Reef flux rx questions

Derrick0580 · Sep 17, 2022

Ok so on labor day I dosed my system with reef flux rx to try and kill off my gha. So far it was worked extremely well. Buy, it’s not 100% gone yet. I removed my chaeto and restarted my skimmer after 3 days. The package said do a water change after 14 days, but on line research has said sometimes gha takes 3-4 weeks to die off completely. Should I wait another 2 weeks, or do I need to redose the tank? Also when is it safe to put the chaeto back in?

CoralB · Sep 17, 2022

I can’t tell you whether to redose or not because I never use chemicals anymore to rid the tank of gha but as far as when it’s safe to chaeto back in the tank I would wait til you’ve done at least 3-4 water changes equaling at least 75 % of the water and running charcoal . I’ve had bad experiences with chemicals and chaeto in the past . Good luck

Randy Holmes-Farley · Sep 18, 2022

I'm not sure if their recommendation for water changes is based on removing products from the dead algae, or for residual fluconazole, but I expect based on its structure that fluconazole is readily removed by GAC and skimming, and likely other organic export methods. So a water change may not be needed to remove it (and the manufacturer may or may not realize this).

Are you tracking nitrate and phosphate?

Reefer Matt · Sep 18, 2022

I use fluconazole for gha and byropsis. It usually takes around 6 weeks for me. I do a water change afterward, because the fluconazole kills the algae and releases nitrate and phosphate into the water.

Derrick0580 · Sep 18, 2022

Yes i am testing regularly. My phosphates bottomed out to zero and my nitrates are below 2. I fed reef roids heavily to get phosphates back up.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Sep 18, 2022

Derrick0580 said:
Yes i am testing regularly. My phosphates bottomed out to zero and my nitrates are below 2. I fed reef roids heavily to get phosphates back up.

If you are skimming or using gac, then a water change may not be needed.