Cyano is kicking my butt- NO LONGER!- Now it is Hair Algae!

[Newstead]

Looks great!

[Roachant]

All that beautiful coraline algae! Mmmmmm.....

[Nano sapiens]

Great effort. Does feel better to have a clean tank again, doesn't it?

[uwharrie]

Oh yes it does!

I can finally start replacing lost corals

Great effort. Does feel better to have a clean tank again, doesn't it?

[uwharrie]

http://i603.photobucket.com/albums/tt120/uwharrie/IMG_0050.jpg

_{The tank is really starting to come together}

[uwharrie]

hard to believe it was a nasty as it was a couple of months ago. I really hope I never have to deal with that again

[Newstead]

Tank is looking great! Your hard work paid off.

[uwharrie]

FTS today. I am keeping up with weekly 5 gal water changes, Running Chempur and floss in the media basket and a Hydor skimmer in chamber 2 ( not getting any skim) and Cheato with a light in chamber 1) 2 capfuls of Dr Tims once every other week.

[Newstead]

What a difference! Looks great.

[uwharrie]

So now it's hair algae! I am beginning to see why folks kept telling me bigger tanks were easier.

would there be any issue with scrubbing the algae off the rocks in the tank and then changing out the filter media?

[ajm83]

Bad luck mate. Sorry to say this but I personally think it was a bad move resetting the tank.

 

I've done so myself with a brand new tank, brand new dead sand and artificial rock, filled with new rodi water and *still* got cyano within a month. Literally everything in the tank was either new or washed in bleach.

 

You need to find out what you're doing wrong and fix it.

 

What are your phosphate, nitrate, kh, salinity and ph levels?

 

I don't have any answers since it sounds like you're doing all the right things and tbh I'm struggling myself but maybe somebody will see what is wrong. Good luck

[brandon429]

in my opinion that growth is predictable. what we do is cyclic, not one off and im just happy a single pass helped the sandbed that much. the rocks must be guided out of algae growth over time, with repeats, then it stops if your white lighting and *general* levels of nutrients are ok. my nutrient levels are unknown, I don't require knowing them to never have to work on algae in my tank on the rocks.

 

when the glass clouds up I know ive been lazy on water changes, but the purple coralline and coral growth and blue lighting is set such that no more gha comes back. it was forcefully guided out about 5 times in the beginning over half a year.

 

the way most people would remove algae (not with a dental rasp) allows more growback, so my seven times is the rarity. most opt for the removal method with the highest growback. if dosers like Vibrant take off, none of that will matter and simply making a purchase w make the tank free.

 

for sure rasping works/

 

its amazing the difference between metal rasping and brushing, or even using a cuc. when you start on the tiny crop-ups the markings go away in a week, and powerful peroxide is used after the rasping, on the cleaned surface, for the clincher. no algae can beat that.

[uwharrie]

Brandon I sure wish I could understand your train of thought! I understand a little of what you are trying to convey but not all of it :-)

 

 

in my opinion that growth is predictable. what we do is cyclic, not one off and im just happy a single pass helped the sandbed that much. the rocks must be guided out of algae growth over time, with repeats, then it stops if your white lighting and *general* levels of nutrients are ok. my nutrient levels are unknown, I don't require knowing them to never have to work on algae in my tank on the rocks.

 

when the glass clouds up I know ive been lazy on water changes, but the purple coralline and coral growth and blue lighting is set such that no more gha comes back. it was forcefully guided out about 5 times in the beginning over half a year.

 

the way most people would remove algae (not with a dental rasp) allows more growback, so my seven times is the rarity. most opt for the removal method with the highest growback. if dosers like Vibrant take off, none of that will matter and simply making a purchase w make the tank free.

 

for sure rasping works/

 

its amazing the difference between metal rasping and brushing, or even using a cuc. when you start on the tiny crop-ups the markings go away in a week, and powerful peroxide is used after the rasping, on the cleaned surface, for the clincher. no algae can beat that.

[brandon429]

gotcha heres a diff spin on the rant lol

 

the entire industry advises us to let new tufts of algae stay in the tank when they're seen... and then do an action to the water or add an animal reactively to the algae being there, then wait to see if it works.

 

The current advice we get about algae has us reacting to invaders that can come about simply by lighting imperfections (too much white for example, if applicable) or lack of grazing its not always nutrients, I never used nutrient control to rid my tank of algae.

 

instead, if we literally destroy a patch of algae at its base by a metal tool you drag across the surface like a dentist does with a profi-angle scraper, you take out the plant and the holdfast/anchor (these structures allow for growback when we toothbrush or lightly scrub)

 

we lift the offending rock out of the tank, rasp it, rinse it, hit the area with strong peroxide then let sit a couple mins, then put back. that spot is now ultra free of algae.

 

to get mean at the anchor point has a real effect on stopping growback...I used a knife tip to dig in hard and grind out that algae, going partially into the anchor points. rinse well. purple coralline covers those marks in a month and your tank has nice coralline.

 

I cured GHA forever in my tank by just lifting out the rock target, using a steaknife to literally destroy (taking off small bits of rock) the entire green area which was very small because I acted fast then I rinsed it all clean

 

after it was totally rip cleaned, scraped like a turtle had taken a bite out of the area, I put straight peroxide on the cleaned spot to zap any leftover bits, then rinse again and put back.

 

that kind of cleaning rarely has growback and by acting fast, its only one small area we're testing. its a totally opposite mode than what the masses use, with strong results. since we have nanos, we can cheat like that. large tankers cannot.

[uwharrie]

I cant really do that as I have corals attached to the rocks. I don't want to have to pry them off and then try and get them back on without damage.

[uwharrie]

The Tank today. I am still fighting hair algae. Ordered some of that Newfangled Vibrant stuff. Time will tell

 

[fishfreak0114]

You're coral look very happy!

[uwharrie]

They are super happy. So is the hair algae

[Sherman]

If you cannot remove your rock. Then raise your MG to 1800.

Maintain it there till all your algae is gone.

Also black out your tank for 3 days after MG is 1800

This should clear your tank of all algae.

[Clown79]

The best way to get rid of gha is aggressive means or it will just come back.

 

The key is to finding the cause.

 

How often do you clean your back chambers, the crap that builds in them is pretty astonishing. That was the source of my nutrient issues in my 10g.

 

How about the pump and hose- that collects alot of crap too.

 

Vacuuming the sand with every water change, and a good vacuuming because just the top layer doesn't get the detritus in the lower layers.

 

Turkey basting the rocks before syphoning so that that detritus is removed rather than settling back on the rocks and sand.

 

Feeding less and possibly cutting back on frozen foods.

 

Filter floss changing frequency, rinsing media bags between change out time, lowering white, red, and green leds.

 

I had gha, added phosguard, did 2 waterchanges a week. Removed some sand from the tank. In between waterchanges i manually removed any gha on my substrate. I got rid of it.

[uwharrie]

I vacuum the sand bed every week with the 5 gal water change. I try and vacuum the rear chambers every other week. I need to change the Floss more frequently ( weekly right now) only two fish that get fed a few mysis or piece of shrimp once per day

[basser1]

Just use the Vibrant when you get it. You may need to dose a couple of times a week for starters. I'm very pleased with this product as it has rid my tank of bryopsis.

[Clown79]

Feeding frozen every day could be causing a nutrient issue

[uwharrie]

I wondered about that. But they are only getting a tiny amount A cube of Mysis last me almost two weeks

They are basically getting what is left over after feeding the goby in the 4.3 ( since I was told gobies need to be fed at least daily)

 

Feeding frozen every day could be causing a nutrient issue

[Clown79]

You should feed a variety of foods, alternating from pellets to frozen, even a little flake