What do I do about the algae in my frags

[Just John]

This algae keeps growing in my frags and slowly killing them. I can remove it with tweezers, kill it with a hydrogen peroxide dip, etc, but it comes right back. The CUC keeps the rock clean, but you can see the problem in the pictures. I have been keeping the phosphate low (about .01 - .02) to slow it down with little effect. I am nervous about using Vibrant after reading some posts here. Now what?

Phos - 0.01
Nit - 1.0
Alk - 7.5
ph - 8.2
sal - 1.026

 

[aggrofish]

For zoa frags I put them in a solution of hydrogen peroxide and tank water. It will kill the algae. I only dip zoas in a potent solution. They may close up for a day but the GHA will be gone. For others I pull the frag and scrub off / pull as much as I can without damaging the coral. Frag plug gets scrubbed with a toothbrush

 

[Just John]

For zoa frags I put them in a solution of hydrogen peroxide and tank water. It will kill the algae. I only dip zoas in a potent solution. They may close up for a day but the GHA will be gone. For others I pull the frag and scrub off / pull as much as I can without damaging the coral. Frag plug gets scrubbed with a toothbrush

Unfortunately, I have been doing both and even though they are 100% clean afterwards it starts growing back within a week.

 

[Lavey29]

How old is your tank? Manual removal is key here. Raise magnesium to 1500 to weaken GHA. Cut lights to 6 hours with blue and uv only no whites.

 

[aggrofish]

Unfortunately, I have been doing both and even though they are 100% clean afterwards it starts growing back within a week.

Yeah well until you get your GHA under control, that’s gonna be your life. Nothing else to do

 

[Just John]

How old is your tank? Manual removal is key here. Raise magnesium to 1500 to weaken GHA. Cut lights to 6 hours with blue and uv only no whites.

My tank is over a year old and did not have this until a few months ago. Unfortunately, manual removal and h2o2 dip won't stop it from starting up again.

 

[Just John]

Just since it sounds like people may not be seeing it in the post, 100% removal including h2o2 dip will not stop it from coming back again a week later. The algae must be hiding behind a rock somewhere, but I don't have an issue with algae anywhere else in the tank that I can see.

 

[Lavey29]

My tank is over a year old and did not have this until a few months ago. Unfortunately, manual removal and h2o2 dip won't stop it from starting up again.

When I had my GHA jungle it was just on the rocks and I did daily manual removal to keep it from covering corals there. I added urchins and turbos and raised my magnesium to 1500. In 3 weeks the jungle was gone.

 

[Lavey29]

Just since it sounds like people may not be seeing it in the post, 100% removal including h2o2 dip will not stop it from coming back again a week later. The algae must be hiding behind a rock somewhere, but I don't have an issue with algae anywhere else in the tank that I can see.

Ah OK, so no real algae problem other then what's on your frags? Did you get them from the same vendor recently?

 

[Just John]

Ah OK, so no real algae problem other then what's on your frags? Did you get them from the same vendor recently?

These are frags I have had for quite some time. At one point months ago I had an algae issue, but got rid of it with a rip clean. I know it's always lurking in there somewhere, but it only gains a hold in frags or inside some zoa colonies. I have not measured magnesium since it is just a mostly softies tank, but I guess I need to look into that.

 

[Lavey29]

These are frags I have had for quite some time. At one point months ago I had an algae issue, but got rid of it with a rip clean. I know it's always lurking in there somewhere, but it only gains a hold in frags or inside some zoa colonies. I have not measured magnesium since it is just a mostly softies tank, but I guess I need to look into that.

Well every tank has some algae somewhere because it's part of the ecosystem balance but strange yours just affects your frags. I've lost heads on LPS when algae got in there and took hold but if corals are healthy that should not occur. Perhaps your situation requires a coral frag QT tank where if you do need to dose a chemical you are not hitting the whole tank bionome. Have you tried some bacteria like MB7 or PNS probio?

 

[Just John]

Well every tank has some algae somewhere because it's part of the ecosystem balance but strange yours just affects your frags. I've lost heads on LPS when algae got in there and took hold but if corals are healthy that should not occur. Perhaps your situation requires a coral frag QT tank where if you do need to dose a chemical you are not hitting the whole tank bionome. Have you tried some bacteria like MB7 or PNS probio?

I have started using MB7 but not the probio. I just set up a separate frag tank so I can clean them and put them in there until I sort out the issue in the main tank.