . I have an older Huge UV on the shelf . I don't think I need it though. The tank over all isn't all ate up with algae. I do admit I have a wide variety . Like algae never discovered in the sea before !

Any time, as far as I'm concerned just keep dipping until it's gone. Granted yours is a touch thicker than mine was BUT should just mean an extra dip or two. My tank has a plethora of algae as Well Not overrun but here and there and the peroxide trick has worked pretty darn good at keeping things in check.

 

[cracker]

sounds like our tanks are similar . I know from personal experience peroxide does take out algae big time.
so 24 hrs later the green invasion appears a little faded. Not enough to have good feelings about it. Tomorrow if it looks the same, I'll dip again .
I take to heart that the low % solution isn't too strong. I saw a Ytube clip where the guy was dipping 100 % peroxide for 3 minutes !

 

[PopaSmurph]

I use my fighting conch to clean my frags if they get covered in algae, usually cleaned overnight after being placed in sand bed

 

[cobast]

How do you treat algae spots on rocks that you can't easily take out of the tank? I can see patches of algae just starting to appear and I want to treat it before it grows any larger

 

[JoshH]

How do you treat algae spots on rocks that you can't easily take out of the tank? I can see patches of algae just starting to appear and I want to treat it before it grows any larger

What type of algae do you believe you have?

 

[PopaSmurph]

How do you treat algae spots on rocks that you can't easily take out of the tank? I can see patches of algae just starting to appear and I want to treat it before it grows any larger

How old is you tank? There is a ugly phase in every tanks life cycle. Or you have a good source ammonia and phosphate to keep it growing.I've put a refugium on a tank to grow hair algae in so it didn't grow in display. I've also let some persistent patches grow out long so I could get a good hold on it for manual removal. Algae is not just a quick battle you can fix, you can remove phosphates efficiently but algae will consume ammonia before it breaks down in the cycle so now you need different algae to out compete what your trying to get rid of, or it's in a dead zone with no flow there is food and poop in the algae fueling its growth. So many variables...

 

[cracker]

How do you treat algae spots on rocks that you can't easily take out of the tank? I can see patches of algae just starting to appear and I want to treat it before it grows any larger

CO, I have been experimenting with spot dosing Peroxide on rock in the tank. I ran across more tan a few people doing this. !st is to remove as much pulling it brushing etc then with"all "flow off. Then sparingly squirt the H2o2 over the spot. Just let it sit. If there is no current to blow it away it kinda stays there. Try not to stir the water.

On another note After 2 dips per Jsker's instructions 4 days apart.
before

After
It has clearly worked very well. The monti still has good color which isn't as bleached as the pic seems. the favia has lost even more algae but the polyps are not as open as usual. will consider another dip in 4 days. As you can plainly see I have more algae removal to do !
Thanks for the advice !