How do you get your chaetomorph algae to outcompete GHA?

[Quiverfull]

Just a quick question... How do you get your chaetomorph algae to outcompete GHA? I have a refugium with cheatomorph in it and have GHA in my DT and refugium. I have been consistently manually removing the GHA but it seems to be able out outcompete my chaeto. My chaeto does not seem to grow well and the GHA keeps proliferating despite me manually removing it and leaving the cheato alone. I shut off the light in my refugium and at the chaeto seemed to survive with less GHA in my refugium but the GHA in my DT keeps coming back despite removing it. It is odd because it is not on my live rock. Only my powerheads and back glass. Any suggestions? NO3 (Hannah LR NO3 checker) is 0 and phosphates are 0.04 (Hannah LR PO4 checker). I suspect if my GHA would settle down, my NO3 would come up, but it has consistently been 0 for over 10 months. This is a predominant SPS tank (not great color but OK growth for some pieces). Filtration is skimmer + refugium only.

Thanks for any suggestions.

 

[ReefGeezer]

Cheato may not outcompete established hair algae. You'll have to help it.

 

[dedragon]

mostly manual removal but also confirm that it isnt bryopsis (more annoying). Getting nitrates off 0 also would help kick off some algae growth as well as maybe adding chaetogro to supplement trace elements that chaeto needs

 

[madlos123]

What light are you using for your chaeto?
I am using a 50W led plant light.
On 12 hours at night

Are you dosing supplements for macro algae?
I am dosing ChaetoGro and Iron by Brightwell

I would scrape as much hair algae with a razor blade so that you also remove the base.

With that plan youll get your chaeto growing and out competing hair algae. Might take a month thou depending on the mass.

 

[ReefGeezer]

A stiff toothbrush made for scrubbing dentures works great to scrub hair algae off of rocks. Small, very stiff bristle bottle brushes help pull hair algae out of cracks and crevices.

 

[Quiverfull]

mostly manual removal but also confirm that it isnt bryopsis (more annoying). Getting nitrates off 0 also would help kick off some algae growth as well as maybe adding chaetogro to supplement trace elements that chaeto needs

How do you differentiate GHA from bryopsis?

I have NeoNitro but was hesitant to dose as it might fuel all the algae growth?

 

[Quiverfull]

What light are you using for your chaeto?
I am using a 50W led plant light.
On 12 hours at night

Are you dosing supplements for macro algae?
I am dosing ChaetoGro and Iron by Brightwell

I would scrape as much hair algae with a razor blade so that you also remove the base.

With that plan youll get your chaeto growing and out competing hair algae. Might take a month thou depending on the mass.

I am using an 100W full spectrum grow light off of Amazon (recommended by others) my issue was that the GHA was growing in my refugium as well and seemed to be growing faster than my chaeto.

I have not been dosing macro algae supplements or any of the others, thinking it would fuel everything but I am willing to give it a try.

 

[Quiverfull]

A stiff toothbrush made for scrubbing dentures works great to scrub hair algae off of rocks. Small, very stiff bristle bottle brushes help pull hair algae out of cracks and crevices.

Removed it all again today with my water change. It is funny that none grows on the live rock - I guess i chalk that up to clean up crew who can not seem to get or desire to get on the back glass (which I only clean with water changes because it is such a pain).

 

[Quiverfull]

What about something like a blue tuxedo urchin? would this help clean up my DT?

 

[ReefGeezer]

Better the glass than the rock. It comes off easy. Google razor blade on a stick.

 

[Lavey29]

I recently switched to a neptune gro light and chaeto gro. My chaeto grows huge now. I had GHA and other algae starting in the fuge. Put 4 trochus snails in there and it's gone. Still have some patches of GHA here and there in the DT. Do manual removal couple times a week. Beefed up my cleaner crew. Hoping the tank will reach a point where the chaeto fully out competes the GHA but seems like it will take some months. Overall the fuge seems to be working as I would hope. It may be undersized though in my 15g sump.

Beef up your cleaner crew and remove what you can eventually it will lose its control.

 

[mfinn]

Just a quick question... How do you get your chaetomorph algae to outcompete GHA? I have a refugium with cheatomorph in it and have GHA in my DT and refugium. I have been consistently manually removing the GHA but it seems to be able out outcompete my chaeto. My chaeto does not seem to grow well and the GHA keeps proliferating despite me manually removing it and leaving the cheato alone. I shut off the light in my refugium and at the chaeto seemed to survive with less GHA in my refugium but the GHA in my DT keeps coming back despite removing it. It is odd because it is not on my live rock. Only my powerheads and back glass. Any suggestions? NO3 (Hannah LR NO3 checker) is 0 and phosphates are 0.04 (Hannah LR PO4 checker). I suspect if my GHA would settle down, my NO3 would come up, but it has consistently been 0 for over 10 months. This is a predominant SPS tank (not great color but OK growth for some pieces). Filtration is skimmer + refugium only.

Thanks for any suggestions.

I have an established refugium that is growing macro well, but I do have a couple spots in my tank that I can never really get rid of the hair algae. One is at the base of a large frogspawn, and the other is on the plastic powerheads. I just never seem to be able to get it under total control.
I have mexican turbo snails that clean up the powerheads when I place them on them. But I can't get them to cling to the frogspawn stem.
I just pull it off when I notice it and move a few snails around to get the rest.
This have been going on for several years. Just part of my weekly routine.

 

[damsels are not mean]

put herbivores

 

[Lavey29]

Plus isn't the goal to have coraline out compete it not necessarily the chaeto in a balanced tank?