Reef2Reef Pest algae challenge thread hydrogen peroxide

[brandon429]

We try to avoid dips ours is more surgical and detailing, consider their order here

Algae Identification

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

www.reef2reef.com

Thank you for posting send some current tank pics if possible

 

[Seton]

Here you go….as I said it’s not hair, it’s just like a green coating

 

[brandon429]

To be honest that’s exactly what dry rock systems do as they mature and it appears coralline is mixed in as well that’s one reason we dont dip

how’s the sandbed is it dirty and feeding the green portions here

try a pic in white light so we can see details

 

[Seton]

The tank is 4.5 years old. I have blue/white aqua rays which I’ve reduced to 50%

 

[Seton]

Are these ok..

 

[Seton]

Some more

 

[brandon429]

Yes those are really good and clear


in my opinion we would leave it and not burn or treat it since this is the expected mode dry rocks systems use to become totally covered in coralline eventually

is your sandbed dirty? lowering light intensity since it’s not packed in corals seems like it may help too, without interrupting natural benthic successions on the rocks

 

[Seton]

is your sandbed dirty?

it’s not beautifully white, it has a light covering of say brown/green.

I vacuum it during my water changes. Anything else I could do?

Thanks for your reply earlier

 

[Seton]

Here’s the sand and a better one of the rock...

 

[brandon429]

Your standards are too high that reef is perfect




really though it is. This is coming from someone who likes to do reef surgery at all times that thing is cruising above nicely

take out one rock for external testing and run a rasping test from post #1 here to see if it responds well, this allows you to work around the good parts / the coralline which dips would harm.


after you surgically make one rock comply set it back and track it a week to see if it remains perfect then you can decide to upscale


we wouldn’t dip or dose peroxide into the water here for sure


your pics are handy to show how coralline algae is an effective and consistent algae excluding surface. Everywhere coralline exists above, an invader does not.

 

[Seton]

OMG I’m so pleased to hear that my reef isn’t that bad. I was getting so despondent with the green . I’m going to be away for 2 days but I’ll will do the rasping you suggested. Never heard of it so will have a read and see how I get on.

thank you for the comments and advice

 

[brandon429]

Another really harmless control for you on the test rock is simply set a test rock on your counter and use a paintbrush to precision paint peroxide on the green areas, wait 4 mins then rinse off and set back


that spot will go clear most likely in a couple days and you can track it for regrowth to see if the effort is worth it for the most in need rocks of the group
They really are looking great and your system clearly selects for coralline and runs a clean bed, it’s a good sign for long term expectations here. It seems daunting to detail every rock vs add to the water but that’s how we are different, mini battles but every one is a forced win. Rocks on the counter will follow suit, period.

any alternate water doser we can read about ( vibrant or reef flux or fluconazole) has too many fails by using the whole tank in the experiment vs solely the target to be used here. They clearly have wins, but those were lucked they weren’t pre modeled like we do.


We like to model the mini job first and then if it works well, accessing the other rocks is worth it

 

[Seton]

We like to model the mini job first and then if it works well, accessing the other rocks is worth it

oh so it’s not the type of algae that spreads? I was under the impression that I would clear one area only for it to spread (if other areas remained untreated), thus making it an impossible job

 

[brandon429]

I don’t think so, but that spot test will tell. Looks like harmless type that implants where there isn’t coralline based on lights and common tank nutrients

 

[Seton]

ok will check today. I must say it’s very refreshing to be on a site which doesn’t demand your parameters before even speaking to you

 

[Seton]

I don’t think so, but that spot test will tell. Looks like harmless type that implants where there isn’t coralline based on lights and common tank nutrients

Here you go, before and after. the peroxide clearly works. What would my plan of action be - do this to the rocks I can access?

 

[brandon429]

as a collector of prep rock pics I thank you heartily for that. it absolutely will not harm the functional filter cycle to perform that on any rocks you'd like, I know it sounds strange compared to adding things into the water/ its what we do in the hobby/ but right there on file one rock has been flatly commanded into shape. you took no action on the water which could potentially stress corals were that an issue, and you met a specific outcome date for compliance vs wait till December options.

you have one cured rock as plain as day right there, and the spaces without coralline might take on those or new attachments, wait to see. its part of the gardening. maybe it'll be coralline~

that rock has been surgically detailed thank you for posting that for us. *the way the sandbed works is this: clearly yours isn't bad, its not sinked up like many/dark spots in the bed etc it looks nice and balanced. so if you want to leave it, that's fine its not a huge source of issue here but technically any 4 year old sand has some waste in it. cleaning out the sandbed is the next big move option (it feeds less green algae on the rocks) and it would require total disassembly of the tank/big job that few want to do in order to be safe.

a laser clean tank top to bottom will grow less interstitial algae but in the end that much work may not be worth it.

As the test rock sits a while in your tank as is, before sandbed work, we can see if it takes on new growths quickly. if it holds for two weeks, some additional work won't be a waste of time.

 

[Seton]

Hi Brandon, we’re two weeks on now and the treated rock is still clear. Rest of tank is looking pretty good too.

Does this mean that there is no need to dose tank and that spot treating is the way to go?

 

[brandon429]

If its an accessible system/not overly large we like to use exclusively spot treating and where possible a clean sandbed under things. thats the big picture win/tank restoration + longest clean running ability after all the work is done.

*thank you very much for documenting the test rasping plus evaluation period for us, that's exactly in line with what we do on post #1 thanks you so much.





let me post Shadow_k's rip clean, so you can see what he did with sand. if you want to skip this step that's fine, but if you run it your tank will be happier than skipping it, because this removes all waste plus invasion:

JBJ 20 gallon AIO dealing with a bad cyano/Dino back and forth for 4 months.I’ve tried chemicals, natural ways could not get rid of it.

here is my journey for my easy rip clean

Draining the tank after removing all the inverts , fish and corals.

Put my rocks in a bucket to swish around/scrub I did not take a picture of the scrubbing of the rock.

tank cleaned out and rinsed with RODI water

Now I tackled the sand this is My sand after 1 rinse

rinse number 75 and yes I counted haha

Rinse 120 crystal clear water mixed it with my hand and water stayed clear.

My camera doesn’t do this tank justice it’s crystal clear !

thank you Shadow_k for your work, pics, and smashing thorough rinse job, no bottle bac used here whatsoever. Complete skip cycle rip clean complete.

 

[brandon429]

he took the tank apart, held things separately, rinsed sand in tap water a hundred times to total clarity, final rinse in RO to evacuate the tap, put everything back together with mostly new water matching temp and salinity.


you'd be setting back all rasped and treated rocks back on top of clean sand

do not use bottle bac, this rinse job is a no bottle bac job as the live rocks were held in saltwater the whole time, and their bacteria remain.


the sandbed's bacteria got blasted to the moon in the above sequence, via the bathtub drain lol.