It was small so i wasn't worried..i would have to clean my glass once a week because a film would return. I heard about vibrant and started dosing the recommended amount...i started this 4 weeks ago and haven't had to clean my glass since.....BUT now i have an insanely huge hair algae outbreak every surface was covered almost overnight..i dont know what to do. Any help would be great appreciated
So i had a little algae problem
- Thread starter Edon8295
- Start date
- Tagged users None
SantaMonica
Valuable Member
Could be the die-off of micro life, putting nutrients back into the water. If it's not hurting corals, I'd just let it pass.
I recommend making it clean instantly via hard work. you now have the entire spectrum of human options to choose for this reef 
its true that rocks will cycle through various stages in their respective time. if you ever want to cheat that time, we can. there are many ways to kill the algae gone, here's one.
its true that rocks will cycle through various stages in their respective time. if you ever want to cheat that time, we can. there are many ways to kill the algae gone, here's one.
Ready to give up! GHA
Guys, I have GHA, and it’s taking over. It’s gotten worse and worse. It’s only one one single rock but I already have corals glued down. I got it from some corals I got at once. I got four at once and it affected two corals that I purchased and has just spread everywhere on this one rock. I have...
www.reef2reef.com
thats a perfect roadmap. Willed the invasion by allowance. Unwilled it by disallowance. we killed lots of bugs that others would prefer to keep. the only way to know if those bugs matter is to track the lifespan outcome of that tank. that algae is gone. they'd specifically typed about leaving the hobby. now they're upgrading to a 40 breeder with those clean rocks.
Last edited:
It is starting to encroach on most of the zoas..i try to remove by hand but this stuff is tough. Its taken over about 85% of all surfaces..nitrates are almost undetectable and phosphate is all zeros
ZipAdeeZoa
Valuable Member
If you stick with the vibrant from all my reading it seems to take about 6-9 weeks for it to kick GHA, you can see that here.
SantaMonica
Valuable Member
Ah, then it's probably phosphate coming out of the rocks:
Phosphate flow out of rocks
Many people, when they get their nutrient exports going strong for the first time, get worried when more (not less) algae starts to grow on their rocks. It seems really strange, especially when nitrate and phosphate tests have been lower than before. What is happening is that phosphate is coming out of the rocks. Remember, phosphate is invisible, so you can only see the effects of it, and it always "flows" from higher concentrations to lower concentrations (just like heat does).
Example: If your room is warm, and you put a cold object on the floor, heat from the air in the room will "flow" into the object until the object and the air are the same temperature. Example 2: If you put a hot object on the floor, heat will "flow" out of the object and go into the air in the room, until the air and the object are the same temperature. Now suppose you open your windows (in the winter). The warm air in your room will go out the windows, and it will get colder in the room. The object on the floor is now warmer than the air, so heat will flow out of the object and into the air, and then out the window.
Think of phosphate as the heat, and your rocks as the object on the floor, and your windows as your export filter device. As phosphate is exported out of the water, the phosphate level in the water drops. Now, since the phosphate level in the water is lower than the phosphate level in the rocks, phosphate flows from the rocks into the water, and then from the water to the export device. This continues until the phosphate level in the rocks and water are the same again. And remember, you can't see this invisible flow. It's like a fast flowing river, but a shallow one. And the flow out of the rocks can be much more phosphate than how much you are feeding each day.
This flow out of the rocks causes an interesting thing to happen. As the phosphate comes out of the rocks, it then becomes available to algae as soon as the phosphate reaches the surface of the rocks where the light is. So, since the surface of the rocks is rough and has light, it starts growing MORE algae there (not less) as the phosphate comes out of the rocks. This is a pretty amazing thing to see for the first time, because if you did not know what was happening you would probably think that your tank was getting worse. Here are the signs of phosphate coming out of the rocks:
1. The rocks are older, and have slowly developed algae problems in the past year.
2. Your phosphate export device is new and strong, maybe only a few months old.
3. Nitrate and phosphate measurements in the water are low, usually the lowest they have been in a long time.
4. Green hair algae (not brown) on the rocks has increased in certain spots, usually on corners and protrusions at the top.
5. The glass has not needed cleaning as much.
Most people have never seen the effects of large amounts of phosphate coming out of the rocks quickly. But sure enough, it can. How long does this continue? For 2 to 6 months, depending on how much phosphate is in the rocks, how strong your export is, and how many other phosphate-removing filters you have (macros, GFO, carbon dosing, etc). But one day you will see patches of white rock that were covered in green hair the day before; this is a sure sign that the algae are losing their phosphate supply from the rocks and can no longer hold on. Now it's just a matter of days before the rocks are clear.
I agree completely. Well said @SantaMonica!
Now, if you can explain the range of causes for cyano outbreaks in your next piece, that would be equally appreciated!
I would keep up with the Vibrant and be patient, do manual cleaning of GHA will increase effectiveness of treatment.
Similar threads
