My plan for algae control Advice welcomed

[Everything Aquatics]

I have a 20 gallon tank and I have been having quite a bit of algae issues of late. Its bryopsis and hair algae but there is another long bubble algae. My plan is to remove the zoas which are super unhappy and only open a bit( there skirts are also looking really bad. The rock flower is also looking bad and might die. The other corals seem fine accept my acan which doesn’t fully open. Once I remove the zoas and put them in a seperate bin I will do a 25 percent water change and siphon the area with all the algae. Next I will hydrogen peroxide dip all my zoas to get the algae off. Hopefully my rock flower will still live. After that I will use reef flux to get rid of all the algea on the rocks along with manual removal. I will also run half a teaspoon of gfo. Mabey in the future I will also use vibrant from bringing the algae back. What does everyone think of my plan, any suggestions. Here are some photos. Thanks

 

[JohnMzreef]

You left out a lot of information, but... With that small a tank you could do a 3-4 gallon water change every other day and see significant improvement. I use vibrant with good results - follow the directions closely and do not exceed.
Fluconazole is a prescription antifungal medication that should not be put into aquaria.

 

[Everything Aquatics]

You left out a lot of information, but... With that small a tank you could do a 3-4 gallon water change every other day and see significant improvement. I use vibrant with good results - follow the directions closely and do not exceed.

Thanks I will do multiple water changes, and use vibrant

 

[Everything Aquatics]

Anyone else

 

[TriggersAmuck]

Have you tested Phosphate and Nitrate recently to take stock of how much excess we are talking? Also, since some of the softies are unhappy, you might want to look at alk/pH.

 

[Lizbeli]

My basic answer to this would to to focus on that sand bed. Its looking like it needs some vacuuming and a handful of clean up crew to keep it turned. Use a turkey baster to blow out your rocks every couple days and keep up on replacing your filter floss/socks.

Vibrant works very well. I used it in my tank to get rid of hair algae but then I added an algae scrubber for it to grow in there. No more hair algae in my display and it has been several months.

 

[Everything Aquatics]

My basic answer to this would to to focus on that sand bed. Its looking like it needs some vacuuming and a handful of clean up crew to keep it turned. Use a turkey baster to blow out your rocks every couple days and keep up on replacing your filter floss/socks.

Vibrant works very well. I used it in my tank to get rid of hair algae but then I added an algae scrubber for it to grow in there. No more hair algae in my display and it has been several months.

Thanks I will definitely use a turkey Bastet to blow out the rock and sand and use vibrant.

 

[brandon429]

There are some other details unaddressed.

Per pics, your sandbed is aging quicker than you want it to, notice the pigmentation and concentration of growths this is normal for nano reefs but dont think it self-fixes.

we have a sand rinse thread for a reason, people are driven to it. they dont start there.

Everything in your current plan is going to quadruple that waste loading.

it is absolutely possible those meds will kill off this algae, and some can be removed ahead of time as well.

but here's an opposite option: make your whole tank free of algae, and waste in one pass cleaning.

then consider adding things as preventatives, not removers.

 

[Everything Aquatics]

Have you tested Phosphate and Nitrate recently to take stock of how much excess we are talking? Also, since some of the softies are unhappy, you might want to look at alk/pH.

My phosphates were recently pretty high but now there back down. My alk is at 10 and ph at 8

 

[Everything Aquatics]

There are some other details unaddressed.

Per pics, your sandbed is aging quicker than you want it to, notice the pigmentation and concentration of growths this is normal for nano reefs but dont think it self-fixes.

we have a sand rinse thread for a reason, people are driven to it. they dont start there.

Everything in your current plan is going to quadruple that waste loading.

it is absolutely possible those meds will kill off this algae, and some can be removed ahead of time as well.

but here's an opposite option: make your whole tank free of algae, and waste in one pass cleaning.

then consider adding things as preventatives, not removers.

Thanks for the help

 

[brandon429]

the real help is only if we turn that to a fixed reef overnite


wanna really fix that tank?

we manually clean it, all new water, skip cycle reassembly then imagine your params.


theyll match new mix water.

 

[brandon429]

(reefmiser, nano-reef.com uwp)

Algae Identification

Any opinions on what type of algae this is growing on my rocks and sand bed?

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Everything Aquatics]

(reefmiser, nano-reef.com uwp)

wow

 

[brandon429]

the reason I like this method is because it instantly de-ages your tank.


large tanks have the dilution and extra surface area to carry some dieoff, but you dont want it.

you are better off with a flash-cleaned system like WV did in the thread I edited in above prior post, this is best for nanos.

because its fast, and they said you can't do anything fast but we just did lol. really its just an option, its ok to try and slowly starve it all out, use animals to eat the waste (who then produce whole waste pellets that nothing eats)

but it just wont be quite as fun as that above which we have about 1000 on file. if you get bored with other options lets rip clean this tank it will turn out fine.

the order of ops is:

have new water heated and ready, all of it 100% new.

drain out current system throw out the water but hold fish and corals in some, in buckets without rock or sand. tank water and fish + corals safely

take rocks and use a brush or better a knife tip to metal-etch the algae off, the contact breaks the contact points and scraping a little rock is ok, fish with beaks do this when they chew on reefs to eat the algae.

once the rock is manually cleaned outside the tank, rinsed off in tankwater each time so the bits of algae dont stick to the rock, apply peroxide by spray onto the cleaned rocks and set aside a few mins.


take the sand out and rinse it in tap water for one hour in a bucket, till its 100% clear and not 99%. final rinse is ro water.

clean and wipe your whole tank out, its now empty.

add cleaned sand back to the clean tank

add cleaned rocks (rinse off peroxide with saltwater)

refill all new water matching temp and salinity of old tank water

add animals back

*re ramp the lights as if new, do not run full power lights for a few days, slow ramp back up.


post after pics we like to use them

you can try dipping your zoas separately, no other corals were getting dipped only those. the rest are detail worked with a knife, scraped clean bit by bit + sw rinsed till clean, then peroxide on the former algae spots after cleaning.

no peroxide is touching your fish, or corals other than the zos.

no the tap water rinse does not hurt your sandbed, none of this hurts your tank it causes the conditions shown above.

your sand has no clouding, its white again. the rocks have zero accumulation, all pores opened right up vs weeks decay and delay.

 

[Everything Aquatics]

the reason I like this method is because it instantly de-ages your tank.


large tanks have the dilution and extra surface area to carry some dieoff, but you dont want it.

you are better off with a flash-cleaned system like WV did in the thread I edited in above prior post, this is best for nanos.

because its fast, and they said you can't do anything fast but we just did lol. really its just an option, its ok to try and slowly starve it all out, use animals to eat the waste (who then produce whole waste pellets that nothing eats)

but it just wont be quite as fun as that above which we have about 1000 on file. if you get bored with other options lets rip clean this tank it will turn out fine.

Thanks if nothings working I’ll try it