This is my last resort before i completely give up on my tank. I believe i have gha

[Abonifay]

Hello my name is Anthony. This is my first post. But not my first time on here. I’ve been a ghost watching, learning, and researching as a non member since i started 8 years ago in the saltwater world. I greatly appreciate this forum and everyone in it.

So I’ve had numerous tanks with great beauty and success. But it seems that as i started getting into bigger and better stuff everything has become more complicated. I have a 75g that i had to restart a year and a half ago due to what i believe was a mass murder due to my bubble tip anemones. Everything died within minutes. I tore the tank apart cleaned everything and started over new sand new rock new water. I let the tank mature and cycle for a month before introducing anything. I also continuously checked my water and it’s always perfect in the parameters. I have 2 engineer gobys and 2 Percula clowns. That’s all I’m able to have keep alive in there since gha has broken out. I’ve literally tried everything to get rid of it. I’ve done 20 percent water changes every week for the last 2 months. I scrubbed the algae off all rocks. I have a hang on the back refugium that i can never seem to keep chateo algae alive in. I tried dosing. I tried the anti fungal pills. I’ve tried snails and crabs and fish and sea hairs that are known to eat and help. I limit light hours and food. I have a canister filter that i change the filters every 2 weeks. I’m at a loss. Also I bought a uv sterilizer and put it in the refugium where it’s not in contact with the fish or anything in the main tank. I recently 2 weeks ago cleaned all the algae off the rocks again and this is what it looks like. Please don’t be tooo hostile. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Deltatail14]

What kind of aquarium are you going for? I mean this in the sincerest manner. If you want a fish only with live rock maybe try more algae grazers like a smaller tang or blenny and let it just happen. This hobby should be enjoyable and should not be as stressful as you seem to be making it.

 

[Johnnynle]

Someone here’s gonna help. No worries. What are your water parameters? I know you said it’s perfect but they’re gonna need some numbers... Do you use RODI water?

 

[Abonifay]

Yes fish only. I’ve had bicolor and lawnmower but both died within a week. I’ve never had this happen before. The only things that have survived is what i have in it currently. But i didn’t want to introduce anything more before getting it under control. I don’t want to be the grim reaper all the time. I wouldn’t mind if there was some algae but it’s a constant battle

 

[Abonifay]

I will do it tomorrow again. And yes i use only reverse osmosis water for filling and have been getting my salt water from the local aquatic store

 

[snow 905]

I would wait it out and keep no4 in check its just one of those things

 

[chefjpaul]

What are your export methods?

 

[Abonifay]

What are your export methods?

What do you mean?

 

[a49panhead]

I would start looking into where the food for gha is coming from. Test your tap water. Rodi water if u use. If not perhaps get one. If u get water from your LAF. Test that as well Old lights can also help feed the gha. The catch is the more that dies off the more food it creates for the rest. Keep on it. Manually Pulling it out as much as possible.

 

[chefjpaul]

What do you mean?

What methods do you use you remove nutrients?

 

[Abonifay]

What are your export methods?

I have live rock and the canister filter with media filters sponges and carbon. I have the refugium in the back with no algae currently due to my uv sterilizer

 

[Abonifay]

I would start looking into where the food for gha is coming from. Test your tap water. Rodi water if u use. If not perhaps get one. If u get water from your LAF. Test that as well Old lights can also help feed the gha. The catch is the more that dies off the more food it creates for the rest. Keep on it. Manually Pulling it out as much as possible.

My led light is of all spectrum blue red and white and is but a year old also

 

[Ligershark]

your canister filter...try to rinse those sponges every other day if you can. you do not have a protein skimmer which is one of the main ways saltwater/reef aquariums are filtered. in addition test the tds (total dissolved solids) of your ro water. once you remedy those issues you can dose with fluconazole. you must remove carbon from your filters before you dose the fluconazole.

 

[Abonifay]

your canister filter...try to rinse those sponges every other day if you can. you do not have a protein skimmer which is one of the main ways saltwater/reef aquariums are filtered. in addition test the tds (total dissolved solids) of your ro water. once you remedy those issues you can dose with fluconazole. you must remove carbon from your filters before you dose the fluconazole.

My refugium has a skimmer connected to it. And i just dozed last week with fluconazole and took my carbon out for 5 day and replaced it. I’m going to do another water change this weekend. I don’t have a ro setup in my house for my water. I usually get it from the store. So rinsing daily is gonna add to my coat but if it helps i will do it

 

[Abonifay]

I would wait it out and keep no4 in check its just one of those things

I also put a phosphate eliminator in my canister filter the same time as the fluconazole treatment

 

[fattiremike]

Are you using RO/DI water? If yes, test it with a Hanna Instruments pure water tester or something equivalent. It should read zero, or you are just pumping fuel for algae into the tank. I have tried using saltwater from my LFS in the past, and found that was a good way to get a good algae outbreak. I prefer to mix my own, with my own water and I have been using Reef Crystals for years and years. What lights are you using? You need a good blue spectrum to avoid an algae outbreak. Also, you need a good skimmer, as a canister will take out particulates, but not dissolved organic compounds. I am sure that you have seen pictures of the skimmate that comes out of a skimmer. Nasty stuff. Have you done a battery of water tests? Ammonia, Phosphate, Nitrite, Nitrate, etc? You need to make an environment that is difficult for algae to grow in. So, find out what is making the algae grow and get rid of it. Easier said than done, I know. It is usually a little bit of everything that gives the algae a bit more of an edge.

 

[Dkeller_nc]

Well, one observation is that flucanozole generally takes about 3 weeks to eliminate GHA; 5 days isn't going to do it. But you must also remove the nutrients, or it'll likely grow back. The first thing to establish is whether you're putting in a lot of nutrients through your water source. Generally, and depending on your tap water, it's a requirement to use RODI. If you have a system, it's time to check the last time you changed out the media canisters; many municipalities use chloramine, and when this breaks down, the ammonia component is excellent algae fuel.

I guess the most important thing to do would be to start with good test kits, specifically nitrate and phosphate. I use Salifert, many use Red Sea. For a reef, most use the Hanna Checkers for phosphate, but that's not really necessary for a fish-only tank.

While you wait on the test kits, and if you have the means of controlling this, turn the red and white LEDs off - just run blue spectrum for now.

 

[cracker]

Welcome Abonifay, hang in there I've been doing this for years & have a bunch of gha also ! it's gonna take time & work. Pull out what you can by hand . more snails lot's more. then we have to look for the source if what's feeding the stuff. Lot's mentioned above . The water You use. Over feeding maybe? No corals? turn the lights off. Fish don't care but the algae will ! Again hang in there & we will help You.
Ps we could really use current test results. Particularly Nitrates & phosphates. Good Luck !

 

[Dennco2000]

Scopas tang and a lawn mower blenny will clean that up in a week...

 

[Ratherbeflyen]

This video got me off the fence to try an algae scrubber.

""

I ran a tank for 2 years with no filtration other than algae, some filter floss, and carbon. I'll never set up another system without one.