RX Flux: Multiple Cycles:

[SAM89]

My Hair Algae situation is out of control. I’ve got tons of it everywhere in my tank. I just started a cycle of RX Flux. I’m thinking it will take more than one cycle to resolve this mess. Is it safe to do multiple back to back 14 day cycles with or without changing water, and if so, what would be the maximum number of cycles that could be safely administered? Thanks so much.

 

[CoralB]

I prefer natural ways such as tuxedo urchins , Mexican turbos snail’s , manual pulling ,rabbit fish if the tank allows etc . keeping your nutrients under control . As well as your parameters in steady and correct values . You might want to cut your lighting and intensity back a few hours a day as well until you get it under control . Don’t let your phosphates or nitrates zero out ever !!!

 

[tharbin]

My Hair Algae situation is out of control. I’ve got tons of it everywhere in my tank. I just started a cycle of RX Flux. I’m thinking it will take more than one cycle to resolve this mess. Is it safe to do multiple back to back 14 day cycles with or without changing water, and if so, what would be the maximum number of cycles that could be safely administered? Thanks so much.

First, take a deep breath. It's just algae. Don't even think about back-to-back-any-kind-of-medication at this stage. You need to be patient and use a slow and methodical approach.

How old is your tank?
Are you sure it is green hair algae?
How long has the tank had the GHA?
How have you been attacking the issue so far?
What livestock, especially CUC do you have?

A full tank shot taken under white light will help people help you.

Since you have already administered the Flux Rx it is too late to look at alternatives. Fluconazole (the medication that Flux Rx uses) has mixed reviews for GHA but seems to be stellar with Bryopsis strains.

 

[SAM89]

I prefer natural ways such as tuxedo urchins , Mexican turbos snail’s , manual pulling ,rabbit fish if the tank allows etc . keeping your nutrients under control . As well as your parameters in steady and correct values . You might want to cut your lighting and intensity back a few hours a day as well until you get it under control . Don’t let your phosphates or nitrates zero out ever !!!

Thank you.

First, take a deep breath. It's just algae. Don't even think about back-to-back-any-kind-of-medication at this stage. You need to be patient and use a slow and methodical approach.

How old is your tank?
Are you sure it is green hair algae?
How long has the tank had the GHA?
How have you been attacking the issue so far?
What livestock, especially CUC do you have?

A full tank shot taken under white light will help people help you.

Since you have already administered the Flux Rx it is too late to look at alternatives. Fluconazole (the medication that Flux Rx uses) has mixed reviews for GHA but seems to be stellar with Bryopsis strains.

 

[SAM89]

Tank is 4 years old. I’ve tried urchins, snails, Sea Hares, etc. but the algae keeps growing. I’m assuming it’s a kind of algae that RX Flux can treat. If it looks like another kind, please let me know. Thanks

 

[tharbin]

Tank is 4 years old. I’ve tried urchins, snails, Sea Hares, etc. but the algae keeps growing. I’m assuming it’s a kind of algae that RX Flux can treat. If it looks like another kind, please let me know. Thanks

It is a little hard to tell from the photo but it looks like GHA. Is it feathery at all or maybe kind of fern like? Those would most likely be Bryopsis. I've read that there is some success with Flux Rx against GHA but it targets a lipid that is present in Bryopsis, and in Fungi thus weaking the cell walls (this is a real amateur pseudo-explanation but close enough). From what I've read the areas of GHA, and Bryopsis, that are in high light will weaken and make it easier both for you and your CUC to remove but will probably not outright kill GHA. If it did there wouldn't be reefer in the world that didn't have cases of it sitting in their cabinets.

That is a fair amount of algae but not beyond fixing. You are going to want to pull some of the longer stuff manually as, if the Flux Rx works, you don't want all of that dying in the tank. I'm assuming your nitrates and phosphates are kind of high based on the algae growth. It may be hard to get a really accurate reading with a test kit as the algae will be holding a lot of it. I'm also not sure if Flux Rx interferes with the reading or not although I doubt it does.

How big a water change did you do before adding the Flux Rx?

You may want to run some carbon after a three or four days to help with the clean up. I would also limit feeding as much as possible. You don't need any excess nutrients at this point. Good luck and keep us posted. I'm sure others with more direct experience with Flux Rx with GHA will chime in.

 

[SAM89]

It is a little hard to tell from the photo but it looks like GHA. Is it feathery at all or maybe kind of fern like? Those would most likely be Bryopsis. I've read that there is some success with Flux Rx against GHA but it targets a lipid that is present in Bryopsis, and in Fungi thus weaking the cell walls (this is a real amateur pseudo-explanation but close enough). From what I've read the areas of GHA, and Bryopsis, that are in high light will weaken and make it easier both for you and your CUC to remove but will probably not outright kill GHA. If it did there wouldn't be reefer in the world that didn't have cases of it sitting in their cabinets.

That is a fair amount of algae but not beyond fixing. You are going to want to pull some of the longer stuff manually as, if the Flux Rx works, you don't want all of that dying in the tank. I'm assuming your nitrates and phosphates are kind of high based on the algae growth. It may be hard to get a really accurate reading with a test kit as the algae will be holding a lot of it. I'm also not sure if Flux Rx interferes with the reading or not although I doubt it does.

How big a water change did you do before adding the Flux Rx?

You may want to run some carbon after a three or four days to help with the clean up. I would also limit feeding as much as possible. You don't need any excess nutrients at this point. Good luck and keep us posted. I'm sure others with more direct experience with Flux Rx with GHA will chime in.

Thank you. Very helpful and informative. Cheers.

 

[SilverBulletPRN]

If it's bryopsis and that bad, I don't see why you wouldn't give flux rx a try. I had an outbreak that's nowhere as bad as yours, dealt with it for months the natural way without success. Dosed Flux RX and knocked it right out

 

[SAM89]

If it's bryopsis and that bad, I don't see why you wouldn't give flux rx a try. I had an outbreak that's nowhere as bad as yours, dealt with it for months the natural way without success. Dosed Flux RX and knocked it right out

Thank you

 

[Susan Edwards]

Tank is 4 years old. I’ve tried urchins, snails, Sea Hares, etc. but the algae keeps growing. I’m assuming it’s a kind of algae that RX Flux can treat. If it looks like another kind, please let me know. Thanks

If it is bryopsis, then none of the cuc gang will touch it. Reef Flux or fluconazle is the other thing that will kill it. I've gone longer than the 14 day and have also toward the end toss in an additional capsule or 2 worth. I've used this multiple times, multiple tanks.

Just dosed tonight on my 220g. Algae smothering some corals so time to dose. I have: no3 1 and po4 .04 but I suspect that the algae is consuming so my numbers are prob. higher. I also have a large refugium of chaeto and sea lettuce and dose several thing. Will be keeping an eye on numbers as the algae dies off. And putting skimmer back on but on low--to skim in cup (or I'll drain it right back out) as I have a co2 scrubber hooked up to the skimmer.

Test every couple of days to see how your tank is doing. The stuff that dies first is probably byropsis. GHA takes longer--like 14 days which is why I have left it before and added more.

 

[tharbin]

If it's bryopsis and that bad, I don't see why you wouldn't give flux rx a try. I had an outbreak that's nowhere as bad as yours, dealt with it for months the natural way without success. Dosed Flux RX and knocked it right out

I agree if it is Bryopsis but @SAM89 said it was GHA. In fact I am going to use it against some Bryopsis starting next week.

I understand the logic behind using Fluconazole against Bryopsis. It makes sense. Less so for GHA. GHA can usually be beaten by nutrient control, manual removal CUC and maybe some well-placed H2O2. It seems that Flux Rx does work against GHA to some extent but I haven't seen any good explanation of why. It also does not seem to work for everyone against GHA. For GHA I would actually start with something like Microbacter Clean if I felt I could not get ahead of it.

I can't really tell from the photo but it does look more like GHA than Bryopsis to me.

 

[tharbin]

If it is bryopsis, then none of the cuc gang will touch it. Reef Flux or fluconazle is the other thing that will kill it. I've gone longer than the 14 day and have also toward the end toss in an additional capsule or 2 worth. I've used this multiple times, multiple tanks.

Just dosed tonight on my 220g. Algae smothering some corals so time to dose. I have: no3 1 and po4 .04 but I suspect that the algae is consuming so my numbers are prob. higher. I also have a large refugium of chaeto and sea lettuce and dose several thing. Will be keeping an eye on numbers as the algae dies off. And putting skimmer back on but on low--to skim in cup (or I'll drain it right back out) as I have a co2 scrubber hooked up to the skimmer.

Test every couple of days to see how your tank is doing. The stuff that dies first is probably byropsis. GHA takes longer--like 14 days which is why I have left it before and added more.

Interesting information. Thank you. Did it actually kill all of the GHA eventually or just knock it back so that you and the CUC could finish it off? Trying to understand how the Fluconazole is working against GHA.

 

[SAM89]

If it is bryopsis, then none of the cuc gang will touch it. Reef Flux or fluconazle is the other thing that will kill it. I've gone longer than the 14 day and have also toward the end toss in an additional capsule or 2 worth. I've used this multiple times, multiple tanks.

Just dosed tonight on my 220g. Algae smothering some corals so time to dose. I have: no3 1 and po4 .04 but I suspect that the algae is consuming so my numbers are prob. higher. I also have a large refugium of chaeto and sea lettuce and dose several thing. Will be keeping an eye on numbers as the algae dies off. And putting skimmer back on but on low--to skim in cup (or I'll drain it right back out) as I have a co2 scrubber hooked up to the skimmer.

Test every couple of days to see how your tank is doing. The stuff that dies first is probably byropsis. GHA takes longer--like 14 days which is why I have left it before and added more.

Thank you. That is very helpful: I might go a couple of cycles then, if needed. I think I may have to. Thanks again.

 

[Bucs20fan]

BE CAREFUL. Flux did the trick for me with a mix of bryopsis and GHA, the other trick it did is swung the door wide open for dinos. Make sure your nitrate and phosphate dont bottom out.

 

[brandon429]

read this for 30 mins

apply to your tank, it will be fixed by tomorrow and from the reading, and the updates provided by the fixed tank owners, you will see how to make your reef never be invaded again.

Algae Identification

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

www.reef2reef.com

the reason you're having to study six examples is so you can see that this method fixes any invasion in nano reefing. there isn't an invasion this method can't beat in a nano-even if you had cyano or dino this would still be the best control you can find in study threads.

have you ever seen a green hair algae cure that was completed in 24 hours before that one above

 

[brandon429]

the reason you get the invasion cycling is because reef flux kills targets and degrades them internally, becomes mass substrate for new invasions that hitch in on frags/fish slime/anything wet and traded in the hobby. chemical irritants from lysed rotting cells stress sensitive reef creatures vs the completely clean condition we imparted for each tank in the reading thread above.

we did opposite action; we got opposite results to the norm.

your current system is a picture of a eutrophic reef, as were all the before shots in the study thread above. some worse than your tank.

and then after one day's reading + true rinse cleaning, which is total export of all invasion cells and 0% internal waste rotting, you can see the after pics.

You can see from the tank owners updates how often they needed to repeat to have a clean tank. see how by one simple event we turn a eutrophic reef into an oligotrophic reef tank? that's physical, brute force it's not a doser or medicine you buy. you are reading to develop a new condition of will for your tank, then you're executing the rinse steps to impart your will on the tank, and by tomorrow you have a new tank relative to your degree of study+ application. the responsibility instantly shifts to the tank owner for the clean, zero-cloud after shot...it's an awesome way of being algae-free. everyone gets fixed in a day. some have to repeat cleanings more often than others, depending on tank design. but that has nothing to do with actually being invaded.

 

[SAM89]

I agree if it is Bryopsis but @SAM89 said it was GHA. In fact I am going to use it against some Bryopsis starting next week.

I understand the logic behind using Fluconazole against Bryopsis. It makes sense. Less so for GHA. GHA can usually be beaten by nutrient control, manual removal CUC and maybe some well-placed H2O2. It seems that Flux Rx does work against GHA to some extent but I haven't seen any good explanation of why. It also does not seem to work for everyone against GHA. For GHA I would actually start with something like Microbacter Clean if I felt I could not get ahead of it.

I can't really tell from the photo but it does look more like GHA than Bryopsis to me.

Thank you.

BE CAREFUL. Flux did the trick for me with a mix of bryopsis and GHA, the other trick it did is swung the door wide open for dinos. Make sure your nitrate and phosphate dont bottom out.

what are dinos?

 

[SAM89]

the reason you get the invasion cycling is because reef flux kills targets and degrades them internally, becomes mass substrate for new invasions that hitch in on frags/fish slime/anything wet and traded in the hobby. chemical irritants from lysed rotting cells stress sensitive reef creatures vs the completely clean condition we imparted for each tank in the reading thread above.

we did opposite action; we got opposite results to the norm.

your current system is a picture of a eutrophic reef, as were all the before shots in the study thread above. some worse than your tank.

and then after one day's reading + true rinse cleaning, which is total export of all invasion cells and 0% internal waste rotting, you can see the after pics.

You can see from the tank owners updates how often they needed to repeat to have a clean tank. see how by one simple event we turn a eutrophic reef into an oligotrophic reef tank? that's physical, brute force it's not a doser or medicine you buy. you are reading to develop a new condition of will for your tank, then you're executing the rinse steps to impart your will on the tank, and by tomorrow you have a new tank relative to your degree of study+ application. the responsibility instantly shifts to the tank owner for the clean, zero-cloud after shot...it's an awesome way of being algae-free. everyone gets fixed in a day. some have to repeat cleanings more often than others, depending on tank design. but that has nothing to do with actually being invaded.

Thank you Brandon. That is a very informative response. I will follow up on that. Thanks again.

 

[Susan Edwards]

Interesting information. Thank you. Did it actually kill all of the GHA eventually or just knock it back so that you and the CUC could finish it off? Trying to understand how the Fluconazole is working against GHA.

The last time I used it=--march I think, it got rid of most of it. I had a couple small areas in shaded rock areas that were not completely gone. And they came back. Also had cyano after which chemi clean took care of in 24 hrs. This time I will be adding mb7 to my diy "snow" (calcium carbonite) to avoid cyano.

I've been waiting to see if I could get rid of it on my own. I dose mb clean 1 to 2times a week, my nutrients are almost bottoming out--had to dose po4 for a while and yet algae getting worse. Looking into dosing a daily dosse of clean. Because my numbers say I shouldn't have algae issues, this has to mean either bryopsis or the algae is acting like an algae scrubber, esp in high flow and just using the nutrients before my test kits see them. I'll be watching my numbers and ready to up my dosing of nopox and nyos zero/bio

Here is what I did last time. Mar 17 dose. Apr 13 add half dose. Apr 26 water change.

Mar before treatment. Bad on left rock and rock before the right rock. In front of gsp in back

End April Algae gone mostly . Esp the forked rock in front of gsp

In July. Algae not bad. but starting. esp on fork

Here are pics of what I have today. You can see in a month the algae got super bad. Even choking some corals.

 

[SAM89]

The last time I used it=--march I think, it got rid of most of it. I had a couple small areas in shaded rock areas that were not completely gone. And they came back. Also had cyano after which chemi clean took care of in 24 hrs. This time I will be adding mb7 to my diy "snow" (calcium carbonite) to avoid cyano.

I've been waiting to see if I could get rid of it on my own. I dose mb clean 1 to 2times a week, my nutrients are almost bottoming out--had to dose po4 for a while and yet algae getting worse. Looking into dosing a daily dosse of clean. Because my numbers say I shouldn't have algae issues, this has to mean either bryopsis or the algae is acting like an algae scrubber, esp in high flow and just using the nutrients before my test kits see them. I'll be watching my numbers and ready to up my dosing of nopox and nyos zero/bio

Here is what I did last time. Mar 17 dose. Apr 13 add half dose. Apr 26 water change.

Mar before treatment. Bad on left rock and rock before the right rock. In front of gsp in back

End April Algae gone mostly . Esp the forked rock in front of gsp

In July. Algae not bad. but starting. esp on fork

Here are pics of what I have today. You can see in a month the algae got super bad. Even choking some corals.

Thanks so much. Very helpful.