Fully Write up - Hydrogen peroxide treatment GHA - Documentation and Photos

[brandon429]

 Hippie 

 

your ability to document this for us with that kind of keen feedback and hindsight, while reffing, means I respect your dedication to nano reefing tremendously. Your commentary is so well matched to your tank history and updates here I’ll have to link this as a reference thread in spite of all the filler material. This careful and methodical planning and execution is exactly what others need to see.

 

im currently editing the sand rinse thread, promise to link when done. Ten thousand readers will soon see your article material and all the extra positive supporting ideas we were given along the way.

[Simulated Fish]

3 hours ago, Hippieheadshot said:

 

Honest I think it comes down to frags. A local shop here in KC that is no longer in business had a insanely good sale but their tanks were covered in algae. I took the risk and scrubbed the plugs but I bet i missed some as I did not do dips at the time. I now use coral RX and a RODI bath on any new additions.

 

The small amount of algae that entered the tank should not have been an issue but i made a major change without realizing it - I removed all the excess macros in the tank. I bought macros from @ReefWeeds a few years ago (A++++ quality and great seller BTW) I let them take over and severely underestimated how much nutrient export they did. It was soon after that the GHA stated to grow unchecked and uncontested. Couple that with heavy broadcast feeding of frozen + not aggressive attack on algae when it first started to grow heavy and I set myself for failure. This is where @HarryPotter Points come into play. I take full responsibility for not understanding my actions and for not being proactive. 

 

I also have a quick update on the progress! Here you can see this is just a few hours after the deep clean. Water still hazy from the live sand, this made it extra blue sorry! You can see some left over algae that was not removed. I assumed this would need to be treated in a few days with direct application.... 

 

 

 

This is 48 hours after treatment! The algae is clearly gone! I think this is a one two punch of the Hydrogen Peroxide wreaking and killing the bulk of algae allowing the turbos to come in and clean up the  scraps! love these guys wish I had them in the tank sooner. 

 

 

 

Quoting my post on the last page for visibility. 

 

 

------------

 

Just did a Po4 test and it i am happy to say phosphate Po4 levels are under 0.03 still. Just barley above 0 according to my eyes, the .03 color square is clearly visible.

[Lynaea]

Okay Brandon, I’m here .... I’m at work so this will be brief.  

Please stop tagging me, I’m not interested in continuing this ‘discussion ‘

 

I am not sure what more I can say in the way of comments or predictions. I will instead refer you to my previous unedited (except where noted) posts in this thread. 

 

My crystal ball is in the shop, but I expect that the long term results will depend on Hippie implementing and maintaining an effective upkeep protocol. 

 

Hippie, I didn’t mean to be rude by not commenting but I was fairly put off by the posts I read here last evening  (not yours) and elected to just walk away. 

 

The tank looks good, as I would expect from this procedure. I sincerely hope you are able to find a way to maintain these results and will keep a watch for future updates. 

 

Happy reefing!

[Simulated Fish]

FTS - 48 hours after treatment

 

Mocha Has taken to creating a bare spot under the green nem. Both burring my  Alvo and knocking over the over the Octospawn.  you can see quite the pile she has made on the front glass! GSP is about 30% open and seems to open more and more every time I look at the tank. Turbos are still going to town and cleaning up like mad, at this rate I may not have to do a spot treatment after all.

 

 

 

Bonus pictures!

 



 

 

[Clown79]

You did a great job! Good right up to.

 

I've done spot treatments on gha and bryopsis. 2 different tanks.

 

I had a small outbreak and immediately attacked it.

Not only did it work, it didn't return. 

 

Now fast forward to the future and I have an outbreak of some sort of algae on my sand bed in my 25g. It's from trying amino's and vitamins.

 

Nothing has worked. I've removed sand and washed it (multiple times), I've changed media, I even tried dosing peroxide directly into tank (many do this safely if properly done)

 

None of it has worked. 

 

My regular maintenance is not lacking. I regularly vacuum the sand fully and it was pre washed very well before use.

All equipment is cleaned reg. My chambers are vacuumed every week.

 

What I find odd about this algae is it actually gets worse with deep cleaning the sand.

I had this crap once in my 15g. It only got worse as I cleaned the sand more.

 

Once I started only vacuuming the area it was in lightly, did it go away.

 

So after experiencing various algae. Most respond very well to sand washing, stirring, blasting, deep vavuuming.

 

This algae does not. It got worse.

 

If I could do anything over again- I'd go bare bottom.

 

Sand is a bitch!

 

[HarryPotter]

25 minutes ago, Clown79 said:

You did a great job! Good right up to.

 

I've done spot treatments on gha and bryopsis. 2 different tanks.

 

I had a small outbreak and immediately attacked it.

Not only did it work, it didn't return. 

 

Now fast forward to the future and I have an outbreak of some sort of algae on my sand bed in my 25g. It's from trying amino's and vitamins.

 

Nothing has worked. I've removed sand and washed it (multiple times), I've changed media, I even tried dosing peroxide directly into tank (many do this safely if properly done)

 

None of it has worked. 

 

My regular maintenance is not lacking. I regularly vacuum the sand fully and it was pre washed very well before use.

All equipment is cleaned reg. My chambers are vacuumed every week.

 

What I find odd about this algae is it actually gets worse with deep cleaning the sand.

I had this crap once in my 15g. It only got worse as I cleaned the sand more.

 

Once I started only vacuuming the area it was in lightly, did it go away.

 

So after experiencing various algae. Most respond very well to sand washing, stirring, blasting, deep vavuuming.

 

This algae does not. It got worse.

 

If I could do anything over again- I'd go bare bottom.

 

Sand is a bitch!

 

 

I dont know, I've read in one place you blaming RSCP salt and now here, sand in general. Plenty of people are successful with both. 

[Simulated Fish]

Update coming later today! So far no algae has returned and the only issue I have had is very light diatoms on a few dead spots in the sand. I expected this with the sand bed being new, "New tank uglies". I plan on picking up another power head so I can have a bit more flow. 

 

All fish, coral and anemones are happy and healthy.

[Clown79]

17 hours ago, HarryPotter said:

 

I dont know, I've read in one place you blaming RSCP salt and now here, sand in general. Plenty of people are successful with both. 

You have a problem with me in general and others as well. I don't know why you keep responding to anything I say.

 

It's getting annoying. I think you like to stir the pot because you don't like when ppl have a difference of opinion and experience.

 

You rarely ever discuss what your actual experiences with your tank are, rarely offer valid solutions to problems, and often respond with sarcasm and rudeness.

 

My tanks are over 3 yrs old. You have different issues at different times.

I also have 4 tanks.

 

I did have issues with Rscp, and I have had issues with using amino's and vitamins.

 

Two different issues that caused 2 different problems in 2 different tanks

 

Rscp- killed my sps in my 10g

Amino/vitamins caused an algae bloom in my sand bed in my 25g

 

Stands to reason why my issues are different.

 

I don't blame. I offer my experience with different products.

 

That's how ppl learn and prevent having the same problems

[Clown79]

14 minutes ago, Hippieheadshot said:

Update coming later today! So far no algae has returned and the only issue I have had is very light diatoms on a few dead spots in the sand. I expected this with the sand bed being new, "New tank uglies". I plan on picking up another power head so I can have a bit more flow. 

 

All fish, coral and anemones are happy and healthy.

I was leery myself trying peroxide and then was very happy to not only get excellent results on the gha(15g) and bryopsis (my new 5g) but I never saw any effects on any livestock.

 

Some I have read experienced issues but it was never determined if it was the peroxide or coincidence.

Also if you use too much at one time in tank, it definitely can be an issue.

[Simulated Fish]

@brandon429 @Clown79 @HarryPotter

 

Sorry I have not posted an update guys! I just took photos and am uploading them now! 

 

I got hit with that nasty flu and have not been able to make time to take good pictures, feeling much better today

 

Here is today's FTS

 

[Clown79]

Tank looks great. Great job.

 

Hope you are feeling better- the flu sucks!

[Simulated Fish]

I am happy to report still algae free! I have done nothing more then keep up with WC and vacuuming sand  to combat the light diatoms from the reset. They have reduced about 75% as I have got carbon and GFO back up and running for the last 2 weeks. 

 

Alveopora has grown and opened more then I have seen in a LONG time!! I need to move it as it is now pressing on the glass with it's polyps extend fully.

 

Octospawn is not a fan of the turbo snails. It is closed up after getting knocked over almost every day this last week. I need to glue it to a large frag disk so it can resist them.

 

My Green BTA is a bit PO and has lost some mass and tentacle length. It is not eating very much and when it does accept food mocha tail smacks most of it out of the mouth. I am going to switch up to silver-sides or other marine feeder as the frozen breaks up to easy do to her aggressiveness.  

 

The rainbow BTA are coloring up SO !@*#^!$ NICE They had lost so much color fighting the algae I was worried they would not recover. Forgot just how damn beautiful they were! 

 

All other tank mates are happy, Fish are doing great. I am ordering a baby snowflake eel 4-6" from my LFS to add to the tank Now that it is bounced back. I would love a goby or free swimmer but my Hawkish is a prick and has damn near killed the last two fish I tried to add to the tank. I would pull him but honestly I love his activity and even better he screws with the cats! Strong personality! I knew that I may not be able to add tank mates after added when I got him 

 

Still dosing Readsea Pro Trace and feeding frozen 90% pellets 10%

 

 

Photo Dump! As always click spoiler to open photos

 

 



 



 



 

 



 



 



 



 



 



 

 



 

 

[Simulated Fish]

6 minutes ago, Clown79 said:

Tank looks great. Great job.

 

Hope you are feeling better- the flu sucks!

Thanks! much better now for sure.

 

Photos in full are up

 

[SaltyBuddha]

8 minutes ago, Hippieheadshot said:

Thanks! much better now for sure.

 

Photos in full are up

 

Tank is looking amazing now! Great write up.

 

I may have missed this, but are you running a skimmer/fuge or any other exporter? Just wondering what your tank specs and equipment are.

[Simulated Fish]

10 minutes ago, SaltyBuddha said:

Tank is looking amazing now! Great write up.

 

I may have missed this, but are you running a skimmer/fuge or any other exporter? Just wondering what your tank specs and equipment are.

 

I was running a fuge but I had to pull the macro due to it being full of GHA. No skimmer, never have on my tanks. I plan on getting clean macro to restart the fuge, right now it is just extra water volume.

[Simulated Fish]

Hi everyone just a quick update, I know it's been a while since I posted one.

 

Tank is doing absolutely wonderful. I have had the zero algea regrowth. My tank also only need to be scraped maybe once a week if that, I used to be in every other day chore. 

 

All corals made it except for my Galaxia, to be honest I wasn't expecting it to make it. Bubble tips for doing great and alive but my green bubble tip has shown a little bit of reduction and growth and has stopped. I am hoping it will bounce back like the rainbows did as it is still eating and extension is good.

 

All fish are well, other then Tom my sixline... He was eaten by the newest addition, a snowflake eel. Sucks as he was one of the first fish I ever got but that is the risk of having a predator in a mixed tank. It was in the first week I'm guessing the LFS didn't feed him much as they recommend 1/2 silverside every other day. The eel happily eats 1 or 2 ever other day.

 

I will post update photos tomorrow! But this was a 100% successful treatment in my eyes. We are just at the 2 month mark with no regression and good tank health. Couldn't have asked for more.

[HarryPotter]

That’s awesome