Ready to give up! GHA

[Lalaallieu]

I buy the gallon jug RO water from Walmart. Not walmarts water station, but their actual RO gallon drinking water. I may start going to my LFS, but the condition of their stuff terrifies me to use their water.

 

[LegendaryCG]

Flucanazol is like hitting reset on a tank of algae

 

[dieselkeeper]

I buy the gallon jug RO water from Walmart. Not walmarts water station, but their actual RO gallon drinking water. I may start going to my LFS, but the condition of their stuff terrifies me to use their water.

Test your RO water. You need to make sure it is not the source of your hair algae. TDS tester are cheap.

Amazon.com : tds meters

 

[hllb]

Flucanazol is like hitting reset on a tank of algae

I dosed it a week ago. It might be slightly better but still a long way to go. Should I do a second dose? Initially I did 4 capsules for my 32g tank

 

[LegendaryCG]

I dosed it a week ago. It might be slightly better but still a long way to go. Should I do a second dose? Initially I did 4 capsules for my 32g tank

Did you pull carbon and skimmer cup?

 

[hllb]

Did you pull carbon and skimmer cup?

Yes. Put them back after 5 days (directions said after 3 but I was out of town)

 

[PhreeByrd]

The best reefing advice I ever received was from a LFS owner who told me that even the worst cases of nuisance algae infestations will eventually burn themselves out. I did not want to believe him because I wanted a quicker fix, but it was absolutely true.

Removing and scrubbing rock is a complete waste of time. Unless you remove the top surface of the actual rock, the algae is still there and will grow back. You are also spreading tiny bits of the algae around to repopulate the rock. Peroxide is also doing as much harm as good, since it's disinfecting the rock and killing bacteria that consume nutrients.

At water change time, use a big tweezers or forceps to manually remove as many big clumps of the algae as you can. Try to remove as much algae mass as possible. In doing so, you are also removing the nutrients that the algae has consumed, and permanently exporting those nutrients. This is why algae scrubber devices work.

Practice your powers of patience, and continue good husbandry with your water parameters and water changes. Do everything you can to reduce the addition of nutrients to the tank. Eventually, as your tank matures, the microorganisms necessary to compete with the algae will reach levels that can outcompete the algae. This does take some time. A 4 month old tank is literally a baby.

Vibrant does work somehow. I wouldn't dose anything else, though. Definitely, anything that might affect the bacterial populations in a negative way (disinfectants, antibiotics, etc.) are a huge no-no.

 

[Phildago]

Flucanazole, Flucanazole, then a little more Flucanazole. GHA is probably the easiest pest to get rid of when you use Flucanazole. Any other method does nothing to get rid of it.

 

[PhreeByrd]

Flucanazole, Flucanazole, then a little more Flucanazole. GHA is probably the easiest pest to get rid of when you use Flucanazole. Any other method does nothing to get rid of it.

Not true at all. I can prove it. I already have, to myself.

 

[Phildago]

Not true at all. I can prove it.

I've lost my evidence since I don't have a single strand anymore, but I can tell you that no amount of water changes, or manual removal, or carbon dosing, refugium, or GFO, or clean up crew, or under feeding has ever done anything for my GHA. I had an infestation for my whole first year. I did three Flucanazole treatment, the GHA melted away and never came back. The Flucanazole hurt nothing else at all. No side effects, nothing. It was cheaper than any other method, less frustrating and actually worked.

I simply don't see why anyone would recommend anything else to someone about to give up. I was at the point where I did give up. I followed everyone's directions to the t and nothing got accomplished. All my corals were on the brink of dead, completely colorless and shaded by the GHA, DEAD, my fish were okay but I didn't want them anymore because the tank looked like a swamp creature.

If you think abiut it, it makes sense. GHA grows faster and spreads faster than anythung else we have in our tanks. Unless you eradicate it by completely tearing down your tank, bleaching it and starting over with fresh everything, the only options are A. Damage control or B. Chemically erriadicate it. The advantage here is chemical eradication is cheap, easy, permanent, and doesn't harm anything else.

 

[PhreeByrd]

GHA grows faster and spreads faster than anythung else we have in our tanks.

This is why manual removal is the best form of nutrient export, and why it's the most effective method of accelerating the burnout of the algae.

Algae is a natural and necessary part of the ecosystem that most of us strive to recreate and maintain. It exists everywhere on natural reefs, and without it, the reefs would perish. Our goal is, or should be, to have it remain at a level that is visually acceptable and not harming or inhibiting our other desirable reef inhabitants.

Dumping drugs into the water might show positive visual effects, but to say that there were no side effects is probably untrue, and at the very least, misleading. Maybe you didn't notice side effects. Others have certainly reported undesirable effects, so maybe you were just fortunate. In all honestly, most of these kinds of treatments are akin to cancer chemotherapy, and should not be taken lightly.

I also have not the slightest bit of visible pest algae in my tanks, and have not for many years, despite having truly awful infestations in the early years and despite never having used any form of chemical or antibiotic treatments. So what seems to be a blanket statement that "no amount of water changes, or manual removal, or carbon dosing, refugium, or GFO, or clean up crew, or under feeding has ever done anything for my GHA" might apply universally is potentially quite misleading.

In any case, I greatly empathize with those battling algae infestations. It is a true test of patience. But it is a winnable battle, and without resorting to any extraordinary or unnatural efforts.

 

[Phildago]

This is why manual removal is the best form of nutrient export, and why it's the most effective method of accelerating the burnout of the algae.

Algae is a natural and necessary part of the ecosystem that most of us strive to recreate and maintain. It exists everywhere on natural reefs, and without it, the reefs would perish. Our goal is, or should be, to have it remain at a level that is visually acceptable and not harming or inhibiting our other desirable reef inhabitants.

Dumping drugs into the water might show positive visual effects, but to say that there were no side effects is probably untrue, and at the very least, misleading. Maybe you didn't notice side effects. Others have certainly reported undesirable effects, so maybe you were just fortunate. In all honestly, most of these kinds of treatments are akin to cancer chemotherapy, and should not be taken lightly.

I also have not the slightest bit of visible pest algae in my tanks, and have not for many years, despite having truly awful infestations in the early years and despite never having used any form of chemical or antibiotic treatments. So what seems to be a blanket statement that "no amount of water changes, or manual removal, or carbon dosing, refugium, or GFO, or clean up crew, or under feeding has ever done anything for my GHA" might apply universally is potentially quite misleading.

In any case, I greatly empathize with those battling algae infestations. It is a true test of patience. But it is a winnable battle, and without resorting to any extraordinary or unnatural efforts.

I do agree with most of what you said, but GHA is a different algae than most others. I have no issue with seeing some green in my tank. Manual removal has its issues as well. Putting your hands in the tank and disturbing the rock and possibly brushing up against corals can cause their own issues.

Unlike chemotherapy wreaking havoc on the body, causing irreparable damage is not analogous to an anti fungal treatment such as Flucanazole. When a woman has a yeast infection the doctor prescribes this same drug, it can have side effects, but the net result is restoration of natural flora after some time. In the same way, Flucanazole will not cause permanent damage to your tank. It may kill some funguses in the water along with the GHA. Although I could be wrong, I don't think fungus is a major factor in our aquarium ecosystem.

 

[FFKiwi]

Guys, I have GHA, and it’s taking over. It’s gotten worse and worse. It’s only one one single rock but I already have corals glued down. I got it from some corals I got at once. I got four at once and it affected two corals that I purchased and has just spread everywhere on this one rock. I have been dosing vibrant and hydrogen peroxide but its not seeming to help. I just treated my tank for flatworms so I don’t want to put too much stress on said tank. My tank is beautiful and has grown immensely in four months, but I’m just so frustrated. I pick this off and it comes right back. I’m ready to give up. I just picked it off yesterday%

Lala- have you not tried a Flucanazole treatment yet? It works GREAT

 

[hllb]

Lala- have you not tried a Flucanazole treatment yet? It works GREAT

I’m 10 days in and not really seeing progress yet. Sigh...

 

[Daniel@R2R Verified Admin]

Fluconazole worked for me.

 

[DS204]

Could someone please recommend a good place to find Flucanazole in Canada?

I'm dosing vibrant to kill my algae issue but I'm 6 weeks in and it doesn't appear to be getting things under control. I fear I too may have bryopsis. Whatever it is, it's growing prolifically.

 

[johnston]

I prefer clean up crew versus chemicals you never really know whats in there or what problems it will cause down the road

 

[DS204]

I prefer clean up crew versus chemicals you never really know whats in there or what problems it will cause down the road

If you're referring to my post personally, I'd probably need a thousand snails to get this under control. A 'chemical' might be a more logical option for my personal setup & situation compared to yours.

I've already made up my mind that I want to try this product, I'm simply asking where to find it! : )

 

[SudzFD]

A big ugly Dalhalla Sea Hare will solve your problem. Good ones love hair algae and get it in the nooks and crannies to boot. You do have to keep an eye on them to make sure they don't die and foul the tank. Starvation is the usual cause of death. The have to eat a lot. I removed mine a sold it back to the LFS when the visible algae was gone. Vibrant is pretty safe to dose if you follow the directions. It'll help in the long term and seems to have little downside.

I used a Sea Hare and Vibrant to solve a pretty stubborn hair algae problem in my 90. Other Grazers are great to keep algae at bay but unfortunately things most don't seem to care for hair algae once it gets very long. Algae Blennies sometimes munch on longer hair algae, but not always.

This is great advice. I have “rented” a sea hare two different times in the past to combat hair algae. By rent I mean I buy it and sell it back when I’m done. No more than 2 weeks and every bit of that will be gone. If your LFS doesn’t have one you can order one online and when your done offer him to fellow hobbyist on Craigslist it here. Or other reef community contacts.

 

[brandon429]

Can we get an update pic @Lalaallieu

we need updates I think it might have worked. Phreebird is skeptical. Your tank never recycled due to no bac harm is the prediction