Turf algae and GHa

[tankreefer]

Anyone have something that gets ride of turf and GHa? Nitrate and phosphate are pretty well in balance but had an outbreak two weeks ago. Tried a litre of microbacter clean and 7 and dosed silicates and hydrogen peroxide. Worked well awhile ago to get rid of algae and Dino’s but now that method isn’t working. Don’t want to scrape it off cause that never works and it comes back. Anyone have any tricks they used in the past that worked? Considered reef flux but heard that’s hard on your biome.

 

[lapin]

Search results for query: Turf algae

www.reef2reef.com

 

[gmavrom]

I am in the same boat as you. I even used Flex Rx, but it didn't do much except start to cause some Cyano. The Microbactor 7 helped get rid of that and vacuuming. I am using more snails and just bought 2 Mexican Turbos. I have been brushing the rock. So frustrating. Algae has killed a couple of my corals, too. I will see how it goes and maybe redose some Flex RX.I am also now trying to turn the lights off earlier. It is a painful, slow process. My nitrates and Phosphates are zero

 

[Davem24]

I am in the same boat as you. I even used Flex Rx, but it didn't do much except start to cause some Cyano. The Microbactor 7 helped get rid of that and vacuuming. I am using more snails and just bought 2 Mexican Turbos. I have been brushing the rock. So frustrating. Algae has killed a couple of my corals, too. I will see how it goes and maybe redose some Flex RX.I am also now trying to turn the lights off earlier. It is a painful, slow process. My nitrates and Phosphates are zero

Same here. Tried reef flux. I'm exactly 14 days in with no effect. Seemingly nothing eats it or it's growing so fast it's not noticable. My nutrients are in check. I vacuum out daily.

Put a massive amount of cleanup crew in. I can say the hermits are working on it but it's not super effective.

Also have lost corals. Some nice ones too and it I'm struggling to keep some others from getting taken over. It seems the strands will get caught on them, irritate and kill the tissue, attach to the exposed skeleton then feed off of the dying tissue nutrients.

Pretty frustrated right now. Trying to keep positive but no easy task

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

I would suggest to start a new thread and share some details on your tank. Algae consumes nutrients much faster than corals do, so the nutrient level in your water is actually much higher than the test results show. There could be many reasons such as overfeeding, feeding the wrong type of foods, low flow, detritus traps in your system, etc... if you can share more details I'm sure the experienced folks will be able to help you, good luck.

Same here. Tried reef flux. I'm exactly 14 days in with no effect. Seemingly nothing eats it or it's growing so fast it's not noticable. My nutrients are in check. I vacuum out daily.

Put a massive amount of cleanup crew in. I can say the hermits are working on it but it's not super effective.

Also have lost corals. Some nice ones too and it I'm struggling to keep some others from getting taken over. It seems the strands will get caught on them, irritate and kill the tissue, attach to the exposed skeleton then feed off of the dying tissue nutrients.

Pretty frustrated right now. Trying to keep positive but no easy task

 

[W31Olds]

Hang in there guys. I have terrible GHA that dominated my Tank for months and was very frustrating. My Tank is 19 months old now and my GHA problem has diminished significantly. I've never used any treatment to eliminate it, but I have Tuxedo urchins, Snails, Lawnmower Blenny, 3 Tangs and a Foxface that will hammer away at it as long as it's cropped short. I use a cannister filter with floss, scrub the Rock while vacuuming up the Algae to get it down to a manageable level for my grazers. Luckily, I only had a couple of Corals that I could move in my Tank, so they were out of the way.
My thoughts on the root cause of this in my Tank and many of the Posts I see as the cause of GHA is the Rock we use to scape our Tanks. Dry Rock leaches phosphates for long periods adding fuel for Algae growth. I believe the true Phosphate levels are incredibly high but are consumed by Algae so fast that they read near zero. As the Tank matures the Phosphate in the Rock is exhausted and balance is achieved.
My Tank's current state has very high Nitrates and Phosphates, very large fish, 1 Coral, and I feed heavy so why is it that my Algae Problem is minimal? Logic would dictate that my GHA would be off the charts. I think it's primarily due to the nutrient source aka the rock is depleted of phosphate. I have some TBS Live Rock curing in another Tank right now and the Phosphates in that 40 Gallon Tank are even higher, but I see no GHA on the Rock and a minimal amount on the back glass.

 

[gmavrom]

That could be my problem as the tank is only 11 months old, I have 2 tangs and a Fox face 2 turbo snails, and another cucs. Flux RX does not work on all GHA. I am dosing Brightwell Clean and scrubbing rocks. will see what happens. Tank is WB 110

 

[ClownSchool]

I’ve had insane GHA and turf algae problems with Cyano after a reef crash that cost me about 80% of my corals. So I did something very controversial and it’s shown steady improvement since.
I added some emeralds and a sea hare.
I know most people would warn against a sea hare but it’s done wonders. I keep a clip of nori in the tank to ensure it gets enough to eat incase it can’t remove enough turf and my 70 gallon display is improving every day.
Coral skeleton seems to grow algae incredibly well and it’s the only thing I’ve found to keep up with it.

 

[Davem24]

I would suggest to start a new thread and share some details on your tank. Algae consumes nutrients much faster than corals do, so the nutrient level in your water is actually much higher than the test results show. There could be many reasons such as overfeeding, feeding the wrong type of foods, low flow, detritus traps in your system, etc... if you can share more details I'm sure the experienced folks will be able to help you, good luck.

Same here. Tried reef flux. I'm exactly 14 days in with no effect. Seemingly nothing eats it or it's growing so fast it's not noticable. My nutrients are in check. I vacuum out daily.

Put a massive amount of cleanup crew in. I can say the hermits are working on it but it's not super effective.

Also have lost corals. Some nice ones too and it I'm struggling to keep some others from getting taken over. It seems the strands will get caught on them, irritate and kill the tissue, attach to the exposed skeleton then feed off of the dying tissue nutrients.

Pretty frustrated right now. Trying to keep positive but no easy task

Thanks,

I probably won't start a new thread but I caused the issue. Got distracted with life for a couple months last spring and let the maintenance slip. Pretty sure it's 90% because my cuc died off naturally and I wasnt replacing them. Then I saw the gha start to take hold and I didn't react.

Actually due to my neglect the refugium crashed. I don't know why it crashes but I just kinda let it go since nothing immediately bad happened. It wasn't until the fall things started going south.

Any how rebuilding the refugium right after the reef flux treatment is over.