It's everywhere !!

[Hallowhead]

Howdy,

Looking for recommendations for the big guns.

I've been dosing some vibrant against my better judgement with zero luck. I need to get control of this.

I manually remove every couple days but it's bad.

 

[Mikedawg]

Yep, keep pulling/toothbrushing off, removing rocks if you can for more thorough cleaning; check nitrate and phosphate ( assume they need to be lowered); consider a blackout for a few days and reducing lighting (corals shouldn't be adversely affected); and add to cuc.

If this strategy doesn't work, I would dip rocks and corals in h202, bleach tank and all equipment and start over.

Good luck

 

[Hallowhead]

Yep, keep pulling/toothbrushing off, removing rocks if you can for more thorough cleaning; check nitrate and phosphate ( assume they need to be lowered); consider a blackout for a few days and reducing lighting (corals shouldn't be adversely affected); and add to cuc.

If this strategy doesn't work, I would dip rocks and corals in h202, bleach tank and all equipment and start over.

Good luck

What type of clean up crew is recommended for that?

 

[Mikedawg]

Here's what Reef Cleaners recommends for GHA: Clean Up Crew: Assorted Hermits, Blue Legs, Florida Ceriths, Chitons, Turbograzers, Sea Hares, Conchs, Emerald Crabs, Urchins and a few others. It is readily accepted by many herbivores, but because it grows quickly it may persist even in a tank with a fair amount of cleaners.

Personally, I've had good luck with margarita and turbo snails as well as tuxedo urchins; be aware that turbos and urchins will bulldoze loose rocks and coral frags.

 

[Hallowhead]

Here's what Reef Cleaners recommends for GHA: Clean Up Crew: Assorted Hermits, Blue Legs, Florida Ceriths, Chitons, Turbograzers, Sea Hares, Conchs, Emerald Crabs, Urchins and a few others. It is readily accepted by many herbivores, but because it grows quickly it may persist even in a tank with a fair amount of cleaners.

Personally, I've had good luck with margarita and turbo snails as well as tuxedo urchins; be aware that turbos and urchins will bulldoze loose rocks and coral frags.

I have loads of crabs and Mexican turbos.. I've added an emerald but now looking at urchins

 

[CorallineKid]

So vibrant is a great product if used correctly. But isnt going to take that hair algae out over night. Also i air on the side of caution to critters in your tank when using vibrant. Ive personally seen ph drop way down and lost brittle stars right after. Such a horrible sight! Always under dose and see how everyone in the tank reacts before slamming the tank with any product. Slow introduction is your best and safest approach to reefing as a whole! If I had to guess id say your phosphates might be on the high side. Generally algae doesn't get that way over night. It takes a while to get there. First thing is first.... Whats your setup? Lighting used and lighting schedule, what kind of inhabitants reside there? Hos long has the tank been up and going? Gear used? And water parameters?

 

[Mastiffsrule]

Hi,

My first recommendation, if you have not done so is to test your tank. You may have some high #’s contributing to the outbreak.

 

[Hallowhead]

I scrubbed every rock clean tonight with water change.

Just some on frag plugs

 

[Hallowhead]

Hi,

My first recommendation, if you have not done so is to test your tank. You may have some high #’s contributing to the outbreak.

Numbers are all in check

 

[CorallineKid]

Yep, keep pulling/toothbrushing off, removing rocks if you can for more thorough cleaning; check nitrate and phosphate ( assume they need to be lowered); consider a blackout for a few days and reducing lighting (corals shouldn't be adversely affected); and add to cuc.

If this strategy doesn't work, I would dip rocks and corals in h202, bleach tank and all equipment and start over.

Good luck

U dont need to bleach the tank and start all over!!! Dont do that! It takes a while to get that kind of Coralline build up!. I agree with dipping in h202 but make sure to use only 3%!!!! And some sps. Do not like h202 at all!

 

[CorallineKid]

also what kind lf salt are you using to mix?

 

[Hallowhead]

also what kind lf salt are you using to mix?

Instant ocean

 

[CorallineKid]

Ok. Read back to the post where i asked about your setup, cuz water changes can actually fuel algae by replacing new nutrients with salt. Is it instant ocean reef crystals?

 

[Mastiffsrule]

I have used FluxRx with success. But other reefers have had issues. I always try to fix naturally first, but the Flux did not kill anything in my tank

 

[CorallineKid]

Lots of salts are made with a balance of foundational nutrients and trace elements which in turn just feed the issue

 

[Hallowhead]

I have used FluxRx with success. But other reefers have had issues. I always try to fix naturally first, but the Flux did not kill anything in my tank

I've used it for bryopsis before great success. Hesitant to bring big guns rn

 

[CorallineKid]

If i had to bet money i bet the phos / nitrate levels are on the high side. Id run some gfo in a bag or reactor (introduce slowly and not too much for a few days to get phos levels in check and get some micro bacter7 and if you can introduce some bio-pellets in a reactor

 

[Hallowhead]

Lots of salts are made with a balance of foundational nutrients and trace elements which in turn just feed the issue

It's not crystals purple bucket

 

[Hallowhead]

If i had to bet money i bet the phos / nitrate levels are on the high side. Id run some gfo in a bag or reactor (introduce slowly and not too much for a few days to get phos levels in check and get some micro bacter7 and if you can introduce some bio-pellets in a reactor

Nitrate is 25 and phosphate is .03 to .1

 

[DeepintheReef]

I’ve used fluconazole to beat back hair algae in 8/9 tanks so far. I’ve found that sometimes it take four or five weeks instead of the suggested two weeks for the algae to start disintegrating. Continue to manually remove it during this process and be sure to re-dose proportional to any water changes during this time.

disclaimer: I haven’t run it in any predominately SPS tanks, mostly mixed reefs with lots of LPS and softies