I'm using Vibrant, where do I go from here......?

[rmorris_14]

In that case is it pulling dark colored or even tinted water? If so that’s going to be a huge help in the fight on the algae. Can also reduce the white light and use mostly blue if possible. Hair algae doesn’t use the blue side of the spectrum as well as coral does.

When it run wet it pulls brown tinted water. When it runs more dry, it pulls like brown green sludge that just accumulated around the rim. I don’t know how to control whether it runs wet or dry... it just decided a what it wants to do lol

 

[Eagle_Steve]

When it run wet it pulls brown tinted water. When it runs more dry, it pulls like brown green sludge that just accumulated around the rim. I don’t know how to control whether it runs wet or dry... it just decided a what it wants to do lol

To run dry or wet, you can either change the heightof the skimmer or the airflow valve. More air will reuslt in more bubbles and can produce a drier skim if the level of the skimmer is set so that the bubbles pop right where the cup meets the body. For wetter, you would adjust so the bubbles pop higher up.
That skimmer should have a little back valve on a clear tube that is the air intake. This is adjustable. It takes some time with it to get it set correctly for wet or dry skimming, but can be done. You just make a small adjustment, wait about 20 minutes and see what it is doing then adjust either up or down to get dry or wet.

For the food, those are not too bad with PO4, as they are rinsed and then vitamins added then packaged. Other frozen foods are not like that.

I prefer to skim wet, as I put a lot in my tanks and need to take a lot out. This includes my biocube 32. I run a tunze skimmer on it, but did run the coralife for quite a while. I just like that the tunze stays where I set it and is not as finiky lol. Plus the cup is bigger, so longer before I have to empty it.

 

[rmorris_14]

To run dry or wet, you can either change the heightof the skimmer or the airflow valve. More air will reuslt in more bubbles and can produce a drier skim if the level of the skimmer is set so that the bubbles pop right where the cup meets the body. For wetter, you would adjust so the bubbles pop higher up.
That skimmer should have a little back valve on a clear tube that is the air intake. This is adjustable. It takes some time with it to get it set correctly for wet or dry skimming, but can be done. You just make a small adjustment, wait about 20 minutes and see what it is doing then adjust either up or down to get dry or wet.

For the food, those are not too bad with PO4, as they are rinsed and then vitamins added then packaged. Other frozen foods are not like that.

I prefer to skim wet, as I put a lot in my tanks and need to take a lot out. This includes my biocube 32. I run a tunze skimmer on it, but did run the coralife for quite a while. I just like that the tunze stays where I set it and is not as finiky lol. Plus the cup is bigger, so longer before I have to empty it.

Thank you for all your thorough responses to my questions. It very much appreciated!

 

[rmorris_14]

Update: the algae is starting to try to take over large sections of my rocks still. I haven’t dosed Vibrant since last Sunday. But honestly, the algae pretty much looks like this every week before a water change. Maybe it’s a little bit healthier looking than normal. Maybe my bottle of Vibrant was a dud as I was doing for a few months now and I still have algae issues. Anyways. Tonight I’m going to do a ten gallon water change and remove this rock (as it is the hardest to clean) on the bottom.... scrub and then spray the hydrogen perioxide, leave it sit for five minutes, rinse and put back. Then see how it fairs before I do more rocks. I’ve also purchased copepods and phyto. I received both yesterday. I dumped the copepods in the tank and will continue dosing phyto on a daily basis. Please send me all your good “death to algae vibes”. I’m starting to get very discouraged.

 

[twelvefive]

Good luck!

Honestly yours isn't anywhere near as bad as mine was a month ago. You've got this.

current pic:

 

[rmorris_14]

Good luck!

Honestly yours isn't anywhere near as bad as mine was a month ago. You've got this.

current pic:

Thank you!! Crossing all fingers and toes that the things I am doing are making a difference. Keeping phosguard in my arsenal to try if all this doesn’t help. Trying not to throw too much at it at once. But it’s tempting

 

[Karen00]

Thanks.. it’s not an ugly phase at this point. I’m trying to recover a tank that had little to no maintenance done for who know how long and was covered with GHA when I got it. Tank is over a year old at this point.

I'm just starting to go through a bit of an ugly phase with my first tank made worse by both phosphate and nitrate bottoming out to 0. I added a trochus snail to my 5g and that little guy is plowing through the gha. I was thinking of getting two but my LFS warned against it because they grow. Just seeing how much this one tiny one eats I'm so glad I listened to my LFS. I'm surprised he hasn't exploded.

 

[rmorris_14]

I'm just starting to go through a bit of an ugly phase with my first tank made worse by both phosphate and nitrate bottoming out to 0. I added a trochus snail to my 5g and that little guy is plowing through the gha. I was thinking of getting two but my LFS warned against it because they grow. Just seeing how much this one tiny one eats I'm so glad I listened to my LFS. I'm surprised he hasn't exploded.

I’ve got some CUC in a QT. They drop March 27th in the DT and I can’t wait!!! Trying to keep algae short so they like it.

 

[Karen00]

I’ve got some CUC in a QT. They drop March 27th in the DT and I can’t wait!!! Trying to keep algae short so they like it.

I had some long stuff in areas and he plowed through that as well. Having said that the long stuff was in just a few areas so keeping it shorter is probably best. It was so weird to see these trails across the rocks that were stripped clean. It looked like my yard when I let the grass get a bit too long and the mower makes nice strips. Now it's almost gone and I'm getting a bit concerned on what to feed him once it's gone.

 

[rmorris_14]

so now that everyone in the tank is throughly ticked off. We will see how it goes. I think I missed a couple spots removing but hopefully the hydrogen peroxide takes care of that. I heard some fizzing but nothing extreme. It did expire in November, so hopefully that does matter... :::fingers crossed::::
Ps that one rock was a lot. I feel for anyone who does this on a massive scale.

 

[twelvefive]

so now that everyone in the tank is throughly ticked off. We will see how it goes. I think I missed a couple spots removing but hopefully the hydrogen peroxide takes care of that. I heard some fizzing but nothing extreme. It did expire in November, so hopefully that does matter... :::fingers crossed::::
Ps that one rock was a lot. I feel for anyone who does this on a massive scale.

Looks good. Are you leaving lights on?

 

[rmorris_14]

Looks good. Are you leaving lights on?

For now.. I thought about adjusting the amount of time there are on but I don’t know the minimum amount without hurting the few corals I have. Have any suggestions?
I only have GSP a and two leathers

 

[twelvefive]

For now.. I thought about adjusting the amount of time there are on but I don’t know the minimum amount without hurting the few corals I have. Have any suggestions?
I only have GSP a and two leathers

They'd be fine with a few days of no light, I did 3. My favia, hammer, zoas were all ok. You may be good keeping them on though. I just wanted to nuke it and give cuc time to do their thing after the scrub.

 

[rmorris_14]

They'd be fine with a few days of no light, I did 3. My favia, hammer, zoas were all ok. You may be good keeping them on though. I just wanted to nuke it and give cuc time to do their thing after the scrub.

Your probably right.. would it be better if I waited until I did all the rocks to do the lights out though? I only tackled one rock tonight to see how it would effect everything

 

[rmorris_14]

Your probably right.. would it be better if I waited until I did all the rocks to do the lights out though? I only tackled one rock tonight to see how it would effect everything

Also how long did you have an algae problem before you tackled it?? I’m afraid I’m fighting a losing battle as the previous owner let the GHA let the problem go a long time before I got the tank. From what I have read the rocks can absorb the phosphate and make it a constant feeding ground for the GHA.

 

[twelvefive]

Also how long did you have an algae problem before you tackled it?? I’m afraid I’m fighting a losing battle as the previous owner let the GHA let the problem go a long time before I got the tank. From what I have read the rocks can absorb the phosphate and make it a constant feeding ground for the GHA.

I'm not good with time, but probably 4-6 months. Like I said, it was a lot worse than you're dealing with now. My rocks and sand were all worse than your worst rock. I was ready to give up because I'd been fighting it so long, but wife helped me with a plan and getting the work done, and now I'm in love with my tank again. The rock leeching was the reason I dropped gfo in as soon as I was done. I pulled it a week ago and still can't get my phosphates up.

I'd wait for lights out until you've done them all.

 

[twelvefive]

My tank is 1 year old this month and I feel like most of that year was fighting algae

 

[rmorris_14]

My tank is 1 year old this month and I feel like most of that year was fighting algae

So the coraline I had on the rock I cleaned definitely has some die off. Today it is fluorescent pink which is what it does when it dies. Anyways did you have coraline when you did your treatment? Do the spots come back quickly? Or does it have to start all over again?

 

[twelvefive]

So the coraline I had on the rock I cleaned definitely has some die off. Today it is fluorescent pink which is what it does when it dies. Anyways did you have coraline when you did your treatment? Do the spots come back quickly? Or does it have to start all over again?

Mine is bouncing back pretty quickly. I didn't notice die off from the scrub, I just assumed it was from being smothered by gha for so long.

 

[rmorris_14]

Hey everyone! Update: I'm coming up on week 3 of no vibrant.
Here is what I have done so far:
Purchase pods and Phyto from @Eldredge. They came quickly and well packaged. He was quick to respond to all my questions and was very helpful guiding me through the process. Super happy with that purchase and I would highly recommend. I put the pods in my tank and have been dosing the phyto at 10 to 15 ML per day since.
I removed the bottom rock mentioned in my previous post and scrubbed with a steel brush and then sprayed heavily with H202 and then left it out for five minutes. I think this may have been a bit aggressive because the rock looked lifeless the following day.
I decided to go a little easier on the top main rock. So the following week, I removed the rock, scrubbed heavily with the steel brush, and then spot treated a couple spots with the H202 and paint brush. I didn't let the rock sit out after that . I rinsed and put it back. I noticed I missed a couple spots, to which my husband rolled his eyes because I was going at it for awhile and I guess he felt I shouldn't have missed anything given the time spent. LOL "Thanks babe"

I'm pretty happy with where we are today. I will leave the other base rock in the tank. It has some algae on it as well, but this is the rock that my pistol and watchman live under and I don't want to disturb them. I scrubbed the rock in the tank during the last water change and had my husband hold the siphon close by to hopefully catch the floating algae. I'm sure some was missed though. I've also been trying to be more mindful of the amount of food with my feedings and continuing to do my weekly 10 gallon water changes. From previous threads, I believe this method worked well for people until the algae started returning on the treated rocks around the 6 week mark. Hopefully, thats not the case but I will deal with it if it happens.
I am two weeks away from being able to add my quarantined CUC. We also plan on taking the lawnmower blenny up to a good LFS on trip north in a couple weeks. He doesn't do much lawnmowering and he stresses out my watchman when he aggressively goes for the meatier food. I also don't trust him to not get into it while we are on vacation :::fingers crossed:::: that the combo of all my efforts is going to work for long haul.
I am finally starting to enjoy looking at the tank and not just stare at the algae with distain. I have even allowed myself to get excited for my first coral purchase when we get back from vacation. It will also definitely include some RFAs! Now if only I can figure out what to do with the GSP . Thanks everyone for your input and guidance so far. II still have a long ways to go but to be able to discuss on this forum has been an AMAZING resource and support.