Still battling the GHA .. and dosing with Vibrant

[ebeez]

 

[LC8Sumi]

It might help to pull the fuge. That was a gamechanger on mine.

 

[ebeez]

It might help to pull the fuge. That was a gamechanger on mine.

Thanks for the reply LC8Sumi. I was thinking that keeping the Chato would help battle the phosphate and starve out the GHA. Are you saying that you had Chato, removed it and now the GHA has gone?

 

[Victor Nguyen]

It took me 3 months to get rid of GHA. Just keep doing water change. The main thing is figuring out where is your source of phosphate and getting rid of that. I was dosing reef roid and the phosphate was in my rocks for awhile. So I stopped dosing reef roid and just doing water change. I also set my light in my fuge 24/7 to get my chaeto grows. What is your parameters? and How long have you been battling GHA?

 

[LC8Sumi]

The problem IMO with the fuge is, that it not only pulls the nutrients and trace elements needed for algae, but also the ones that would help to build a healthy bacteria population and diversity in the tank (we’re talking about early tank stage). For example if most of the algae is sucking up ammonia, then you’ll never really have the ammonia->nitrite bacteria and nitrite->nitrate bacteria. Maybe the whole nitrogen cycle then is relied on algae, either nussiance or macro (cheato and stuff). I think reintroducing a fuge later on can be beneficial, but probably not at this point. My tank is 3 years old and have been running a fuge from day 1. I never really was able to get rid of nussiance algae, so as a last resort I’ve pulled the fuge, dosed vibrant and flucanozole (to give the bacteria a head start), and basicly try to cycle the tank “properly” for the first time. What I see after 2 months is that almost all of the GHA is gone, skimmate looks “better”, and the SPS are coloring up. I believe that for vibrant and flucanozole to be effective it’s needed to pull the fuge, so it can deal with the problematic algae instead of the beneficial one. I might be on a wrong track though, it’s just that I’m desperate after 3 years of doing “fashionable” things

 

[JoniLeigh]

I'm also trying to get rid of GHA at the moment. If you don't mind me asking, what's the purpose of the 2 cameras on your fuge? Just so you can keep an eye on it while you're away?

 

[ebeez]

I'm also trying to get rid of GHA at the moment. If you don't mind me asking, what's the purpose of the 2 cameras on your fuge? Just so you can keep an eye on it while you're away?

Hi JoniLeigh, How long have you been battling it? Yes it just to see how full the skimmer is and where the water level is in the sump. I use the Apex controller so I can remotely turn off/on the ATO or skimmer if it is full or over flowing.

 

[ebeez]

Here is an update on my GHA issue. I can see some improvement so looking forward to another 3-4 days of the same treatment.

 

[ebeez]

It took me 3 months to get rid of GHA. Just keep doing water change. The main thing is figuring out where is your source of phosphate and getting rid of that. I was dosing reef roid and the phosphate was in my rocks for awhile. So I stopped dosing reef roid and just doing water change. I also set my light in my fuge 24/7 to get my chaeto grows. What is your parameters? and How long have you been battling GHA?

Hi Victor,
Sorry for the delay. My parameters are attached. Phosphates were registering 0 for obvious reasons. Nitrites - 0, Nitrates - 5, ammonia - 0, It's been about 3 weeks now for the battle but I think I am making progress.

 

[Victor Nguyen]

You should keep checking for phosphate because GHA might be giving you a false reading. That’s great you are making progress. It will eventually goes away when phosphate level decreases with more water change. I think you are on the right track.

Hi Victor,
Sorry for the delay. My parameters are attached. Phosphates were registering 0 for obvious reasons. Nitrites - 0, Nitrates - 5, ammonia - 0, It's been about 3 weeks now for the battle but I think I am making progress.

 

[zalick]

You should keep checking for phosphate because GHA might be giving you a false reading. That’s great you are making progress. It will eventually goes away when phosphate level decreases with more water change. I think you are on the right track.

This is a common misconception IMO. Algae does not "pull PO4" out of the water column faster than you can test. Algae does not work like an electromagnet. If you have phosphate in the water column, it will be evenly distributed, generally speaking. IE if the algae is consuming P04 from the water column, then your tester (assuming its sensitive enough) will measure the actual P04 in the water.

Algae can and will survive in water columns with 0 measurable P04. Algae doesn't need much to survive and it can feed off its one cell death.

I ran a ULN system for a long time and eventually algae and dinos took over. I measured 0 nitrates and 0 phosphates. There is a TON of evidence out now that ULN systems are generally not ideal. Yes, they can be successful, but it opens the door to major problems.

Likewise, you can run a system with what is considered "high P04" with zero algae. Its all a balance.

Starving your system of P04 through aggressive P04 removal is not the solution to GHA IMO. You need to find other ways to out compete the algae.

 

[Victor Nguyen]

Water change will cure anything. Imbalance system and excess nutrients creates algae outbreak. Multiple water changes (10-15%) reduce nutrients excess and rebalance the system. It also gives your tank the time to grow the bacteria naturally.

Algae is good if it stays in the sump and not in the display. Power heads can also help with that. Strong flows, low phosphate (not zero), a skimmer, and a refugium can help battle algae outbreak imo.

This is a common misconception IMO. Algae does not "pull PO4" out of the water column faster than you can test. Algae does not work like an electromagnet. If you have phosphate in the water column, it will be evenly distributed, generally speaking. IE if the algae is consuming P04 from the water column, then your tester (assuming its sensitive enough) will measure the actual P04 in the water.

Algae can and will survive in water columns with 0 measurable P04. Algae doesn't need much to survive and it can feed off its one cell death.

I ran a ULN system for a long time and eventually algae and dinos took over. I measured 0 nitrates and 0 phosphates. There is a TON of evidence out now that ULN systems are generally not ideal. Yes, they can be successful, but it opens the door to major problems.

Likewise, you can run a system with what is considered "high P04" with zero algae. Its all a balance.

Starving your system of P04 through aggressive P04 removal is not the solution to GHA IMO. You need to find other ways to out compete the algae.

 

[zalick]

Low phosphate (not zero)

This is a statement I disagree with. And what I think causes tons of confusion to new reefers. What is "low"? And why would low help control the algae? If you have algae and your phosphates are at . 03, should you go lower? .003? .0003?

what do you consider high phosphates and low phosphate and why does your low number help control algae where the high number does not?

 

[zalick]

Water change will cure anything.

This is incorrect. Also a common misconception and blanket advice given as an answer to problems. Water changes can worsen a problem. Dino's is one example.

 

[Victor Nguyen]

You don’t need to tell me I’m wrong or my statements are incorrect. We are talking about our own experiences here. No one is right or correct.

We are trying to help ebeez here. You are freely to give your own opinions. Don’t need to target and call someone else is incorrect or their statements are misconceptions.

 

[C. Eymann]

Might not be GHA if vibrant and nutrient control isnt working , could be a filamentous cyanobacteria in the family Lyngbya, very easy to mistake the two.

 

[zalick]

You don’t need to tell me I’m wrong or my statements are incorrect. We are talking about our own experiences here. No one is right or correct.

We are trying to help ebeez here. You are freely to give your own opinions. Don’t need to target and call someone else is incorrect or their statements are misconceptions.

Sorry, did not mean to offend you. And I was not commenting on you personally. I think it is important to engage in spirited discussion and that includes disagreement. Too often all the posts are couched in "this is my experience" but then conclude with "this is how you should do it". Its important to not only post your own opinion, but also post disagreements.


Your statement did not say "water changes cured all my problems". If it had, I would not have commented. Your statement said "will cure anything", without qualification. This is not a correct statement, and reefers should not read it and assume that water changes will cure their own problems.


"water changes cure anything" is not accurate. In some cases, water changes make problems worse.

"keeping phosphates low will help solve algae problems" is also not accurate. In some cases, increasing phosphates is necessary to combat algae.

Again, I'm not commenting on how you've operated your tank, or your own experience.

 

[ReefGrammie]

Feel free to visit my tank thread! I've been a long-time reefer who started over a few months ago. I have also been dealing with a nasty hair algae outbreak. I'm almost there, but it has taken at least 3 months and a lot of diligence.

Good luck!

 

[Scdell]

GHA will go away eventually. Everything needs to run its course. Vibrant will work. It's just going to take some time. I used it. I dosed twice a week for weeks. About a whole bottle. A!ong with scrubbing the rocks and removing as much as you can. Quit looking for a quick fix.

 

[ebeez]

Thank you to everyone for all the replies! Love this forum!!! Incredible collaboration!!! I really appreciate the responses and input!