I'm about to lose it. GHA??

[Veetz89]

I cant take it anymore, I'm tired of wasting my time on this algae. I'm burning money getting rid of it and nothing is working. I've tried a sea hare which ate a small patch and then looked for film algae on the glass until it died, I tried tangs, more clean up crew, nothing is working and I'm close to just selling my tank so i dont have this nuisance anymore!!!!. I'm running rowaphos, chaeto, feeding every 3 days with rinsing of the food and the stupid thing still grows, WHYYYY????

Phosphates are near 0 and I have undetectable nitrates. I'm run ing UV, filter floss is getting changed out. what the heck am I supposed to do now???? No thread has helped me. This stuff is weak when I pull but I cant get into the crevices. I scrubbed and scrubbed and scrubbed and it grows back with a middle finger.

 

[Ron Reefman]

How about some more info and some extra help #ReefSquad.

How big is the DT?
How big is the refugium? I assume you have one if you are growing Cheato. And how is the Cheato doing?
How about a full tank photo?
How long has the tank be running and how long ago did the algae issue start?

 

[Veetz89]

How about some more info and some extra help #ReefSquad.

How big is the DT?
How big is the refugium? I assume you have one if you are growing Cheato. And how is the Cheato doing?
How about a full tank photo?
How long has the tank be running and how long ago did the algae issue start?

100 gallon
5 gallon fuge
chaeto is always growing and exporting every week or 2 under a par38 bulb
This spot is the only spot with hair algar now because I scrubbed the hell out of my DT last night until my back hurt.
1 year running. Algae started taking hold a couple of months ago

 

[Brew12]

I cant take it anymore, I'm tired of wasting my time on this algae. I'm burning money getting rid of it and nothing is working. I've tried a sea hare which ate a small patch and then looked for film algae on the glass until it died, I tried tangs, more clean up crew, nothing is working and I'm close to just selling my tank so i dont have this nuisance anymore!!!!. I'm running rowaphos, chaeto, feeding every 3 days with rinsing of the food and the stupid thing still grows, WHYYYY????

Phosphates are near 0 and I have undetectable nitrates. I'm run ing UV, filter floss is getting changed out. what the heck am I supposed to do now???? No thread has helped me. This stuff is weak when I pull but I cant get into the crevices. I scrubbed and scrubbed and scrubbed and it grows back with a middle finger.

That stuff looks awful familiar. It looks a lot like what been fighting it for over a year now. Fluconazole (https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/reef-flux-fluconazole-treatment-reefhd.html) will knock it back for a few months but can't seem to clear it completely.

 

[jsker]

Check your nutrient levels What size clean up crew do you have?

 

[Veetz89]

That stuff looks awful familiar. It looks a lot like what been fighting it for over a year now. Fluconazole (https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/reef-flux-fluconazole-treatment-reefhd.html) will knock it back for a few months but can't seem to clear it completely.

Yea doesnt look like that. It's very soft and easily removable by hand

 

[Veetz89]

Check your nutrient levels What size clean up crew do you have?

I dont think you read my post

 

[brandon429]

That is a simple algae to beat. Rather than linking you to a thread of it already being beaten without ID or params required to know, why don't we just prove it. This algae will take off wherever it's imported, low or high nutrients, we can see.

Do some actions to a test rock we used on prior threads

In 48 hours decide if you want your whole tank to look like the test rock, simple. The test rock will be fixed as predicted.

The locus of your invasion isn't a param you can test, it's a micro holdfast you are leaving in the rocks to regrow. actions we would do on test proof would make regrowth stop. So far, not one treatment deals with the locus of the invasion. You can beat this method by hand, now. Adding a med that treats only 1% of invaders will not prevent future invasions, it teaches us to wait and hope for 3rd party help vs commanding immediate compliance which is not hard to earn here.
B

 

[Brew12]

Yea doesnt look like that. It's very soft and easily removable by hand

I may not look like it the pictures, but mine is soft and it is easy to pull out big fluffy clumps. It just always comes back.

 

[Veetz89]

That is a simple algae to beat. Rather than linking you to a thread of it already being beaten without ID or params required to know, why don't we just prove it. This algae will take off wherever it's imported, low or high nutrients, we can see.

Do some actions to a test rock we used on prior threads

In 48 hours decide if you want your whole tank to look like the test rock, simple. The test rock will be fixed as predicted.

The locus of your invasion isn't a param you can test, it's a micro holdfast you are leaving in the rocks to regrow. actions we would do on test proof would make regrowth stop. So far, not one treatment deals with the locus of the invasion. You can beat this method by hand, now. Adding a med that treats only 1% of invaders will not prevent future invasions, it teaches us to wait and hope for 3rd party help vs commanding immediate compliance which is not hard to earn here.
B

I had this thought, that it's more of a pest now than a parameter issue. Even with bottomed out nutrients I'm having this issue, using chemical and biological filtration to outcompete it isnt out competing it. What would you reccomend?

 

[Fiesty]

U could try a 2 barred rabitfish to remove it for you. They much better at eating it than tangs in my experience.

And id also try giving a Sea Hare one more try if it was my tank.

 

[Veetz89]

U could try a 2 barred rabitfish to remove it for you. They much better at eating it than tangs in my experience.

And id also try giving a Sea Hare one more try if it was my tank.

I can try a sea hare but I need a way to destroy this algae from the rock holes too. It's in tiny crevices. Sea hare wouldnt get in the hole just around it. I have a rabbitfish, he wont touch it either.

 

[Fiesty]

I dont think u mentioned it so just checking. Are using RO AND DI water for all your salt mix and top off? And have u tested that to make sure 0 tds?

 

[Fiesty]

Can u post a pic of the whoke tank to get vetter idea of how much coral, etc u have.

 

[Subsea]

To eradicate GHA in rock crevasses, use peroxide and a toothbrush. Dip brush in peroxide, scrub rock for 1 minute, redip brush in peroxide and repeat. If you can remove rock and soak, I use a 10% solution and soak rock for 10 minutes. This also works for a coral dip and is lethal to algae and micro inverts.

 

[Veetz89]

Can u post a pic of the whoke tank to get vetter idea of how much coral, etc u have.

yes I'm using rodi water with 2 di cartridges as a precaution.

 

[Brew12]

To eradicate GHA in rock crevasses, use peroxide and a toothbrush. Dip brush in peroxide, scrub rock for 1 minute, redip brush in peroxide and repeat. If you can remove rock and soak, I use a 10% solution and soak rock for 10 minutes. This also works for a coral dip and is lethal to algae and micro inverts.

If he has what I have (and I think he does) peroxide in that manner won't work. I did a 10 minute dip in 12% H2O2 and it died way back but it didn't kill the roots so it came back. Turning off flow and injecting it with 12% H2O2 didn't even get a color change. A 1 hour soak in 50% vinegar didn't bother it much at all but 100% vinegar for an hour did kill it completely on a powerhead.
I've have 5 tangs, a Foxface, and a starry blenny and none touch it. Hermit crabs seem too, but they can't eat enough to make a difference. I've also tried long spine and short spine urchins, several types of snails and conchs, and even tried fuzzy chitons with no luck.

My next attempt is a good size algae turf scrubber from Turbo Aquatics to see if that might work to out compete it because my chaeto with a Kessil H380 isn't doing it.

 

[Brian Treadwell]

Your No3 and Po4 are too low , increase both just a little where they at least register on your test kits and see what happens from there you need some detectable nutrients.

 

[Hallowhead]

You need to feed more !! You're nitrates shouldnt be zero ! That encourages algae - what I'm currently dealing with ! Feed more !!!

 

[Brew12]

Your No3 and Po4 are too low , increase both just a little where they at least register on your test kits and see what happens from there you need some detectable nutrients.

You need to feed more !! You're nitrates shouldnt be zero ! That encourages algae - what I'm currently dealing with ! Feed more !!!

I'm going to disagree with this. NO3 and PO4 would be too low if dealing with something like dinoflagellates or cyanobacteria. When dealing with an actual algae, low nutrients are only an indication that the algae is consuming it to grow as fast as it is entering the system. If you add more nutrients with no other changes the algae will only grow faster without something else limiting its growth. This is actually the basis for raising nutrients when dealing with dino's and cyano. You want to encourage the algae growth to choke out the problematic stuff.