Mr. Fosi Posted January 21, 2007 Share Posted January 21, 2007 I have a chunk of rock with some zoas, shrooms, & a metric ton of GHA on it. I'm thinking of doing a little light denial therapy on the rock, but I want the zoas & such. Fragging them off would be a royal pain, so the question is this: if you were confronted with this situation, how long would you cook the rock for? Link to comment
lgreen Posted January 21, 2007 Share Posted January 21, 2007 We have coral tank at work right now that is having some nutrient issues and seen a major boost in flatworm and hair algae populations over the last few months. For us cooking the tank is not really an option since we need the tank open for business. The hair algae is even growing on some of the zoanthid and star polyp rocks. What I have been doing is doing a water change, keeping the nasty water and taking the affected rocks w/ coral out and scrubbing the heck out of the GHA with a tooth brush. Could you do this and then perhaps transfer the coral to your other tank, and cook the remaining uninhabited rock? Link to comment
tinyreef Posted January 21, 2007 Share Posted January 21, 2007 the zoos should last longer than the HA in light deprivation but i would expect bleaching and some loss. probably a week without lights will kill most of the HA off but probably not all. the zoos would be pretty po'd too though. i'd remove the rock and prune the HA off in a separate container. is this the same rock you had issues with back on Not-RC? Link to comment
Mr. Fosi Posted January 21, 2007 Author Share Posted January 21, 2007 I wish it would work, but doubt it... is this the same rock you had issues with back on Not-RC? I think so. That pic was taken after an hour of weeding. The pic is old, but it still looks like that even though I have been doing waterchanges and using a PO4 absorber. I recall you (tiny) saying that it might be the rock, but I am not sure what to do about that. Link to comment
Mr. Fosi Posted January 21, 2007 Author Share Posted January 21, 2007 So a week in the dark will kill most of the GHA but not all of it & I'll lose some zoas in the process... Doesn't sound promising. Given what the rock looks like, would you consider fragging? Link to comment
Dr.Fumanchu Posted January 21, 2007 Share Posted January 21, 2007 If it were me I would frag off the zoas and then cook the rocks seperately from your tank. You could do like half at a time. It wouldnt take long for them to be reestablished onto the rocks after you are done. Link to comment
Weitlander Posted January 21, 2007 Share Posted January 21, 2007 Given what the rock looks like, would you consider fragging? Yes. I have had zoanthids survive for 3 weeks without light, however they lost a substantial amount of their coloration and never regained their former beauty. Link to comment
tinyreef Posted January 21, 2007 Share Posted January 21, 2007 are you using hermits or fish herbivores in your 20L? maybe you can toss it in there and let them naturally clean it. i still say it might be something inherent in the rock or under it. could CaPO3 be bound in certain rocks? it's something i've been thinking about. its location/position might be another possibility(?). new position and/or new tank and see if it continues to have HA flourish. Link to comment
10" Red Devil Posted January 21, 2007 Share Posted January 21, 2007 Mr. Fosi, I like your rock work pretty awesome! Now on to the topic. I had this same algae and what worked for me was to manually pull as much as possible and then to get some turbo snails and actually place them near what was left two turbos took care of the problem in about a week it was amazing. Also look at your Po4 and Nitrate levels and see if you can do a largish water change to help fix the imbalance and then consider doing some sort of Po4 remover. Your sand bed doesnt look very deep. Are you doing a DSB? If so its hard to do a successful one in a nano just because there really isnt enough surface area for all the critters to do their job, or so I have been told. I would guess that the food, etc are going into the bed and being trapped there instead of being converted. Might need a dsb booster kit or whatever. Well good luck! Sorry your having this trouble. :/ Link to comment
travisurfer Posted January 21, 2007 Share Posted January 21, 2007 I would frag off one of each of the varieties on the rock and then cook it. That way, the gha is gone and you still get to keep the colony going. Just an idea. Link to comment
CGNano Posted January 21, 2007 Share Posted January 21, 2007 Get a Turbo and then take it out when the algae is gone or something. That's some pretty bad hair algae. The light deprivation method might work, but I don't have experience with how it would affect Zooanthids. Link to comment
Mr. Fosi Posted January 21, 2007 Author Share Posted January 21, 2007 are you using hermits or fish herbivores in your 20L? ... could CaPO3 be bound in certain rocks? it's something i've been thinking about. I currently have only one small hermit and 2-4 astreas in my 20L. I know that need more than that, but I don't have the $$ to buy them right now & the LFS has only margaritas, which always die on me. I suppose PO4 in the rock could be a possibilty, but given the tank's history (before it came into my possesion) of RO water usage & zero feedings I am going to say it is a slim possibility. I like your rock work pretty awesome! ... Also look at your Po4 and Nitrate levels and see if you can do a largish water change to help fix the imbalance and then consider doing some sort of Po4 remover... Are you doing a DSB? Can't take the credit, it was blubastion's tank before he setup his 20g M-tank. No NO3, the LFS apparently doesn't have a PO4 kit & have been using Phos-X for the last two months. I have done 3 or 4 large water changes over the last several months and it hasn't done much... No DSB either, it's less than 1" deep & I never feed this tank. Get a Turbo... Not a bad idea, but it'll bulldoze things around in a tank this small. I was thinking sea hare, but I don't have the $40 it takes to get one. Thank you for the comprehensive list of ideas. Bottom line?: Since I have tried controlling the water quality, manually removing it & I don't have the $$ for the biological control... it sounds like fragging, followed by cooking are the best ideas...? Link to comment
travisurfer Posted January 21, 2007 Share Posted January 21, 2007 thats what i would do. for future tanks, turbos are great cleaners though Link to comment
Lingwendil Posted January 22, 2007 Share Posted January 22, 2007 Anyone local that has a lot of tangs you can "lend" the rock to for a while? We have a hepatus tang at work thats awesome at cleaning out the GHA. I brought a grapefruit sized GSP rock just as bad as yours, and the tang kicked it's ass for only three days before it was all gone. Never had it come back since. Maybe a LFS? Link to comment
Mr. Fosi Posted January 22, 2007 Author Share Posted January 22, 2007 That isn't a bad idea either... The bummer is that the LFS that I would trust to hold my rock is also the LFS that also has caulerpa infesting all their SW tanks. I have have some gloves, so I think I am going to run a foray into fragging tonight. Link to comment
noobwithatank Posted January 22, 2007 Share Posted January 22, 2007 fragging or the other tank.. idea.. is there anyone somewhat local willing to allow u to watch the rock? Link to comment
tinyreef Posted January 22, 2007 Share Posted January 22, 2007 when you pruned it last time, did you prune it while it was still submerged or was it done out of the water? pruning while submerged seems to allow more of the HA to stand out and get pulled. try using tweezers or fingers and concentrate on one spot. once it's bare you can really measure the time encroachment takes. i'm just puzzled why it doesn't overtake the whole tank if the one rock is so infested. Link to comment
xJoshx Posted January 22, 2007 Share Posted January 22, 2007 TOOTH BRUSH! put in sum water and SCRUB LIKE U HAVE NEVER SCRUBBED BEFORE!! Link to comment
Helfrichs Chick Posted January 22, 2007 Share Posted January 22, 2007 Phos X? Is this a liquid? I am getting HA for the first time in 14 years of reefkeeping. I am PO to the max! Always bragged that I have NEVER had it! Cut your photo period down to 4 hours a day MAX, 2-3 better, and do a 60%WC, while sucking off the HA with a hose when you pull it off. Wait maybe a day or two then another big WC. Thats a pretty out of control patch so its gonna take you I would say at least 2 months. I have helped lots of people (I used to have a SW service business) with HA and it just takes time and determination. If you can pull the rock out you could try that but IMHO its gonna come back unless you completly dry the rock. What else are you adding to the tank? Oh and also make sure your bulbs are new. The spectrum shift sometimes fuels the problematic algaes. Link to comment
svvad Posted January 22, 2007 Share Posted January 22, 2007 Well I'll tell you from experience that I have zoas that made it thru one week in the dark with water at 65 degrees. Those things survive anything LOL !! Cheers Link to comment
Bobalouy Posted January 22, 2007 Share Posted January 22, 2007 I just threw a couple rocks of zoos in a bucket of cooking LR, a week or two ago. I'll check them tonight and let you know if they are still alive. But personally if i really cared about the zoos, I would atleast frag a few first just incase. Have you tried an emerald crab yet? Link to comment
nd12nc Posted January 22, 2007 Share Posted January 22, 2007 I think whoever said it might be the rock is on to something. I have a rock in my tank that I've had for around a year and it always has a copious amount of HA on it while the rest of the tank remains HA free. I had a thought about your predicament. What if you scrubbed the rock clean of as much HA as you can see using a toothbrush or the like; then you put that rock into the dark for like 3-5 days? I'm wondering if the HA wouldn't be as vigorous if most of it were gone. If so a shorter time in the dark might do the trick and wouldn't hurt your zoas as much. This is just me thinking out loud, so feel free to shoot me down if you think it's a crackpot idea Good luck. Link to comment
Mr. Fosi Posted January 23, 2007 Author Share Posted January 23, 2007 Lot of good suggestions people. Too bad they all came in while I was fragging. I fragged off all the shrooms & zoas, it was the royal PITA that I expected it to be, but I have some relatively GHA-free frags now. I will post pics tomorrow, since they are all pretty POed right now. In answer to some of the newer suggestions: - No, I had not tried an emerald crab, but I would have been to the option. - Already cut the photoperiod down to 4 hrs - Phos-X is a dry media in a bag. It's made by Hagen and I can post a pic of the box (if you need it) when I post the frag pics - I was also unsure of why it was all over 1-2 rocks & not the whole tank, until I pulled the rock out for the fragging. That heavily infested lower rock is uber porus & had a bunch of worms & such in it. I accidentally broke a rear nub off the rock & found two peanut worms in it. I am sure they have been freeing up anything that was locked in the rock as well as pooping in places places of chronic low flow (poo not getting swept up by the filter). Link to comment
FiShTaNk Posted January 23, 2007 Share Posted January 23, 2007 I see that a lot of people have problem with GHA in there young tanks.... I had this problem when I started my 10 gallon..... I got a sea hare from my LFS and had it for about a week and it destoyed the GHA. My 10 looked worse than your 5.5g... There only around $20...which would be a problem if you didn't have the money but, was well worth it and cleaned like no other. Link to comment
aquaman7 Posted January 23, 2007 Share Posted January 23, 2007 I've recently had an unexplained GHA bloom on a couple of rocks in my tank. Any, ways my turbos dont go near the stuff my scarlet hermits pick at it a bit but with little to no effect. I've theorized they wont go for the stuff unless it's at a shorter length can anyone back my assumption? Link to comment
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