Help with green hair algae please!

[Butchy21]

So my tank has been running for just over 1.5 years and I am suddenly having serious problems with getting rid of green hair algae! Every time I yank that crap out, it has grown back even more within a week. I know I have a phosphate issue but until now I have not tracked phosphates because the tank was algae-free.

 

It is a 26 gallon bowfront with the following items:

 

Equipment:

3 powerheads

Aquaclear 30 with chemi pure elite media bag

Reef octopus bh1000 skimmer

Orbit Marine LED lights (~7-8 hr daylight settings)

RODI filter for all water applications

 

Tested parameters as of last night:

Nitrates 0 -API test kit-

Nitrites 0 -API-

Ammonia 0 -API-

pH 8.2 -API-

kH 9.0 - Salifert-

Magnesium 1600 - Elos- (Running high with Kent Tech M to help with green hair algae)- no change in algae growth observed in 3-4 weeks at this higher level.

Just got this test kit yesterday: *Phosphate 0.25ppm (Used API test kit- which I have now learned is pretty crappy since it lacks sensitivity under 0.25ppm)

 

Tank bio-load

2 clown fish

6 line wrasse

watchman goby

hermit crabs, nassarius snails, ceriths

2 peppermint shrimp

A bunch of corals- hammer, frogspawn, zoos, xenia, pavona, blasto, mushrooms

 

My course of action:

1. cut back on feeding ( I usually fed the fish most days, frozen food was also washed- but I will switch to 3x a week?)

2. Took apart and cleaned all powerheads, skimmer, filter, replaced chemi pure elite

3. Ordered media reactor to run GFO- should be delivered in 3 days

4. I have not stirred up/filtered my sand bed in a few months- I'm guessing this should be done ASAP?

5. Should I keep lights completely off for a few days?

 

Any help, comments, concerns in successfully getting rid of the green hair alage would be great, thanks!

 

 

[brandon429]

we have cured about a thousand gha issues with peroxide, be sure and consider that as a removal option, what you've ordered is a fine preventer. the big peroxide thread down at the bottom almost to page two of the forum shows the pics x1000

[Butchy21]

we have cured about a thousand gha issues with peroxide, be sure and consider that as a removal option, what you've ordered is a fine preventer. the big peroxide thread down at the bottom almost to page two of the forum shows the pics x1000

Is this the thread you are talking about?

http://www.nano-reef.com/topic/268706-peroxide-saves-my-tank-with-pics-to-prove-it/page-58

 

I read the first 5 pages thus far- what is the general consensus on using peroxide? spot application only with a syringe I guess?

or whole tank treatments? (It will be difficult for me to dip whole live rock pieces because a lot of the aquascaping is glued together)

 

I think my green hair algae came about after my heater went nuclear. I had a huge die-off and I think I lost a ton of beneficial bacteria and algae. The pest algae then got a foot-hold and that is where I am now. So my concerns is that the flora is out of balance.

[brandon429]

its all about a test rock first

 

we found out that sometimes it wont work, mostly it does, and it was better to expend effort only on a test rock to find out, better than a whole tank jump off. to save 60 pages of reading lol (do that while on a 4 hour flight lol) this is the breakdown:

 

the peroxide is handy because its a fast assessment. going through rigorous algae nutrient restriction can be a weeks or months long venture, and it still may not work and can bleach corals. What we do with peroxide wont harm anything, and results are within two days so we hold the record on turnaround, but, we need to see how much potential there is for regrowth. that is where our method may not work, you might have enough nutrients and algae fragments in the rock such that a test regrows within a week, that will indicate we need more nutrient work to sustain.

 

if youll pull a test rock and douse it outside the tank, let sit in air a few mins, rinse and put back in (don't pull off the algae we need to chart its death time) then take pics, let me know what it does in 2 days

[-muse-]

I'd say just get a turbo snail. He will make short work of it

I had a huge GHA outbreak when I had my 10 gallon and I put 3 in my tank and overnight it was all gone.

GFO will definitely help for future prevention though

 

I say one simply because they eat a lot and will eventually starve (from my own experience)

[ajmckay]

So you have done some good things. I think you're probably right about the heater incident possibly helping the algae take hold.

 

doing a deep clean is a good idea. clean pumps, blow off the rocks, etc.. I can't say whether you should stir the sand though. This depends on what kind of sand and how deep it is. Usually the larger grain sand can trap more nutrients but it's easier to clean. If you have crushed coral or something you can probably do it. If it's smaller grain and over an inch or so deep I probably wouldn't do too much stirring. Definitely take a baster or something and blow off the rocks though.

 

IME reducing your feeding schedule isn't a good option unless you're grossly overfeeding. Over time I think it affects the health of your fish negatively.

 

The peroxide is a good solution for immediate relief - but it could grow back if there's an underlying issue

 

What's your CUC look like? That's often a good thing to look into after a peroxide treatment because your CUC will work better to maintain rather than fix an existing algae problem

 

Check your RO/DI filters and TDS. You could be using high TDS water?

 

Think of things you can do to help your corals do better. Corals use nutrients also similar to algae.

 

Tune your skimmer and clean it. skim wet and empty often

 

Keep water parameters in check - use an ATO, consistent lighting and feeding schedule, do water changes regularly and often with good water, etc...

[brandon429]

I'm going to press for deep cleaning in 2016 more than anything it's the new wave really. Our whole hobby is built on detritus storage in fear of upset time for a paradigm shift

[ballhog]

You have allot of bio load, you really need to keep up on water changes and cleaning. You've probably been adding phosphates through food for some time. The rocks absorb it, it takes awhile then bam you have algae problem. The phosphate tests complicate matters because they aren't measuring the phosphate bound up within the rocks.

 

I'd use a mixture of fixes; water changes, reducing bio load , peroxide to clean rocks, water changes, then see what happens. GFO or a phosguard could be another solution to remove bound up phosphate and remove it as its being added.

[Bingo1213]

GFO will be the best way to keep it out. If you have tons of it you could try a sea hare to eat it. They do wonders on hair algae. My guess is this issue stemmed from the phosphates. I constantly run GFO on all my tanks.

[Butchy21]

Thanks for all of the great advice!

 

Thank you brandon429 for summarizing the 60 page thread- very helpful ha. I knew that over the years people's assessment on that approach would change slightly on the how and when, etc.

So you have done some good things. I think you're probably right about the heater incident possibly helping the algae take hold.

 

doing a deep clean is a good idea. clean pumps, blow off the rocks, etc.. I can't say whether you should stir the sand though. This depends on what kind of sand and how deep it is. Usually the larger grain sand can trap more nutrients but it's easier to clean. If you have crushed coral or something you can probably do it. If it's smaller grain and over an inch or so deep I probably wouldn't do too much stirring. Definitely take a baster or something and blow off the rocks though.

 

IME reducing your feeding schedule isn't a good option unless you're grossly overfeeding. Over time I think it affects the health of your fish negatively.

 

The peroxide is a good solution for immediate relief - but it could grow back if there's an underlying issue

 

What's your CUC look like? That's often a good thing to look into after a peroxide treatment because your CUC will work better to maintain rather than fix an existing algae problem

 

Check your RO/DI filters and TDS. You could be using high TDS water?

 

Think of things you can do to help your corals do better. Corals use nutrients also similar to algae.

 

Tune your skimmer and clean it. skim wet and empty often

 

Keep water parameters in check - use an ATO, consistent lighting and feeding schedule, do water changes regularly and often with good water, etc...

 

My sand bed is generally about an inch thick, some places deeper where my watchman goby is spitting sand out. Ive cleaned the top portions with a vaccum a few times, but not lately as fear of spreading the GHA everywhere (too late for that i suppose).

 

I will def use a turkey baster to blow crap off the rocks, good idea there.

I do have to go this week and get a more expansive CUC. I had a good mix of snails and small hermit crabs but the snails slowly died off so now I am just left with crabs. I know the crabs can bully the snails but there is a good amount of shells laying around.

 

RODI filters are brand new, testing out at 0ppm.

 

Skimmer was shut down and cleaned thoroughly this week- def running heavy skimming.

 

GFO will be the best way to keep it out. If you have tons of it you could try a sea hare to eat it. They do wonders on hair algae. My guess is this issue stemmed from the phosphates. I constantly run GFO on all my tanks.

 

How common is it to have LFS stock sea hares? Ive heard that suggestion come up a lot and it sounds like once GFO is up and running, sea hare can get you back in good shape for all of the phosphates held up in present algae.

 

Any other options that could help out directly eating GHA? Someone suggested turbos as well.

[Wolfgang52]

I feel your pain, had the same issues. The peroxide helped for sure, but the deep cleaning is what finally won the battle.

[Bingo1213]

Idk how common it is everywhere but here in Denver sea hares are not all that tough to find! Most shops could order them for you. I'd say they do a much better job than turbos do that's for sure. And you are exactly right once it's under control the GFO should keep it out! You may even have to give the sea hate away once your problem is solved or he may starve!

[Butchy21]

Idk how common it is everywhere but here in Denver sea hares are not all that tough to find! Most shops could order them for you. I'd say they do a much better job than turbos do that's for sure. And you are exactly right once it's under control the GFO should keep it out! You may even have to give the sea hate away once your problem is solved or he may starve!

 

Ah that is good to know that places can or will order sea hares for you. I live in Boston so I will give a local place a call tonight and see what they have available. I might get some turbos for the time being until i can track down a sea hare- or just keep plugging away at the GHA and see how the GFO helps the situation.

 

Media reactor shows up today!

[Bingo1213]

 

 

Media reactors are a must for GFO!

[Butchy21]

So my media reactor showed up at like 7pm thursday night but I instead made a trip to the LFS for clean up crew. Bought 10 astreas and did slow acclimation and 9/10 were upside dead the next morning?! Ugh i dont know what happened. Any bad experiences with snails not being hardy? I have not had any issues with new arrivals.

 

Was a little worried about setting up reactor and then leaving for nyc for long weekend- so that will be completed tonight.

[Butchy21]

Media reactor has been running for about a week. First one from BRS was leaking like crazy from one of the main elbows so they had to express ship a replacement.

 

Keeping lights out for two days after manually cleaning about 50% GHA out of the tank. Looking to begin peroxide dips on individual rocks this weekend to curb the battle. New hammer is looking like shit- I tried to move it from any powerheads because I have no idea why it is pissed when the frogspawn in the same area looks fine.

 

Two different batches of snails from two different LFS ended with either lethargic or dead snails in 24 hours (turbos, ceriths, astrea)
- so not much help with the CUC on combating the GHA.

[ajmckay]

Media reactor has been running for about a week. First one from BRS was leaking like crazy from one of the main elbows so they had to express ship a replacement.

 

Keeping lights out for two days after manually cleaning about 50% GHA out of the tank. Looking to begin peroxide dips on individual rocks this weekend to curb the battle. New hammer is looking like shit- I tried to move it from any powerheads because I have no idea why it is pissed when the frogspawn in the same area looks fine.

 

Two different batches of snails from two different LFS ended with either lethargic or dead snails in 24 hours (turbos, ceriths, astrea)

- so not much help with the CUC on combating the GHA.

Bummer on the CUC... IME snails are really sensitive to swings in specific gravity (salinity) and temp (just say swings in general). Are you keeping those stable? Also I find they don't do well in high S.G. (like above 1.026).

 

Maybe check the water the LFS are keeping them in?

 

Some will say that for snails you only need to temp acclimate, however, I don't know of any reason why slow acclimation could be worse than just temp acclimation other than the case where the slow acclimation is slow enough that they experience a significant temp shock.

[Butchy21]

Bummer on the CUC... IME snails are really sensitive to swings in specific gravity (salinity) and temp (just say swings in general). Are you keeping those stable? Also I find they don't do well in high S.G. (like above 1.026).

 

Maybe check the water the LFS are keeping them in?

 

Some will say that for snails you only need to temp acclimate, however, I don't know of any reason why slow acclimation could be worse than just temp acclimation other than the case where the slow acclimation is slow enough that they experience a significant temp shock.

 

So first CUC i bought (~10 snails and pincushion urchin)- I slow dripped for 25-30 minutes. Second CUC batch- I just floated the bag. Both were complete losses for some reason?! I tested stores salinity and mine- they were both 1.024 so now I'm clueless.

 

I had higher magnesium because I was trying to get rid of GHA- ~1500ppm, but other people suggested that those numbers are not high enough to kill snails that fast.

[Sunstar]

I find hermits are great lawn mowers. the tank that has thick mats of it, which I don't actually mind in that one, has no hermits.

[rosecity]

This will cure your GHA for sure:

 

1) Pre-mix 26 gallons saltwater and heat to your tank temp

2) Grab six 5 gallon buckets and start filling them with your tank water

3) Take out rock and corals place in 5 gallon buckets. Place fish in their own 5 gallon bucket with no rock

4) Remove your sandbed which has 18 months of fish poo mixed into it (wet vac makes it easy). I advise going BB initially. You can easily add a sandbed later on if you must but you propbably won;t after trying BB for a few months.

5) Mix a spray bottle 50/50 tapwater and 3% hydrogen peroxide, spray tank and give it a good scrubbing

6) Fill your sink to 50% level with tapwater and add a cup of 3% hydrogen peroxide. Put your AC30 into the sink, plug it in and let it run. Put all your equipment in the sink and let it soak for 3-4 mins. Take out and rinse with tapwater and then dry. Take out AC30 rinse it with tapwater and dry it.

7) Put your premade salt water into your tank, reinstall powerheads, AC 30 etc and get everything up and running

8) Get a large dishwasher brush and manually scrub the GHA off your live rock in their 5 gallon buckets. You will also see 18 months of detritus come off. The bucket will look brown and nasty. Use a toothbrush or smaller brush for any corals.

9) Grab another 5 gallon bucket and fill with 2.5 gallons premade heated saltwater and add 1 cup 3% peroxide.

10) Put your fesh scrubbed live rock and corals one at a time into the peroxide 2.5 gallon bucket for 2 mins. Pull out and put in your tank.

11) Keep going until everything has been scrubbed and dipped. In 3 days you won't have a trace of GHA on anything.

12) Buy 6 black foot trochus snails and throw them in your tank.

13) Run carbon only in the AC30 with floss and ditch the chemipure etc. Spend that money on a 1.5 - 2.5 gallon wet vac. Weekly vacuum the bare bottom and 25% water change. Feed as much as you want, stock whatever, your tank will remain spotless IF you follow the weekly vacuum and water change.

 

Skimmer is optional. You don't need it. Just change your filter floss daily. Also when you weekly vacuum get your rocks as well as the bottom.