GHA help

mrcoffee2 · Mar 3, 2015

Hey Guys,

I have a GHA problem... It really sucks lol cause it is so hard to get rid of. I had a baby hippo die in the tank about 3 weeks ago and I could not find it's body. I am assuming it is the cause of the outbreak.

I added GFO to my tank last night via a reactor and with the hannah phosphate checker it reads 0 this morning. I also am skimming pretty wet.

Are there any snails or fish I can get that might eat this stuff? What are my options.

Mufasa31 · Mar 3, 2015

You can add a few hermit crabs.

mrcoffee2 · Mar 3, 2015

Do they actually eat it?

rayn · Mar 3, 2015

Turbo snails. Algae eater.

Manual removal, can you take some rocks out and scrub them?

mrcoffee2 · Mar 3, 2015

I guess I could do that but what is the source of this stuff?

saltyphish · Mar 3, 2015

Excess nutrients in the water is the cause. COuld be from your ro/di source, excess food, or a dead and decaying hippo tang would do it.

mrcoffee2 said:
I guess I could do that but what is the source of this stuff?

mrcoffee2 · Mar 3, 2015

saltyphish said:
Excess nutrients in the water is the cause. COuld be from your ro/di source, excess food, or a dead and decaying hippo tang would do it.

Ok will it clear up on its own now that I have added a reactor with GFO?

Nitrates read 0 as well.

rayn · Mar 3, 2015

Not necessarily. Nitrates are reading 0 because the HA is using it. If left unchecked it will take over. If your nitrates are 0, and you are running the bro reactor, and scrub...you should be able to get them under control coupled with water changes. Do a water change into a couple 5 gallon buckets. Scrub it in one, rinse in another, and put back in tank.

I have a tank right now that will be my next project. It kinda got overlooked for a long time. HA is covering EVERYTHING and I mean everything. Rocks, pumps, sand bed. I literally pull up carpets if the stuff off the sand. Nitrates read 0. Phosphate reads 0. Because it is all getting consumed by the HA.

mrcoffee2 · Mar 3, 2015

What is the best tool to scrub this stuff with?

rayn · Mar 3, 2015

Tooth brush

saltyphish · Mar 3, 2015

Good Advice!

rayn said:
Not necessarily. Nitrates are reading 0 because the HA is using it. If left unchecked it will take over. If your nitrates are 0, and you are running the bro reactor, and scrub...you should be able to get them under control coupled with water changes. Do a water change into a couple 5 gallon buckets. Scrub it in one, rinse in another, and put back in tank.

I have a tank right now that will be my next project. It kinda got overlooked for a long time. HA is covering EVERYTHING and I mean everything. Rocks, pumps, sand bed. I literally pull up carpets if the stuff off the sand. Nitrates read 0. Phosphate reads 0. Because it is all getting consumed by the HA.

YUP · Mar 3, 2015

Turbo snails or blenny/tang. Now I top off my water with tap, so I kinda always compete with a little algae. But I also like Lps and softies so little nutrients are good. I was finally ****** at a little gha and bought Gfo. Killed all my cheato except some of the fern stuff. So there u go, what balance do you want?

AmatuerAuer · Apr 20, 2015

Agreed Jugg.

I do take the point about not limiting drain valves (to avoid a flood) but the combined diameter of the valve openings as they currently stand are much greater than the diameter of the bulkhead that feeds them.