bubble and hair algae eradication! NEED URGENT HELP!

[Ryan2002]

i have a coralife biocube 29 with two clarkii clowns and one yellow watchman goby, my tank is COVERED in a strange and extremely fragile BLUE bubble algae and a lot of hair algae. i have many red lrg hermits and small snails. i also have soft lps ans sps corals and my sps are SUPER irritated from hair algae being everywhere. PLEASE HELP!!!

 

AND YES I USE RO/DI WATER

 

FTS

 

BLUE BUBBLE ALGAE

 

GREEN HAIR ALGAE

[farkwar]

Hydrogen peroxide for the GHA.

 

A better filter perhaps. Competing macro algae.

 

I would scrape all that algae off the sides and back, myself. Mechanical filter it out, and large water change.

 

That bubble algae looks cool to me, I would stick that rock in my refugium.

 

 

And before some other poster asks, "what are your nitrate and phosphate levels"...the answer is too high quite obviously.

 

Increase your CUC, stomatellas, then an assortment of Reefcleaner snails. Your existing CUC look like they might be union Cal Trans workers.

[Ryan2002]

Hydrogen peroxide for the GHA.

 

A better filter perhaps. Competing macro algae.

 

I would scrape all that algae off the sides and back, myself. Mechanical filter it out, and large water change.

 

That bubble algae looks cool to me, I would stick that rock in my refugium.

 

 

And before some other poster asks, "what are your nitrate and phosphate levels"...the answer is too high quite obviously.

 

Increase your CUC, stomatellas, then an assortment of Reefcleaner snails. Your existing CUC look like they might be union Cal Trans workers.

how do i use the hydrogen peroxide? blast the gha with a syringe? also will it hurt corals if a little hits them? i think the bubble algae looks neat too but many other people think otherwise. also any suggestions on snails? and will gfo help in the long run?

[thegambler26]

First I think you need to identify the cause of all the algae, once you can control that I would move on to treatments and cleanup crews. It's not gonna do you any good to eradicate everything if the root problem is still there. You'll just get frustrated when it all comes back. High nitrates from over feeding, poor filtration, or low quality water to mix with your salt would be a good place to start. Do you use a skimmer? Ro/di water? How much and often do you feed?

[thegambler26]

Hydrogen peroxide for the GHA.

A better filter perhaps. Competing macro algae.

I would scrape all that algae off the sides and back, myself. Mechanical filter it out, and large water change.

That bubble algae looks cool to me, I would stick that rock in my refugium.

And before some other poster asks, "what are your nitrate and phosphate levels"...the answer is too high quite obviously.

Increase your CUC, stomatellas, then an assortment of Reefcleaner snails. Your existing CUC look like they might be union Cal Trans workers.

If his CUC was cal trans they'd probably have 6 crabs looking at the algae while 1 actually worked on it. The others would just be there to make things more difficult hindering progress and delaying the job in hopes of extending there employment.

Theres lots of road work going on where I live right now so I'm pretty educated on the subject.

[CatfishSoupFTW]

yes ! hydrogen peroxide! at first, I was real scared doing this, but its the only thing i ever found when googling. I HAD hair algae on my zoa frags, and plucking was solving nothing. I took out the zoa plugs, and got a cup of tank water, and half assed my h202 mix. I own 27 percent h202 which i also use on my 55 freshwater tank, so i buy that and just bring down the levels with water. Anyway, i put the frag in, and since its concentrated I wait until the zoas seem to bubble a bit, thats when i stop. If you do a 3 percent dip then its about 15 minutes, but with the higher concentration, just 3 minutes or so is fine. the hair algae you may or may not see it bubble, but dont fret. I put the frags back in the tank, a day later they all opened up again and no hair algae left. it died! truely amazed. I use h202 for bearded algae but wasnt sure how well it does on reefing.

 

if its on your LR, then spot treat it with a syringe. Just go right up and squirt it. Wait a day and see how potent it was. if anything you can treat in small doses, and not worry too much about params. or go heavy but just watch out. I cant remember the downside of too high of a dosage IN the tank. being out of the tank, then it had no ill effect. some corals like acros i think dont do well when in contact though. Maybe your params are out of wack? too much light, too many nutrients? something is feeding it. so obviously once you have killed it, asses whats causing it.

[Ryan2002]

First I think you need to identify the cause of all the algae, once you can control that I would move on to treatments and cleanup crews. It's not gonna do you any good to eradicate everything if the root problem is still there. You'll just get frustrated when it all comes back. High nitrates from over feeding, poor filtration, or low quality water to mix with your salt would be a good place to start. Do you use a skimmer? Ro/di water? How much and often do you feed?

i use ro/di water and reef crystals with weekly water changes. i do skim. i feed medium

[thegambler26]

i use ro/di water and reef crystals with weekly water changes. i do skim. i feed medium

thats a good start, how old are you're ro/di filters? Most of the time when I have a small algae outbreak it's a sure sign it's time to change em. What's the flow like in your tank? Do you blow the rocks off with a turkey baster regularly? What is your idea of medium feeding?

[Ryan2002]

thats a good start, how old are you're ro/di filters? Most of the time when I have a small algae outbreak it's a sure sign it's time to change em. What's the flow like in your tank? Do you blow the rocks off with a turkey baster regularly? What is your idea of medium feeding?

filters are brand new, 265 gps return and 500 gph powerhead, yes i do blow my rocks off regularly and my feeding shedule is just enough pellets or mysis to keep my fish fat and happy as well as pellets and mysis for my corals every other day, oh and half a silverside to the rbta every 2-3 days. i feed nls marine formula, pe mysis, and san francisco bay silversides and emarald entree.

[farkwar]

I syringe H2O2 on mine.

 

I only use about 1-2ml of 35% per day on a 40. Equivalent to about 10-20mls of normal 3%.

 

Shrimp are real sensitive so Ive read, I dont use it on my tank with shrimps.

Corals are pretty tolerant, some may even bubble and turn white, but if they are in tank they color back up.

 

35% is the stuff dentists use to whiten teeth, in your mouth. Your gums may turn white but recolor in an hour or so.

 

Go slow, conservative, and safe, and see where and how your animals look and feel (do they slime or snot up for example).

 

If they are rocks you can take out, I would take them out and dip them outside of tank.

[thegambler26]

I never saw a post with your nitrate levels. If it's not an excess nutrient problem, it could be the amount of time you're lights are on. Go for the hydrogen peroxide and hopefully it won't come back

[Ryan2002]

I never saw a post with your nitrate levels. If it's not an excess nutrient problem, it could be the amount of time you're lights are on. Go for the hydrogen peroxide and hopefully it won't come back

contrary to your belief my nitrates are 5!

[thegambler26]

With so much algae it's likely a lot of excess nitrate is being used up. I was just trying to help you. Algae problems are generally caused by excess nutrients. It's not my belief it's just fact. If you don't want help don't ask.

[Ryan2002]

With so much algae it's likely a lot of excess nitrate is being used up. I was just trying to help you. Algae problems are generally caused by excess nutrients. It's not my belief it's just fact. If you don't want help don't ask.

i did not mean for it to come out like that

[thegambler26]

i did not mean for it to come out like that

its cool, I kinda overreacted, hope you get your problem solved.