Is there an GHA consuming "pygmy" Angel fish?

[Trever]

For a new small (20 gallon long) lightly stocked FOWLR, I'm considering using UV to combat algae. My current 33 gallon DT is a constant battle with GHA, and it makes me want to not have a tank because it's ugly, if relatively harmless. Sick of this, and if a UV helps a lot, I'm all for it.

As I understand it UV for hobbyists is best used to help prevent algae and keep it at bay. But Angels are grazers. Should I rely on my little fish or feed them what they need and go for UV?

 

[Cory]

Uv wont do nothing for hair algae. Id get some sea urchins they work the best of all ive tried.

 

[Jekyl]

The best thing for GHA is you. Use a toothbrush and scrub and suck it out. There isn't a fish that will do the job. It will eventually burn itself out. Until then keeping parameters in check and thorough cleaning is your best bet.

 

[Trever]

My tank is 7.5 months old. Never sure if I'm just not steadying the water parameters ship, or if still new is a valid excuse/reason.

I like the idea of an urchin in a FOWLR if for no other reason than they look cool and would look cool in a rock tank.

 

[Trever]

Also - is it ok to just toothbrush the stuff into the water column? I've seen the videos of people using a spoon and immediate suction.

That's not happening. I have no practical way to do something like that without inadvertently spilling water all over, to say nothing of knocking corals. Not even going to try- I am speaking from experience.

I do manually harvest. For sure. But it's only so effective with my fingers.

 

[Cory]

Also lawnmower blennies can be hair algae destroyers

 

[Trever]

@Cory mine just died of starvation in front of me. It sucked, we loved the little guy. He may have been caught with cyanide, I don't know. Not ready to try one of those again, most people find them not interested in GHA, from what I can tell. Some get lucky.

 

[Jekyl]

Also - is it ok to just toothbrush the stuff into the water column? I've seen the videos of people using a spoon and immediate suction.

That's not happening. I have no practical way to do something like that without inadvertently spilling water all over, to say nothing of knocking corals. Not even going to try- I am speaking from experience.

I do manually harvest. For sure. But it's only so effective.

Just suck it out when doing a water change. Hold the toothbrush at the end of your siphon

 

[Trever]

@Jekyl that just always ends in a near disaster for me. This is also a small (33 gallon cube) tank.

I have my weekly 10% water changes down. I have a diamond back gobby that totally takes care of my light sand covering. I just siphon out of the sump, replace, done in 15 minutes. Trying to grab stuff with the siphon etc., I've learned for me with this tank, NO.

When the GHA on the back panel is lose, I turn off all the pumps, scrape it carefully to the bottom, then come in with Julian's thing and suck it out. Fingers for the stuff on the rocks. That's it.

IF I could use a toothbrush and not worry about it going into the water column, and that would help, that would be useful. But with the stuff constantly coming back after it looks like it's completely gone, I mean, I have no idea what's causing what.

Still chasing my tail with GHA.

I do think when it gets super heavy, it's sucking out all nutrients, bleaching my coraline algae, and slowing down the growth of my corals due to nutrient depletion. But I don't even know this.

Mysterious.

 

[reefer024]

What is your light schedule? What type of light? And any near by windows that cast light on it?

 

[Opus]

You can try peroxide on it. I squirt some on my problem areas and after doing that a couple of days in a row it is mostly gone. It is only a short term cure but it works for me.

 

[Trever]

About 3 hours of full intensity kessil 360W.

12 hours total, most of that well below 40% intensity.

It's a clone of the default Kessil schedule, just that it goes to 100 instead of topping out at 60% intensity, and I added maybe 30 minutes more of the peak time. My research indicated Kessil's default schedule is the way it is for solid science reasons. The Kessil logic takes care of the wavelength, though as for that, I clone their default (white at peak, bluer and bluer otherwise).

No windows hitting the tank ever.

Everything I've researched has me pretty much convinced the GHA, while dependent on light, is not a problem because of light- i.e. I could not grow corals without what I'm doing, and that will grow GHA.

 

[reefer024]

12hrs in my opinion is to long especially if your battling gha. My DT is on 9.5 hrs, I run t5s. You said you couldn't grow coral without what your doing. Isn't this a fowlr?

 

[Jekyl]

I run my kessils on a 12 hour schedule also. I battled GHA around the same age in my tank. It lasted a couple months and was never to be seen again.

 

[Trever]

@reefer024 I don't think going from 12 to 9.5 is going to do anything substantive for my GHA. If you were to tell me to go to 4 hours, maybe, but that doesn't seem like a solution.

I do grow corals. In fact, all of my corals are doing very well with solid, sometimes outstanding growth, if what I have to compared to online is any indication. I've only lost one coral since I started, I lost an elegance, probably to ECS though it supposedly was not an indo specimen.

I could complain about the coloration of my meteor shower, but I think that is receiving too much flow, and the coloration is not that bad.

My SPS are doing outstanding, my zoas are happy and growing, and my acan is starting to bloom big time. Etc.

I dose one part (Carbo-Calcium) and all of my parameters are flat line stable everytime I measure, which is a fair amount (twice daily when dialing in the dosing!).

 

[Trever]

@Jekyl comforting to hear.

I do suspect this is an age related thing- a phase that will pass. Lately, I just try not to do anything. If/when the GHA gets heavy, I get it out, because it's easier to get it out then and (again) I notice my coraline starts to bleach around the same time and coral growth seems to slow (maybe- varies from specimen to specimen). I presume this is from the GHA sucking the tank dry of nutrients, which I have not been able to measure since a few months after the tank started.

To my eye, the tank is currently undergoing some kind of big balance change, and I'm hopeful the GHA is on the way out, at least for now.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Angelfish are omnivores, and the bigger species mostly feed on plankton and invertebrates. However, some dwarf angelfish such as flame and lemonpeel tend to enjoy algae and detritus as a central part of their diet but doubtful on GHA
Green Hair Algae or "GHA" is really a broad term that covers hundreds of species of green simple filamentous algae. These species tend to be simple, fine in texture, and have few distinguishable features. True species level identification requires a microscope. GHA is not coarse or wiry, it should break apart easily when pulled, and should lose form quickly when removed from water. If you can make out a root structure, or a stiff branching structure it is probably not GHA.
Best removal method is reducing white light intensity and pulling it by hand as Green hair algae can be pulled out easily, and tooth brushed or scrubbed off the rock work. This is easier to do if the rock is outside of the tank. If it is growing from the sand sift it out with a net.
Some cleaner crew that will be helpful is addition of Blue Leg hermits, Cerith snails, Chitons, Turbo grazers, Sea Hare, Conchs, Emerald Crabs, Urchins and a few conch snails

 

[Jekyl]

So you have none detectable or you don't test them?

 

[reefer024]

I'm giving you a idea what it could be. You said in your post "For a new small (20 gallon long) lightly stocked FOWLR". And a 2.5hr difference in light would make a difference imo. But you seem to got it down on your research

 

[Jekyl]

I'm giving you a idea what it could be. You said in your post "For a new small (20 gallon long) lightly stocked FOWLR". And a 2.5hr difference in light would make a difference imo. But you seem to got it down on your research

+1 fowlr means no coral, which you could run without a light at all.