Still have GHA

[mabel_photo6]

Green hair algae is still living in my tank.
I only feed my tank once a day and it kills me to do so.
I cut the lights down from 12 hours to 8 hours.
I got so frustrated with it today, I took a brush and scrubbed away. :angry:
I took my brine shrimp net and used it in the tank to catch all the stuff flying.
Figured the algae has spread EVERYWHERE that it can't possibly spread any further.

I use phosphate reducing pads and I even tried some Kent Marine Phosphate sponge.
I've heard of phosphate reactors... do they work?
Just trying to figure out other options.

I'm upgrading to a 100 gallon tank and I don't ever want this problem to spread or happen again. I don't know what to do. Some of my coral have GHA on the rock they're on. If I move them to my upgraded tank, I feel like they'll just spread. :bareteeth:

My BioCube 29 will still be running until my 100 gallon tank cycles.
It might actually be running until my 100 gallon tank is 6 months old.
Ideas??

[Europhyllia]

Is it regular hair algae? Or bryopsis?
What's your alkalinity like?

[mabel_photo6]

Regular hair algae. It's not feather like.
I compared it to photos I've seen 'cause I got so scared when they told me about byropsis.
I hadn't changed my lights either.
They're the ones that come stock and I just changed them last week.
The lights were as old as the tank... about 9 months.
Alkalinity? Haven't tested lately but every time I do, I always get in the normal range.
Every time I test my other levels too, they come out good.
My PH is 8.0 (a little low) but that's the only thing.
It's been very stable since I've had it set up.

I do have snails and hermit crabs but I think it's way too much.
So I'm going to start brushing it off with a tooth brush in sections.
I've already started today just to lessen the work for my snails and hermits.

I started the tank for the first 7 - 8 months with tap water. :(
So it's been about a month or two since I switched to filtered water.
My red algae disappeared but my green hair algae stayed.

I also have a baby Yellow Tang in there hoping it'll nip at some of that stuff but it doesn't seem to prefer it much.
I bought turbo snails and I got 5 but only one is alive! In the course of 2 months, they died off.
But my Nerite, Cerith, Nassarious still live. My Astrea snails have disappeared on me a few months back.
Perhaps some of my blue legged hermits needed a bigger home?? lol

[allan]

On your new set up design and build a turf scrubber. This will help with your nutrient export.

People swear by the phosban reactor and I'm in the process of getting one together, can't comment from own experience.

[Europhyllia]

It's too bad it's not bryopsis. I got rid of that really easy with with Kent Tech-M Magnesium. It disappears if your magnesium levels go above 1600 (apparently still safe for other algae, corals, etc.)
I asked about the alkalinity because Julian Sprung said keeping alkalinity at 8 dkh or above helps control hair algae.
I did the phosphate absrobing media and won't do that again. It killed my beautiful large colt coral.
If you do some kinf of chemical nutrient absorbtion in a tank with leather corals try something like PolyFilter from Poly Bio Marine.
A lot of the other phosphate filter media are aluminum oxide and will release some of that into the water poisoning leather corals who appear to be sensitive to it.
Do you have any clean up critters for the hair algae.
I have Mexan red tip hermits that do a great job for me but I know a lot of people don't want hermits in their tanks.

[Ping]

GHA is in all tanks that contain live rock and its appearance is often due to higher Nitrates and/or TDS.

Give it time, two months of filtered water is a short time when it comes to Marine systems. What is the TDS of your source water? It should be less than ten.

Water changes with RO/DI water with a small tank is the answer.

[mabel_photo6]

Okay well then I shall keep doing what I'm doing.
I honestly don't think I have enough of the clean up crew.

I have maybe 2 Cerith snails that I've been able to spot. About 5 Nerite Snails. Hmmm maybe 6 or 7 Nassarius. One small Turbo Snail. And from what I've been able to find about 6 blue legged hermits. I used to have more of everything but they've disappeared on me. (Like my 4 Astrea snails.)

[snfkotara]

At Reefs2U they have a product that helps eliminate algae its called Marine S.A.T. Biological Clarifier. It Works. It is all natural and very safe.

[barderer]

It will take a while, but it will go away. Just don't do anything drastic. Keep up the weekly water changes and reduce feeding to every other day if can. I only feed my fish 3 times a week. They do fine. It will take a while to make up for the horrible error of using tap water for so long :) You will nail it eventually.

[mabel_photo6]

Hmmm I'm gonna write that down! I have to go back to pick up my refugium and overflow box from Gabe's. I'll probably end up getting a few more snails too though.

[snfkotara]

oh and if gabe doesnt carry it Jason at Aquarium Designs does also. Its great stuff and it will clear your water also.

[mabel_photo6]

Sweet thanks. But I won't be going to S.A. until my stuff is ready.
That might be 3 or 4 weeks from now. :( So I suppose until then, I have to keep scrubbing that junk off.

[Third Coast Tropical]

GHA is in all tanks that contain live rock and its appearance is often due to higher Nitrates and/or TDS.

Give it time, two months of filtered water is a short time when it comes to Marine systems. What is the TDS of your source water? It should be less than ten.

Water changes with RO/DI water with a small tank is the answer.



This is the best advice for your small system.....Water changes, water changes, water changes!!!...use RO/DI...No water directly from tap

[mabel_photo6]

Okay will do. I have completely switched to filtered water already so I'm not using tap water at all. I use filtered water for water changes and to top off. I guess I just have to give it more time. Much thanks!

[Ping]

Also, dont try any chemical means of elimination. Only bad things happen fast in our systems.

[mabel_photo6]

*sigh* You know Ping, I couldn't agree with you more.
If anything, I'm just going to buy a few more snails and hermits when I go back up in a few weeks.
I'll still be trying to scrub as much as I can in sections.
I don't want to stir up too much sand and other dust particles all over the place since my fish are still in there.
So I'm just doing pieces at a time and letting the filter do it's job... then going back to work.
It's actually looking a lot better that way because I had only been manually taking some off but it slips through my fingers and a lot of it stays stuck on the rock.
(Even though I try to pinch as close to the rock as I can... it's tricky.)

I brush it off with a toothbrush then net the flying pieces with a brine shrimp net.
Seems to be working better than manually pinching off pieces.

How would you guys suggest my move if say I wanted to transfer everything in my BioCube into my 100 gallon?

[snfkotara]

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[mabel_photo6]

Thanks Sherry :) I'm gonna continue doing what I'm doing and when I go up to S.A. I'm gonna pick one up to try it. I really want it to clear up. Makes my tank gross looking. I don't know how others keep their tank free of algae.

Well I'll look for it but my 'fuge and overflow box won't be ready until 3 - 4 weeks.
So it's gonna be about that long before I go back.

[snfkotara]

I am a professional hair algae grower believe me this stuff plus my clean up crew has really turned my tanks around I would never put a chemical treatment in any of my main tanks either.

[Kristy]

+1 cautioning you away from the chemical "quick fixes". Not only is it very risky and can have some unintended side effects (occasionally disastrous), but you have to figure that even IF it works, the root cause of the problem will remain and the hair algae will just come back eventually.

We beat the green hair algae in our 20g hex by doing the following:
1. 50% water changes weekly (no big deal in such a small tank)
2. new light bulbs (really made a big difference)
3. reduced lighting schedule (yours could be further reduced to 6 hrs / day while you are trying to beat this stuff)
4. manual removal with each water change
5. TRIED to talk Mike into not feeding quite so heavily - not sure that it worked
6. keep repeating this for weeks!

There was an article that helped me for inspiration... I'll try to track it down to share it with you.

[Kristy]

Found it!
http://www.melevsreef.com/gha.html

[Ping]

Adding bacteria...Your kidding, right? $21.51? These kinds of products are bottled skimmate or semi-processsed blackwater.


If you cant test for it, we probably should not dose it.

[Europhyllia]

I just wanted to add a few things that did and didn't work for me in reducing algae.

Didn't work (well):
* using a phosphate absorbing pad (HBH brand) - not sure what it did to the phosphate level but it did release (like most of these products) some aluminum oxide into the water. Some leather corals are really sensitive to this and my colt is still in bad shape. I know it's just a colt but I bought it the day my daughter was born. The midwives said to keep busy as long as possible so while in labor I told my husband to take me to the fish store and buy me a coral. My poor labor day coral... :(
If you don't have leather corals and want to try these pads I have a couple left over you can have for free.

Did work:
* For bryopsis raising the magnesium level really did work. I am always scared to add something to my tank as well but felt okay about it because the goal was just to raise the magnesium levels a little over normal. No other additives. It worked. Of course with the bryopsis declining the hair algae started sprouting! Higher magnesium levels don't bother GHA at all! LOL

* raising the alkalinity. I got this tip from Julian Sprung's Book 'The Algae Problem Solver'. My alkalinity was low so it's not like I raised it way high. I just brought it to normal seawater level. I think I have it now at around 10.5 dkh. But I think his recommendation was just anything above 8 dkh.

* Adding Mexican Red Tip/Leg Hermits and small chestnut turbos. Those worked really well for me and especially the hermits do a great job cleaning up around polyps where I couldn't reach in between myself

* using a PolyFilter to filter out excess nutrients (this product is much safer for use in tanks with leather corals)

I also upgraded light bulbs during this time and my light is actually now brighter than before. Same light cycle and feeding as much as ever. :)

I'd actually start attacking this problem with regular maintenance and water tests. If you alk is low that might worth adjusting and seeing if it makes a difference.

[Dee]

The best thing I've had that cleared up the GHA are turbo snails. I had a small patch in a small tank...on a clam. I kept putting the snail on there and he'd eat a little and then leave. Put him on again and after a few times it caught on and cleaned it up completely and it hasn't come back. Someone also told me dwarf ceriths work well...and reefcleaners sells another small one that is suppose to eat it up.

I did notice if it was too long they wouldn't touch it so I had to "trim" it. I've never put chemicals in my tanks either. I didn't have GHA or any algae for that matter, until I put rocks from other reefers in my tank. I was worried it would get out of control, but luckily it hasn't.

Dee

[Paul28]

Run Carbon and Ferrous oxide hydroxide(PhosBan), in a upflow and do alot of water changes will starve the stuff out NEVER run Aluminum base Phosphate removers that can turn bad fast :( open a window everynow and then get fresh air in the tank. CO2 that crap loves it bring Oxygen in the house. lot of people have ph and alk drop and start adding crap to the tank when realy the tank just needs alittle fresh air :)

[mabel_photo6]

Well, I plan on buying more to add to my clean up crew.
I'm cutting the lights and today is the second day without light.
Light still gets in though since it's in my room.
I'll be reducing the light to about 6 hours probably Sunday.

I have seen a change from changing from tap water to filtered water these few weeks.
I won't be adding anything to the tank as far as chemicals because I can't get a hold of them locally any way.
I only feed once a day which I sort of don't like but I guess it must be done to keep the extra nutrients to a minimal.
I've actually almost always have been feeding once a day because I did research before and I didn't want to end up with this algae.
Buuuuut I guess my clean up crew isn't big enough.

[Europhyllia]

What is your alkalinity???

[mabel_photo6]

Normal ... I have the red sea test kit so it's in the "ideal" place.

[Europhyllia]

LOL. So what is the ideal place as a number?