Please identify this algae

[bozo]

I’ve been dealing with this algae for about 4-5 months. The tank is almost a year old.

My phosphates and nitrates have been “zero” since the beginning. I run a nyos 120 and a gfo reactor 24/7.

My clean up crew won’t touch it. Neither will the turbo I have in the tank.

I have a yellow and a sailfin tang that wont touch it

It comes off when I brush it.

I did 1 round of fluconazole 100 mg and it kept it at bay, so I’m on round two. Opened and dumped all 10 tablets in. 50 gallon total volume. Hope this 2nd round works.

Is this even GHA?

 

[Shibaken3]

Looks like green hair algae. Adding more CUC helps. 1 snail per gallon is recommended.

 

[Lavey29]

If you have completely bottomed out nutrients levels for nitrates and phosphate then your corals will starve to death and you will have never ending algae problems.

 

[Fishy888]

I wouldn’t go for that many snails. Once the algae’s gone most will die off, creating more problems. I’d do one snail per ten gallons. You also want to have a diverse clean up crew.

I think I see some cyanobacteria as well as GHA.

 

[bozo]

If you have completely bottomed out nutrients levels for nitrates and phosphate then your corals will starve to death and you will have never ending algae problems.

Yea I dosed my no3 and po4 to 8 and 0.1 ppm while dosing fluconazole.

It’s just this algae keeps coming back no matter how much brushing I do.

CUC won’t touch it. I just bought a pack from reef cleaners 3 weeks ago

Didn’t touch it.

I’m hoping this 2nd round of fluconazole will do it.

I wonder if it’s even GHA anymore Because the turbo won’t touch it

 

[Fishy888]

Yea I dosed my no3 and po4 to 8 and 0.1 ppm while dosing fluconazole.

It’s just this algae keeps coming back no matter how much brushing I do.

CUC won’t touch it. I just bought a pack from reef cleaners 3 weeks ago

Didn’t touch it.

I’m hoping this 2nd round of fluconazole will do it.

I wonder if it’s even GHA anymore Because the turbo won’t touch it

It could be bryopsis too. Some closer images under white lights might help identify your algae better.

 

[jhadaway]

I’ll throw this in carefully. I just beat a massive gha outbreak with flux rx. 0 phos and nitrate before i started treatment and zero after it all melted away. I did increase my cuc but for me and some others no3 and po4 aren't always the issue. Im putting my 100 watt fuge light back on after a few water changed and hope to outcompete the gha in the tank. Maybe revirw your light schedule and the amount of white you ate running as well. Gha can make you pull your hair out. Btw my cuc wouldn't touch mine either.
I'm now dosing phos and nitrate. Just feels wrong…

 

[Shibaken3]

How much CUC did u get?
How many gallons is the tank?

 

[slingfox]

Go to your local LFS and pick up a few of each of the type of snails and crabs they have. See what is willing to work to clean a your rocks.

Fluconazole sometimes takes multiple 14 week treatments to work on some type of algae. I do not believe full dosage is necessary.

I am also dealing with GHA right now after going through a 3 week battle with dinos and then 2 weeks with cyano. I have been gradually adding cleanup crew who clean a lot of the rock surface but I have GHA growing in the many crevices and not enough CUC to cover everything. The GHA battle is a lot less annoying and dangerous than dinos which absolutely shredded my CUC and killed most of my few coral frags.

 

[bozo]

It could be bryopsis too. Some closer images under white lights might help identify your algae better.

I'll take better photos in the AM.

Wouldnt the fluconazole kill the bryopsis?

Before dosing fluconzaole the 1st time, i scrubbed the rocks and it grew back slowly. But I did a big water change and it grew back when the fluconazole was out of the system.

1st dose of fluconazole lasted 13 days, then I did a big water change. This was 3 days ago.

Went straight to round 2 yesterday.

the tank is 50 gallons total. I bought a 40 gallon pack from reef cleaners.

 

[bozo]

I’ll throw this in carefully. I just beat a massive gha outbreak with flux rx. 0 phos and nitrate before i started treatment and zero after it all melted away. I did increase my cuc but for me and some others no3 and po4 aren't always the issue. Im putting my 100 watt fuge light back on after a few water changed and hope to outcompete the gha in the tank. Maybe revirw your light schedule and the amount of white you ate running as well. Gha can make you pull your hair out. Btw my cuc wouldn't touch mine either.
I'm now dosing phos and nitrate. Just feels wrong…

Thank you for the response.

I hope it works for me as well.

I took my skimmer cup off to let it overflow. Wont do a water change for about 3 weeks.

How long did it take for you to wipe out the GHA with fluconazole?

Thanks

 

[Fishy888]

I’m starting to believe you have bryopsis and not GHA. Since your cleanup crew won’t touch it and fluconazole works on it I’m pretty sure it’s bryopsis.

 

[Tcook]

My tank was overrun by bryopsis and gha. Did 3 rounds of fluconazole. Bryopsis died quickly after the first round. Gha after the third. Now I’m dealing with a green slime and dinos. Lost a few corals. Hope you do better.

 

[Fritz05]

I have used fluconazole 3 times for bryopsis and the last time I turned off my skimmer for two weeks. The bryopsis died off significantly quicker than the first two times and now after several months does not seem to return.

 

[jhadaway]

Thank you for the response.

I hope it works for me as well.

I took my skimmer cup off to let it overflow. Wont do a water change for about 3 weeks.

How long did it take for you to wipe out the GHA with fluconazole?

Thanks

Mine was 95% gone in one week. I dosed for 100 gallons but my volume is more 75 ish. I had 2 different types but i don't think i had bryopsis. I would check nitrate and phosphate before your water change to tell you if you have any from the algea. I did not. Slowly start dosing after treatment if you are zero. I lost a torch and a goni from being bottomed out. My tank is 2 1/2 years old.

 

[Garf]

If you have completely bottomed out nutrients levels for nitrates and phosphate then your corals will starve to death and you will have never ending algae problems.

It MAY also make algae unattractive to herbivores as it becomes either covered in Cyanobacteria, or produces compounds to prevent predation. Healthy hair algae grows fast, but is delicious. Bryopsis is a different matter.