Losing the war against GHA. Some tips?

[eschaton]

Hello all,

I've been slowly losing my mind attempting algae control in my tank. I don't really know what to do.

FTS:

As background, this tank was set up back in March with Tampa Bay Saltwater live rock. The first few weeks, the tank looked awesome, and then I began having different sorts of nuisance algae which came in waves. First came the inevitable diatom bloom, then some sort of green film algae, then dinos, then cyano, then dinos again. After the last outbreak of dinos (which was quite bad) I shifted to a "dirtier tank" model and installed a UV sterilizer. Soon after this the GHA began to cover most of the rock surfaces (barring a few rocks which the urchins seem to keep clear.

General tank facts:

Display volume: 80 gallons

Stocking: Mostly CUC-type fish to help with algae control. In terms of fish I have a yellow tang (does good work), Molly Miller blenny (general cleanup), eyelash blenny (also picks his fair share of algae), lawnmower blenny (doesn't touch the rocks, but keeps the glass clean - a little worried he is underweight), and two orchid pseudochromis, and an ORA pygmy filefish. I have numerous snails (including a conch in the front - I would never have bought him online if I knew his size), but the three longspine urchins who came in as hitchhikers seem like they do the lion's work of algae eating. I have several smaller frags, but not much other than Xenia seems to thrive in the tank in terms of coral, though I have not lost any frags in awhile (even things like the gorgonian and the zoas which spend a lot of time buried in turf algae).

In terms of tank parameters, I use RO/DI water from a basement system with 0 TDS. I use instant ocean for salt. I typically do 2-3 water changes per week of around 5 gallons, at which time I attempt to suck out as much algae as possible (and sometimes remove individual rocks for scrubbing). My phophate levels are detectable, but on the low side (0.6). I periodically dose Vibrant. I have a chaeto reactor, but it's just been growing nuisance algae for awhile and I've been unable to find new chaeto for it. I've been considering getting a reactor to set up GFO, but in recent weeks as I've stepped up my water changes the dinos have begun coming back - meaning I'm a bit scared about making my system too clean, because dinos are much worse for the tank's inhabitants than GHA. I added a second VorTech in recent months, hoping higher flow would help with the algae (it didn't).

I may be overfeeding, since I know high nutrients is what causes algae outbreaks. I typically feed the tank Reef Frenzy, and in my experience it's very hard to break off a piece of the frozen sheets smaller than 1-2 cm. The fish themselves don't seem to need much, but I have two anemones (a bubble-tip in the big xenia patch hiding in the picture above, and a rock flower) and I like to hand-feed them twice per week or so. I also have some large red mithrax crabs which beg to be handfed, though I do this less frequently now.

Anyway, I could use some tips. Should I cut back on feedings? dose more Vibrant? Use GFO? Please let me know...the tank has been all toil and no joy for months now.

 

[Tandy]

The best to win the battle is manual removing them as much as you can, also its an ideal to cutting to back on your feeding, fat healthy is nice but you only feed them enough. so then you don’t have to do water changes 2-3 times a week. I’ve battle GHA before, and I don’t see them in my tank anymore. Less feeding, and manually remove. Good luck

 

[biophilia]

Remove as much as you can by hand, Put the clumps you pull out (and submerge your hand) into a bowl of water as you pull it so that you're not shedding a bunch of tiny pieces back into the tank. Then add some urchins. At least two or three smaller species (halloween or tuxedo) for that size tank. They'll keep the rock cleaner than anything else. From what you describe it doesn't sound like you're overfeeding IMO. Just have a lack of grazing pressure.

Using a turkey baster every day or two on your rocks will also help keep detritus from building up on on the rock surface and encouraging algae to take hold.

 

[New&no clue]

I am little help but similar issue so following along to hopefully get some good tips.

 

[vetteguy53081]

First course of action is to reduce its food source- one is light
Reduce that white light intensity a bit
Check phosphate and nitrate readings which may be elevated.
Pull as much off as you can by hand and consider using liquid vibrant

ARE YOU BY CHANCE USING TAP WATER FROM THE FAUCET or RODI water?

 

[Ta2oodfreak]

I had a large SHA breakout similar to yours if not worse in my 180g. I cut my light intensity and time down to 4 hrs. I used algaefix and did water changes. If it was a large rock that could be easily removed I did a hydrogen peroxide dip, rinsed and put back in. That gave my cuc and clown tang enough time to catch up and basically wipe it out in less than 2 weeks. Then went back to normal lighting.

 

[X-37B]

I had similar in my 120.
Remove as much as you can by hand then dose fluconazole.
Keep removing as much as you can by hand during treatment.
It becomes easier to remove after a week of treatment.
When its 90% gone add 40 astrea snails.
That is what I did with no gha returning.
Also its a balance feeding your fish.
I also do not feed the corals as the fish do that.
I did not reduce lighting and actually changed from 8 t5's to MH's half way through treatment.
No3 <10
Po4 .02-.06

 

[eschaton]

The best to win the battle is manual removing them as much as you can, also its an ideal to cutting to back on your feeding, fat healthy is nice but you only feed them enough. so then you don’t have to do water changes 2-3 times a week. I’ve battle GHA before, and I don’t see them in my tank anymore. Less feeding, and manually remove. Good luck

I actually do a lot of manual removal as it is. This picture is actually after my last water change. I tend to run the siphon tube over the rocks first (to get rid of any dino) and then go back through, tear off chunks, and suck them immediately out of the tank. Sometimes I engage in manual removal outside of water change times as well. The tank is deep enough though that manual removal on the lower rocks or the rear of the tank is quite difficult. And honestly it's easier to pull out chunks of gha once it's grown in a bit.

Remove as much as you can by hand, Put the clumps you pull out (and submerge your hand) into a bowl of water as you pull it so that you're not shedding a bunch of tiny pieces back into the tank. Then add some urchins. At least two or three smaller species (halloween or tuxedo) for that size tank. They'll keep the rock cleaner than anything else. From what you describe it doesn't sound like you're overfeeding IMO. Just have a lack of grazing pressure.

Using a turkey baster every day or two on your rocks will also help keep detritus from building up on on the rock surface and encouraging algae to take hold.

I actually have a red tuxedo, though the three hitchhiker urchins seem to do more of the work. One of them dropped a bunch of spines for some reason last week, but seems to have since recovered. Regardless, I have no issue with buying more urchins - though I have wondered if their grazing might be hindering the coraline from expanding.

First course of action is to reduce its food source- one is light
Reduce that white light intensity a bit
Check phosphate and nitrate readings which may be elevated.
Pull as much off as you can by hand and consider using liquid vibrant

ARE YOU BY CHANCE USING TAP WATER FROM THE FAUCET or RODI water?

Please reread my OP. I use RODI, and have used a TDS meter to determine that it's working properly. I have checked my phosphates, which are slightly elevated (0.6). I also use vibrant - used to be weekly, I've admittedly fallen off a bit as I've increased my water changes, though I dosed tonight.

I also have a skimmer, which is always running, but it collects little in the way of skimmate.

I had similar in my 120.
Remove as much as you can by hand then dose fluconazole.
Keep removing as much as you can by hand during treatment.
It becomes easier to remove after a week of treatment.
When its 90% gone add 40 astrea snails.
That is what I did with no gha returning.
Also its a balance feeding your fish.
I also do not feed the corals as the fish do that.
I did not reduce lighting and actually changed from 8 t5's to MH's half way through treatment.
No3 <10
Po4 .02-.06

I am going to try some fluconazole and dosing with a liquid phosphate remover over the longer term.

As to CUC snails, I did a "recharge" late in the summer after the initial stocking, but I tend to be cautious when putting in large numbers because I don't want to be in a situation where I cause the snails to starve to death from lack of food.

Also smaller snails don't seem to live long in my system. Since I got TBS live rock, I had some negative hitchikers (predatory whelks, small gorilla crabs) which have mostly been exiled to the sump, but I'm pretty sure there are still a few I can't find. Plus there are hermits, which I never really want, but which both came in as freebies and came in on the live rock. The astrea seem to do fine though.

 

[eschaton]

Tank update:

I treated the tank with the suggested dosage of fluconozole. During treatment I attempted to remove as much hair algae as was possible so it wouldn't all die in the tank. I got out 3-4 significant loads early on in the removal process. As time went on, the algae died back enough that I couldn't really get much of anything pulling by hand, but I still collected small amounts of hair algae which got blown loose and got sucked up by the powerhead. Eventually I just engaged in scrubbing the rocks in tank - something I wouldn't normally do, but I did in this case because I've been avoiding any water changes while the fluconozole does its work.

Regardless, as you can see, the hair algae is gone...mostly. The FTS looks pretty pristine, but there are still some tufts of it left in lower-flow areas, such as near the base of the rockwork - which unfortunately are also areas where I can't really manually remove well. Oddly the more minor dino outbreak died back as well about a week after the GHA started to die. There's a little bit of cyano around the button polyps, and some diatoms have been forming on the sand bed, but the tank is looking better than it has in months.

As for continued maintenance we will see. I did boost my CUC with an order from Reefcleaners. The only urchin they had in stock didn't make it through shipping, and a lot of the snails seem to have been predated again. I exiled two whelks and the largest of my red mithrax crabs to the sump - hopefully this makes a difference. I'm also dosing 15 ML of phosphate remover on a near daily basis, and continuing to dose vibrant. Maybe in another week I will turn back on the skimmer and begin water changes again.

 

[fishhead1973]

Hello all,

I've been slowly losing my mind attempting algae control in my tank. I don't really know what to do.

FTS:

As background, this tank was set up back in March with Tampa Bay Saltwater live rock. The first few weeks, the tank looked awesome, and then I began having different sorts of nuisance algae which came in waves. First came the inevitable diatom bloom, then some sort of green film algae, then dinos, then cyano, then dinos again. After the last outbreak of dinos (which was quite bad) I shifted to a "dirtier tank" model and installed a UV sterilizer. Soon after this the GHA began to cover most of the rock surfaces (barring a few rocks which the urchins seem to keep clear.

General tank facts:

Display volume: 80 gallons

Stocking: Mostly CUC-type fish to help with algae control. In terms of fish I have a yellow tang (does good work), Molly Miller blenny (general cleanup), eyelash blenny (also picks his fair share of algae), lawnmower blenny (doesn't touch the rocks, but keeps the glass clean - a little worried he is underweight), and two orchid pseudochromis, and an ORA pygmy filefish. I have numerous snails (including a conch in the front - I would never have bought him online if I knew his size), but the three longspine urchins who came in as hitchhikers seem like they do the lion's work of algae eating. I have several smaller frags, but not much other than Xenia seems to thrive in the tank in terms of coral, though I have not lost any frags in awhile (even things like the gorgonian and the zoas which spend a lot of time buried in turf algae).

In terms of tank parameters, I use RO/DI water from a basement system with 0 TDS. I use instant ocean for salt. I typically do 2-3 water changes per week of around 5 gallons, at which time I attempt to suck out as much algae as possible (and sometimes remove individual rocks for scrubbing). My phophate levels are detectable, but on the low side (0.6). I periodically dose Vibrant. I have a chaeto reactor, but it's just been growing nuisance algae for awhile and I've been unable to find new chaeto for it. I've been considering getting a reactor to set up GFO, but in recent weeks as I've stepped up my water changes the dinos have begun coming back - meaning I'm a bit scared about making my system too clean, because dinos are much worse for the tank's inhabitants than GHA. I added a second VorTech in recent months, hoping higher flow would help with the algae (it didn't).

I may be overfeeding, since I know high nutrients is what causes algae outbreaks. I typically feed the tank Reef Frenzy, and in my experience it's very hard to break off a piece of the frozen sheets smaller than 1-2 cm. The fish themselves don't seem to need much, but I have two anemones (a bubble-tip in the big xenia patch hiding in the picture above, and a rock flower) and I like to hand-feed them twice per week or so. I also have some large red mithrax crabs which beg to be handfed, though I do this less frequently now.

Anyway, I could use some tips. Should I cut back on feedings? dose more Vibrant? Use GFO? Please let me know...the tank has been all toil and no joy for months now.

Cheato reactor

 

[eschaton]

Soon after I posted in December, I needed to dose to take care of the minor cyano outbreak, but finally everything is balanced out and the tank is basically free of pest algae. I'm not even running my chaeto reactor at the moment (can't find chaeto anywhere online). It's just...stable.