Algae Finally Gone: Now how do you keep it away? Easy as ABC?

[salty joe]

What kind of snail?

 

[salty joe]

, then a snail I purchased on a whim ate all my fish.

What kind of snail?

 

[Reef_Obsessed]

I just got over a GHA outbreak. I do preventative with a macroalgae reactor, smaller, more frequent water changes (1 six gallon bucket twice a week), and smaller, multiple feeding per day, instead of 2 bigs feedings with quality foods...mysis (rinsed in RO), fresh clam, nori, and NLS pellets, and lots of CUC. So far, so good.

 

[Jonify]

NOPOX in my nano, dosed at 1.1 ml once a day with a BRS doser. Started it with my Red Sea Reef Mature program for my nano, saw no algae in almost a month, so I'm going to stick with it.

 

[Bpb]

My foxface and fangs are my preventative measures

 

[SonyaBAZ]

My first tank was overrun with hair and bubble algae. Mainly because I struggled to keep the nutrients down. I lost that battle. My second tank I had a cyano on the sand bed which I treated with chemi clean. I also became super vigilant on dips and scrubbing frags with hydrogen peroxide. Plus better nutrient control with Nopox, water changes and a solid CUC.

 

[Mical]

I had hair algae when I first started and the owner of Neptunes Reefs (Denver) recommended Kents TechM - used it and it's been gone for years. I had bubble algae in both tanks and I have a Foxface in my 120 who inhales it. In my 65 I have a bi-colored rabbitfish who has rid that tank of bubble and any other algae. As far as preventatives - about the only thing I concentrate on not overfeeding the tank(s) and a skimmer in each.

 

[Westside Guy]

I have heard they will go after it in most cases, unfortunatly my tank is too small for a foxface otherwise I would absolutly give it a try! They are also awesome looking fish.

What is the smallest tank size that people recommend for a foxface?

 

[Jeff Jarry reef]

I have done three things to help i added more flow and watch how much i feed and the best thing besides my algea eating fish was my DIY algea turf scrubber.,

 

[csb123]

I’m continuing heavy protein in, and heavy export (CUC, NOPOX, AWC, Filter socks, LaCl, weekly detritus vacuume) but with a maintenance dose of Vibrant....fingers crossed. I just finished a 3 month GHA and bryopsis battle. I’m also getting bits of rock from other reefers to Increase biodiversity and culturing pods for micro-CUC and food.

 

[Jensworld]

I have been working on keeping the red cyano, hair and turf algae at bay.
I have a refugium with chaeto, rubble rock and a protein skimmer.
I have recently added some excellent cleaning crew items from Reef Cleaners: Fuzzy Chiton, Limpets, a wide variety of snails and some blue legged hermit crabs.
I also have a yellow cucumber but it’s very small.
I do weekly 10% water changes.

 

[Rilo]

I have a 25g aio lagoon tank with a 1" sand bed.

At first the algae was horrible because it was a young tank. I battled the algae with fluconazole. Post fluconazle I did blackouts for 2 days at a time with great results. The more the tank matured the less work I did.

 

[Mical]

What is the smallest tank size that people recommend for a foxface?

I've been told 100 gal, that's why I have a bi-colored rabbitfish in my 65. They're smaller and don't grow as large as FF

 

[Chrille26]

What is the smallest tank size that people recommend for a foxface?

According to LiveAquaria around 125 gal, and I think they have a good idea about tank sizes so would say that is accurate.

 

[ReefGrammie]

1. What measures are you taking to prevent the spread of nuisance algae in your reef aquarium?
Right now, I'm not doing anything other than water changes, GFO in a reactor, and maintaining a good CUC. I was dosing Vibrant for months at the dose for a dirty tank and gradually backed off and discontinued it. I would use it again, though, if needed.

2. What is the worst type of algae you have ever battled?
Ugh, all of them! I'd say the ones that made me the craziest were GHA and bubble algae. I battled bubble algae years ago that took forever to get rid of. My tank is currently bubble algae-free and I hope it stays that way!! I would say one thing I learned from buying corals over the years was to BE VERY CAREFUL.Research your vendors and read the reviews. If you buy from a LFS, look at their tanks carefully for signs of nuisance algae or aiptasia. I also dip the frags and scrub the frag plugs before anything goes in my tank.

 

[725196]

I don’t like chemical algae control. I really don’t like to use any chemicals in my tank at all. I prefer a natural method. I use an ATS to help control algae.

 

[alimac122]

No meds.Algae outbreaks are a natural part of the tank finding the equilibrium between what we put in and the Microsystems in the rocks( I look at these beautiful sculpted skinny towers of flat rocks that hold a lot of corals but not enough for a necessary ecosystem with mass.) 90g tank needs 110pounds rock. A little vodka now and than. Chaeto. Chaeto.
Gha, Bryopsis is eliminated by scrubbing the rock with wire brush than turkey basting away the debris that gathers in rock crevices and becomes the soil for the algae to grow. Three days later do it again and the algae will go away with less returning each attack. Promise. No meds to kill the ecosystem Re maintainance: I turkey baste the rocks And especially any zoa colonies, and turn the power heads on high for an hour prob twice a week. Stuff clogs a mesh sock right up.
no algae 24 months in a 3yo tank

Vodka?????

 

[LoneStarReef]

I’ve fought the uglies in the first two years of my tank’s lifecycle. Now I maybe see some GHA or bubble pop up every once in a while but I don’t worry too much about it. Just trim it out when it pops up. I keep a 30 gallon refugium stocked with macro algae to keep the display algae at bay. Let the macro out compete the display algae for food.

 

[nim6us]

Hard one to answer because I'm not really fighting it. Maybe I've been "lucky" so far, but the host of plagues that has visited my tanks makes me PRAY for algae.

Algae seems easy to manage, keep your NO3/PO4 at a reasonable level, have some grazer fish I've got a blenny and a rabbitfish, and then have decent mix of snails and crabs in your CUC.. job done!

 

[Rogueaquariums]

I had a terrible algae outbreak in my large main display. I used a combination of Brightwell’s Microbacter clean & the Microbacter 7. I also brought in an army of CUC including cerith, astria & Mexican turbo snails.