GHA removal

[CWalters]

Hey guys. I feel like this is beating a dead horse…trying to pinpoint the reason for it to continue. I try hand removal/toothbrush about 1/2 times a week.

75 gal tank

Water Parameters:
Temp - 77
Salinity - 1.026
Mg - 1410
Ca - 380
No3 - 5

Have 8 turbo snails and about a dozen blue leg hermits. A few astea snails as well. Lawn mower Blenny is worthless and lazy

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

how old is the tank?

 

[HankstankXXL750 Verified Sponsor]

If you are going through an ugly phase do you a new tank, patience is about all you can do. As for the lawnmower blenny, I wouldn’t discount him yet. But I’m not sure they will eat the long stuff. Wore graze the rocks and glass as it begins to form.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hey guys. I feel like this is beating a dead horse…trying to pinpoint the reason for it to continue. I try hand removal/toothbrush about 1/2 times a week.

75 gal tank

Water Parameters:
Temp - 77
Salinity - 1.026
Mg - 1410
Ca - 380
No3 - 5

Have 8 turbo snails and about a dozen blue leg hermits. A few astea snails as well. Lawn mower Blenny is worthless and lazy

Lawnmower will eat algae but is not an actual algae eater as their diet is calcium and small meaty foods. Tail Spot blenny is a better choice.
As for algae-
Are you using RODI water or tap water from the faucet ?
Is tank at or near a window?

For GHA, first is light reduction. . . . reduce white intensity or hours of white light. Pull as much as you can and then with pipeete (pictured below), squirt some regular Hydrogen Peroxide at the base of each clump. In addition to your cleaners, add the following:
Turbo grazer snails
ninja star snails
Trochus snails
Cerith snails

Pencil urchin

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

You did not list the phosphate level, which is the most important when fighting gha, you will want to get a good test kit and start measuring and controlling.

How old the tank is, how many fish you have, how often you feed and what kind of food, lighting hours, rodi or tap, these all contribute to gha, and would be important for us to know to offer you any suggestions.

 

[john92708]

also try installing an algae scrubber

 

[JPM San Diego]

I agree with all the above. I never had much luck until I did everything at once. My tank was getting too much light as it was by a bright window and one wall had mirrors which amplified the effect. Began shutting the curtains when we wern't in that room. Plus, we obtain true, larger herbivors. We picked up a fox face, Tomini tank, and Kole tang.

 

[CWalters]

Lawnmower will eat algae but is not an actual algae eater as their diet is calcium and small meaty foods. Tail Spot blenny is a better choice.
As for algae-
Are you using RODI water or tap water from the faucet ?
Is tank at or near a window?

For GHA, first is light reduction. . . . reduce white intensity or hours of white light. Pull as much as you can and then with pipeete (pictured below), squirt some regular Hydrogen Peroxide at the base of each clump. In addition to your cleaners, add the following:
Turbo grazer snails
ninja star snails
Trochus snails
Cerith snails

Pencil urchin

Whoops… forgot to add 0 TDS on Rodi water. Tank is 9 months. So to be expected to be in ugly phase. Just wanted to try to reduce as much as I can.

 

[CWalters]

You did not list the phosphate level, which is the most important when fighting gha, you will want to get a good test kit and start measuring and controlling.

How old the tank is, how many fish you have, how often you feed and what kind of food, lighting hours, rodi or tap, these all contribute to gha, and would be important for us to know to offer you any suggestions.

Tested with Hanna. Forgot to add it above. It read .02

 

[HankstankXXL750 Verified Sponsor]

Being 9 months old may be the main factor. You talked of hand removal and toothbrush. When you are doing that you should be siphoning at the location or else it just moves around the tank.

 

[mattdg]

Try all of the above suggestions. Wait for at least a year. The GHA phase is an important one to get through naturally. If you are a year in and nothing seems to be working, it is likely a bryopsis outbreak. Fish and verts totally ignore the stuff. Reef Flux Fluconazole is your best bet. It will knock it back enough that all of the above methods will likely keep it away. Your critters will even start to pick at the weakened stalks. I always recommend it as a last resort, since it has the potential to throw off the biological balance you have been cultivating, but it is very effective if you must use it.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Whoops… forgot to add 0 TDS on Rodi water. Tank is 9 months. So to be expected to be in ugly phase. Just wanted to try to reduce as much as I can.

Cant say to be expected. I havent had hair algae in several years as you have to eliminate the source to prevent it. Bright light and inorganics as well as nutrient control with phosphates and nitrates

 

[HankstankXXL750 Verified Sponsor]

Probably shouldn’t say expected, but it does seem that the majority of tanks experience an ugly phase, for whatever reason. IMO GHA is probably an ongoing problem, but getting the proper CUC in place controls it. I could be wrong, but in my large reef, an S1000, I have no problems with it in the DT, but I set up a frag tank in the additional sump, and with no CUC down there I started growing GHA. I did have higher nutrients and do know that feeds it, but I don’t know what levels of Nitrates and Phosphates it takes to grow GHA. As I target 15 or below Nitrates and .05-.1 phosphates I don’t know wether it can grow at those levels if there is t anything eating it.

 

[tritonpower]

I have a 6 mo old 40 gallon I set up. Has lots of GHA. I got an urchin and turned down the lights some. It is slowly improving. All others (blennies, emeralds, snails, etc) do not help. Only tangs, angels, and urchins actually eat the GHA consistently. For smaller tanks urchins are the best. I have a long spine who is a GHA eating machine. Give it 1-2 months and they are amazing.