GHA and Bryopsis Help

[Tham121988]

Hello,

I've had my nano tank up and running for almost 8-9 months now. I'm having a major issue trying to get rid of algae. First it was cyanobacteria, and now i'm having GHA and Bryopsis I believe. I use RO/DI water, GFO, Reef Octopus Skimmer, and a sump. Its mostly a coral tank with 2 small fish. I have no clean up crew besides a cleaner shrimp. I've attempted to manually remove as much as possible and treated with H2O2, but so far nothing has helped. It just seems to keep getting worse. Is there a light setting I could put my kessil a160 on that would help deter algae growth while I try to get it under control?

My parameters are as follows
pH: 8.3
Salinity: 1.025 ppm
NO2: 0
NO3: 0
PO4-: 0
Calcium: 450
Mg2+: 1340
NH4: 0

Any ideas would be welcome! Thank you!

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Hi, lets see a picture, gha is a bit easier than Bryo. You DEF want to add a bunch of snails. Once you mow it down, the snail should help keep it down.

 

[Tham121988]

Thank you for the reply. I will upload a picture around 5 pm CST. What kind of snails would you recommend? Is there an inexpensive way to get them without having to pay the overnight shipping? I don't have a LFS anywhere near my location.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

heres a good read. And no youll have to shop around on prices and distance as far as shipping types. many dont use overnight for inverts. just express.
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/choosing-cleanup-crew-critters.258695/

 

[LetItReef]

I would not believe it myself when I had Bryopsis- on the shell of the snails/ Corals but when I purchased Emerald crabs from ReefCleaners they took care of the Bryopsis and it is confirmed it was a Bryopsis.
Can't guarantee it maybe I just lucky with the Emerald crabs that I bought.

Turbo, Trochus snail, manual removal and less feeding/light for hair algae then raising Magnesium levels from what I read to rid of Bryopsis.

 

[Tham121988]

What level should I raise my magnesium to? I use coral pro salt and it keeps it at a decent level.

I will certainly look into a cleanup crew! I'm going to try to adjust the lighting as well. As far as feeding, I only feed 1 time a day and a portion that the fish devourer in just a minute or two. I'm using marine cousine, should I change food?

 

[Tham121988]

Also, I ordered my GFO off amazon, it had good reviews but it wasn't a brand that's familiar. Should I get another type of GFO? What i'm using is from www.gfo4phosphateremoval.com by Kolar Filtration.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Id only adjust one thing at a time. you already have no nutrints in the tank. Id concentrate on removal. If the coral are pretty happy Id do a blackout or reduced time for a bit. but i wouldn't adjust intensity.
If that doesn't help you can look at other more aggressive methods.
Make sure your Id on bryo is correct. that stuff can be a bear.

You can btw use diluted peroxide out of the tank and scrub, it helps on minor spots of bryo and def gha. Id use caution in such a small tank with the amount.

 

[Tham121988]

All of the corals are happy with the exception of an acan that had a bad reaction the the H2O2 dip. It seems to be peaking back out a little bit today. I run my lights more blue than most, would reducing the blue tone and making it whiter help? Blackout as in covering the tank? How long can coral survive this way? How long do you do the blackout?

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

All of the corals are happy with the exception of an acan that had a bad reaction the the H2O2 dip. It seems to be peaking back out a little bit today. I run my lights more blue than most, would reducing the blue tone and making it whiter help? Blackout as in covering the tank? How long can coral survive this way? How long do you do the blackout?

uhhh, not a big fan of super blue, over 20k is not needed imo, but to each their own. No color wont help or hurt. No just turn off the lights. so far(im about to do a big test), my bryo only seems to like high light. it never grown in my refugium for example.
Corals spend several days in a box, and in some places storms rage for weeks. (hawaii for example).

 

[Tham121988]

Okay, so about how long should I keep the lights off?

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Okay, so about how long should I keep the lights off?

couple days I suppose. then scrub and see where it goes. Personally the two things I would combine is a lights out, scrub and add snails. I will actually be doing that this week.

 

[Salty1962]

Check out the thread on Vibrant. I had major bryopsis and some gha issues and after a month of using Vibrant, I've beaten it back. Bryopsis is completely gone, only algae that's hanging on is my red turf algae. Stuff is tough as nails:mad: Watch your Po4 and No3 levels, they drop very fast with Vibrant. I've been adding No3 to my tank to keep things in balance.

 

[Tham121988]

Thank you for the information both of you all. I will check out the vibrant and see what it is about. is there a good thread for it?

 

[Griff]

Vibrant is a miracle worker. Pulling rock out scrubbing with hydrogen peroxide helps a ton too. Research both before trying.

 

[Tham121988]

I wish I could pull the rocks out and treat them. I've already discussed that with twillard. My tank is closed top so there is almost no way to get a rock out without tearing it down.

 

[Tham121988]

Where can you get the vibrant? Amazon doesn't have anything and I don't see a website to order it from popping up.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

do read up on it. Id consider it an aggressive treatment, MUCH more so than dosing peroxide or a lights out..

 

[Tham121988]

Ahh okay, I started reading the thread on it. So i'll finish reading before I decide on that route. But if so, where can it be bought? Is it by Northstaraquatics?

 

[Griff]

Under water creations makes it.

http://www.uwcmn.com/shop-for-vibrant