Controlling Gha

[ahl]

Hey folks, I need help controlling a reGHA issue with my tank. I've had it for a while, so I'm sure I have a root cause I haven't discovered yet.
Recently completed a cycle with chemiclean to get rid of the cyano, also had it for quite a bit.
- I use RoDi water
- PO4 has been around 0.1 pretty stable
- NO3 has been around 5bto 10 ppm also pretty stable
- light schedule attached. The 2 ON times is because I like to check on the tank before going to work.

 

[GoVols]

Is your GHA contained to your rock, or is it all over your reef?

 

[ahl]

Mostly on the rocks. I've tried to scrub it but it is all over and does not come off.

 

[GoVols]

Mostly on the rocks. I've tried to scrub it but it is all over and does not come off.

The rocks could be leaching phosphates. The GHA could be holding in the phosphates and not getting a true reading while testing.

I'd hate to mess up your reef, but if you feel the above is what your dealing with.

Simmer (start off with) 1/4 cup of Rowaphos in it's own reactor.

I had the same thing years ago and GFO did the trick. I still never tumble over 1/2 cup of Rowaphos.

 

[Emarley]

Only a newbie but I had a problem with gha in my 13.5g, tried everything but couldn’t get rid, on the advice of my lfs added 2 Halloween hermit crabs and within a week they had removed it all, never had a problem since.

 

[ahl]

The rocks could be leaching phosphates. The GHA could be holding in the phosphates and not getting a true reading while testing.

I'd hate to mess up your reef, but if you feel the above is what your dealing with.

Simmer (start off with) 1/4 cup of Rowaphos in it's own reactor.

I had the same thing years ago and GFO did the trick. I still never tumble over 1/2 cup of Rowaphos.

Tank is almost 2 years old. You still think rocks are leaching?

 

[GoVols]

Tank is almost 2 years old. You still think rocks are leaching?

My older live rock did suck in phosphates, and then leached out fueling gha, but Rowaphos would be your call.

It took months to figure out the gha.

Then one day, I realized it was contained to my old live rock.
It was like having a light switch came on.

 

[GoVols]

@ahl

If you click on the below link, you'll be inside my build thread.
Scroll down and read post #115

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/govols-red-sea-s-400.308824/page-6

Just tossing it out there, as something to consider...

 

[Jose Mayo]

The information that GHA has decreased during use of Chemiclean suggests Lyngbya sp, a species of filamentous cyanobacteria. It will not be controlled by nutrient restriction; it may be necessary to re-use Chemiclean or antibiotics, for control.

Regards

 

[GoVols]

The information that GHA has decreased during use of Chemiclean suggests Lyngbya sp, a species of filamentous cyanobacteria. It will not be controlled by nutrient restriction; it may be necessary to re-use Chemiclean or antibiotics, for control.

Regards

He can try another run with Chemiclean, but he did not state "that GHA has decreased during use of Chemiclean" when dealing with his cyano.

 

[Jose Mayo]

but he did not state "that GHA has decreased during use of Chemiclean" when dealing with his cyano

I can have misunderstood.

Regards

 

[Jekyl]

Long spine urchin and lawnmower blenny took care of mine

 

[GoVols]

I can have misunderstood.

Regards

no worries...

 

[Tastee]

I struggled with GHA in my 65g tank for about a year and it killed a few corals. It’s now under control and I am very happy with the tank. A round of Reef Flux and then the addition of 4 Money Cowries certainly helped a lot. Let me know if you want more details of my journey with GHA.

 

[ahl]

no worries...

Yew, the gha did not die with the chemiclean

 

[brandon429]

use this method, has before and after pics and great detail. you cant have gha after this method, and even better this method doesn't treat your non gha areas bc nothing is wrong with them, you have an issue only in spots.


https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/is-this-lyngbya.338909/page-3#post-6144874

that's literally a roadmap of how your rocks look after adding only the algae kill step to your above work. you've already accessed the rocks outside the tank, that's 99% of the strategy. you left out the easy kill step secret sauce

unspoken unpictured detail. If your tank is bare bottom, that's fine. If its not, and you can reach in and grab sand and drop it and a cloud erupts, then expect more gha treatment work in the future. that is the fuel for gha and future invasions, anywhere detritus exists. it wont do any good to manage/treat/adjust tank nutrient levels if there is clouding in the sand or pent up in the rocks.

to get clean, pics above show how easy that is. to stay clean, work less, is a matter of being detritus free or at least low loading of waste in the system

 

[jda]

Get some pincushion urchins from the Florida Keys. The ones that I get from reeftopia are good sized, hardy and voracious algae eaters. If they clean it up, then get rid of some/all of them to some locals who have algae too... they are not coral eaters, but they won't starve either and some people without soft algae or coralline have said that they will eat some coral when the rest is all gone. I don't blame them since I would eat coral before I starved too.

There is enough N and P there to fuel any type of algae quite well. Fuge with some chaeto or even some GHA will take out the N and P if you manually export the excess.