Manually removing GHA with coral attached to rockworks

[uwharrie]

So the GHA is wearing me down. I am doing religious water changes with RODI water. vacuuming sandbed and back chambers, Feeding way less, dosing with Vibrant ( helping some but not 100%) I am ready to do another tank tear down to get this ugly stuff under control. I have read about peroxide dips killing the GHA however I have zoa's and mushrooms attached ( firmly I might add) to my rocks. I assume the peroxide would kill the corals. ( I also have GHA on some of my frags not attached.

I am prepared to replace the sandbed ( just incase that is still a nutrient dump. I don't have a lot of rock and even have some cleaner rock stored in salt water in the garage ( would likely need to cycle) But I still need to get rid of the algae on the frags and on the current rocks with corals.

HELP

[jtwisconsin]

I have had good luck with peroxide dips and hair algae, and haven't lost a single coral.

 

Have you read the peroxide thread? Lots of good information there.

 

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

[brandon429]

for your frags you need to use a metal tool like a dentist uses and scrape off the algae, its not typically attached to the actual coral flesh its usually anchored on rocky spots in between the flesh and connections, you can dig it out of place there in rocks removed from tank.

 

 

the metal tool or knife tip is what makes all the algae go away, the peroxide is then spot-applied to the cleaned areas, all done outside the tank, such that no peroxide touches a coral or non algae growth area./

 

all nano reefs can have their rockwork accessed even if its all one big chunk. drain the entire tank down to zero and hold fish elsewhere if needed, working on the rocks in the tank, then partially fill the tank a few times + siphon that out to get out the scrapings.

 

easier to just remove the rocks and do surgery on the counter, my whole reef stays drained for 20 mins at a time and yours can too. hold the fish and shrimp elsewhere.

 

most will not do the surgery and will opt for the dip, contacting the non target surfaces as well. in that case, most zos and shrooms are ok with a 50 50 dip of 3% peroxide and tankwater, though the outcome cannot beat the surgical method.