Can Hair algae Ugh treated by UV sterilizer

[Crys]

I have hair algae galore.  It has been a battle for 6 months.  It is in every nook and cranny.  I manually remove it every 3 days but it is back in full force before I can start over.  It seems to be infused in the substrate.  It grows between my zoas, will that harm them?   I have a 13.5 gal with various snails.

3 turbos

4 pink turbens

1 margarita

2 astrea

1 cerith

1    narssissrus

1 bumble bee  (mainly for looks)

2 gold ring cowre

1 emerald green crab

 

Water parameters 

Alk 7.5

Mag 1350

Cal 350

Phos .075

Nitrate 0   (can’t get it higher)

Salinity 1.024

Temp 78

 

Would a uv sterilizer get rid of it?  (I do have one for my fresh water tanks)  Do I need to start over with rocks and sand?  My tank always looks ugly.  It is 1 year old.  I also have 2 clowns, a tail spot blenny and watchman goby.  Soft coral grow well.

Any advice would be appreciated.

 

Crystal

[Tamberav]

UV will not help but peroxide dipping or dosing should take care of it.

 

What other corals do you have? Do you have any shrimp?

[Crys]

Hi,

 

I have mushroom corals, zoas, cabbage leather, long tetentacle japanese toad stool, (got that as a hitch hiker on a rock) and a monticap (it think it is dieing)  Some red macro algae and a pepermint shrimp.  When you dose with peroxide do you put the rock in a bucket of salt water and add peroxide?  I use peroxide with a lot with my fresh water tanks, but this is my first salt water tank.

 

Thanks

[Tamberav]

I usually take an offending rock out and dip in tank water with just enough peroxide to make it bubble for 5-10 min and replace or just spot treat problem areas. Like take a syringe and use diluted peroxide to squirt the rock trying to avoid corals.

 

Most corals handle peroxide fine but the monti would perish - you would want to remove it from the rock. Any display macro needs to be removed too. Softies handle it well but slime, LPS get pissed but recover. Pick snails off the rock before the dip as they really hate it too.

 

You will still need to find the cause of the GHA, dirty sand bed, lack of water changes, too many fish, etc... it will come right back if the cause is not also fixed.

 

Dying algae will release its nutrients back into the water so you want to keep an eye on that. 

 

You may want to suck the substrate out with a water change to clean it. It sounds like it may be harboring debris. I clean my sand regularly and use a turkey baster to clean my rocks. I had cleaned it in old salt water when I want to preserve life but have also rinsed it in tap water and replaced. If the substrate has tons of gha on it, you could remove and toss that top layer or remove, clean, treat with some peroxide and swish in a bucket, and replace. You may be able to just vacuum the sand weekly after.

 

Here is a rip-clean thread where they got all the grime out of the sand:

 

 

You can also dose peroxide directly to the display. Check out this thread. It is older but they got some good results. 

 

 

 

Reef-flux is another way to do it but it generally kills GHA slowly and would take probably 30 days and may not get gha in the shaded areas. I tend to go peroxide first and save reef-flux for bryopsis. 

 

As you can see there are ways to nip this right in the butt but needs more of an aggressive approach. Manually removing it will never work if the source of nutrients isn't removed/cleaned. Don't be afraid to do a large water change to get the grime out. People do 100% on small pico-reefs often. Just be sure to match parameters like salinity and temp. 

 

 

 

[Crys]

Hi,

 

Thanks, I will definitly do these steps.  I was thinking of buying new sand completely.  If I dosed the tank would it kill all the pods?  I have lots of nice pods that feed the oscars and watchmen. Most of my corals are not attached to the rocks.  I haven't had luck getting them to glue on.   I also have a healthy population of bristle worms, which  I know are supposed to be good, but I hate them, and they make me nerveous to move things.  

I do weekly water changes but don't always get into the sand bed.  That may be my problem.

 

thanks again

[Crys]

Hi one more question.

 

The Evo 13.9 has 3 chambers at the back.  How much should I clean those?  I have some little bio balls in one and a sponge filter with GFO in the other.   After reading the thread you included, I really need to clean my sand bed.  

[Frag Factory]

6 minutes ago, Crys said:

Hi one more question.

 

The Evo 13.9 has 3 chambers at the back.  How much should I clean those?  I have some little bio balls in one and a sponge filter with GFO in the other.   After reading the thread you included, I really need to clean my sand bed.  

Clean until there is nothing to clean.

 

Something is feeding your algae for it to grow, for any algae you need nutrients (nitrate/phosphate) and light.

 

How long is your photo period? How much are you feeding?

[Crys]

I feed once or twice a day and leave the lights on for about 10 hours. I probably do over feed.  I always worry that the watchman goby won't get enough.   I leave the blue lights on at night.  I live in Canada so right now there are only 6-7 hours of sunlight.  The strange thing is my my phosphates and nitrate are really low.  I had the LFS test just to be sure.  But if I put a turkey baster into the sand bed, the water that  comes up is so thick it looks like smoke.  I'll start cleaning today.

 

Thanks

[Tamberav]

10 minutes ago, Crys said:

Hi one more question.

 

The Evo 13.9 has 3 chambers at the back.  How much should I clean those?  I have some little bio balls in one and a sponge filter with GFO in the other.   After reading the thread you included, I really need to clean my sand bed.  

If they are actual bio balls and sponge, I would slowly remove these (wean your tank off them). They can produce nitrate, especially if you are not cleaning them frequently and they are basically impossible to really get clean. 

 

Disposable floss in chamber one is what you want. Then toss it out and replace every 2 weeks. I run a small bag of carbon under my floss. 

[Tamberav]

1 minute ago, Crys said:

I feed once or twice a day and leave the lights on for about 10 hours. I probably do over feed.  I always worry that the watchman goby won't get enough.   I leave the blue lights on at night.  I live in Canada so right now there are only 6-7 hours of sunlight.  The strange thing is my my phosphates and nitrate are really low.  I had the LFS test just to be sure.  But if I put a turkey baster into the sand bed, the water that  comes up is so thick it looks like smoke.  I'll start cleaning today.

 

Thanks

PO4/Nitrate is low because algae is using it up to grow. 

 

What blue lights? Only weak moonlights are appropriate to keep on all night that just barley shed light. Corals and life needs periods of dark. 

[Crys]

The bio balls are 

Cermedia MarinePure Gems 90g   the LFS guys said to put in the whole container which is good for 70 gallons.  He said not to clean them.

[Crys]

The blue lights are moonlight, but maybe they are too bright.  they are the ones that come with the evo.  They are LEDs.

[Tamberav]

8 minutes ago, Crys said:

The bio balls are 

Cermedia MarinePure Gems 90g   the LFS guys said to put in the whole container which is good for 70 gallons.  He said not to clean them.

If it treats 70 gallons, it isn't working now is it 😉

 

When BRS did a test on blocks, everything still ended with the same Nitrate level. 

 

Personally I keep stuff like this in a bag and clean it in old tank water to free up any debris and so I can clean the back chambers, the chambers will collect debris even with a sponge or floss before it. For the most part I do not use it at all assuming I have live rock which will act as my filtration. 

 

[Crys]

Sounds like they need to go.  So I will remove them slowly.  Is the GFO ok?  I do have some floss so will get rid of the sponge on use floss.   I have used peroxide with my fresh water tanks for years with very good results.  Also saved my koi from a gill fluke out break.   I will post a picture of my algae. 

[Crys]

So here is my plan correct me if I should do something different.

Slowly change media in back chamber

clean or replace sand

Clean 1 rock ever few days in saltwater with some peroxide, being careful to remove snails, crabs and coral.  (the worms can die)

Just want to double check algae type.  Am I correct that its green hair algae?  

sorry about the coraline in the way.  It is growing on the glass with gusto.

[Tamberav]

It does look like GHA or some sort of turf algae, peroxide seems to work on any form of pest algae. I bet that sand bed is the major problem. As algae grows it also traps debris within it helping feed itself. 

 

The corals look healthy regardless of the infestation. When you dip the zoa's...swish and irritate them first to make them close up. I am not sure I would dip xenia, it can be very sensitive to things and I have not tried to peroxide dip them before. If that is a piece of blue sponge, it likely won't handle peroxide dip either.

 

I think your plan is good, you will just need to address the sand bed. I would probably keep the GFO... as the algae dies it will release its stored nutrients back into the water, you may need to replace it more often while the algae is dying. I would also look into running a small amount of carbon to combat toxins from soft corals. They may slime and get pissed off. I use the BRS ROX stuff in a fine media bag. 

 

The pods will take a hit but should rebound. If there are any starfish you see and want to save, remove them while you do the dip. The worms will die also but sounds like you are okay with that. The bacteria and rock will largely be fine. The peroxide dip won't penetrate deep into the rock. When the algae starts to die, the snails should be pretty interested.

 

You could wait to start to remove the ceramic media until the end if you want, it may harbor some pods to reseed your DT. Some people use this media, I just never have seen benefit from it personally and it's one more thing for me to clean. 

 

[NaturallyKait]

In my opinion the blues on the Evo are too bright to use as moonlights. It’s really bright compared to typical moonlights. 

[Crys]

Thank you to all have helped.  I hope one day I will have the experience to help others.   I will post some updates of the progress.

 

The blue coral is a blue sympodium coral, there was also a blue mushroom in the pic.

 

Lights out at nigh, from now on.

 

This a picture of the tank at 6 months.  I don't have the bi-color blenny anymore.  It was very agressive towards all the fish and finally attacked the green emerald crab and met his end.  He was lots of fun but everyone in the tank was much happier.

[Tamberav]

With some hard work, you should be able to restore it. I would not add any more fish for sure, 4 is a lot in a 13g. I typically do 4-5 in 25g's. 

[mcarroll]

The algae is blooming because you stocked a new tank faster than it could handle it.  Doesn't really relate to nutrient levels per se.

 

On 1/17/2020 at 6:01 PM, Crys said:

I have a 13.5 gal with various snails.

3 turbos

4 pink turbens

1 margarita

2 astrea

1 cerith

1    narssissrus

1 bumble bee  (mainly for looks)

2 gold ring cowre

1 emerald green crab

You might end up with as many as 2 turbos (or equivalent) per gallon....or 27 snails.

 

You have, at most, 13 herbivorous snails.  (Bolded for clarity.   The rest are minor or just scavengers.) 

 

So you're not even close to how many snails you can have.

 

Plus, when we look at the makeup of your cleanup crew, it's not that favorable.

 

Only 3 of those 13 are turbo snails.  Only 2 are astreas.  (Not sure what a pink turben is, but I'm giving it credit as an herbivore....if it's not, ditch it.)

 

You've got 10 others, but they're mostly lesser candidates.

 

From now on, when you see algae re-grow, add another 3-4 turbo snails, or equivalent.  (ie 1 Turbo might equal 6 little Ceriths)

 

You'll have control sooner than later.

 

Personally, in addition to any more snails you decide to add, I'd remove the cowries to make room for a similar mass of Turbo snails....and at least until you get control, over time I'd replace the other smaller snails with Turbo' or something larger.

 

On 1/17/2020 at 6:01 PM, Crys said:

Would a uv sterilizer get rid of it?  (I do have one for my fresh water tanks)

 

Yes a UV filter will help reduce spreading, but I'm not sure it would be worth spending $.....much better to spend it on more snails.  👍

 

Keep in mind the age of your bulb....they generally need to be replaced every so many hours of usage to remain effective.

 

4 hours ago, Crys said:

The bio balls are 

Cermedia MarinePure

Ditch em.

 

4 hours ago, Crys said:

sorry about the coraline in the way.  It is growing on the glass with gusto.

That's a great sign!   IMO you're closer to control on this than you think.

 

Avoid pulling the trigger on any magic bullets. (eg peroxide, or worse)

 

Keep up with your manual efforts.  (Just remove sand that has tons of algae on it.)

 

And get that CUC upgraded ASAP.

 

Are you noticing any growth on your red macroalgae?   If you can't see obvious growth I'd worry a little that it might be feeding your other algae as it breaks down.

[Crys]

Hi,

 

The red macro grows so fast I give some to the LFS, as it's too much for a 13 gallon. 

 

The pink turban (that's what the store calls them) are herbivors.  They aren't as big as the astreas but they eat 24/7 on the glass.  I also have 1 stomatella snail that I got as a hitch hicker, do they do a good job?

 

I thought I could only have one snail per gallon, so I can definatly pick up more.  I also used to have more hermit crabs, but decided that snails are more helpful.   The only problem with the turbos I have is they knock the coral around every night. 

 

I do own a samll UV sterilizer so I could put it in for a while if it would help. 

 

 I was wondering if the hair algae will grow on the coraline or if the the coraline will help prevent it from growing on the rocks? 

 

Thanks for your help 

[Crys]

I forgot to add that the algae grows on the macro algae and also gets caught in it so it doesn't look nice anymore either.  

[Crys]

A continuing battle, with GHA 😐😣😡

 

I am still fighting gha.  I manually remove it every 3 or 4 days, have replaced some of the sand bed, bought more snails and a sea urchin. My phosphates are 0.1 and nitrates are 0.  My snails are lazy. No matter what type I buy they like the glass better, even though I clean it once a week with a blade.  The turbos are the laziest of the bunch.  They move a bit and they sit for a day or two pondering life. The sea urchin has moved to the glass too. They don’t hurt as much as I have read about.  I always forget where it is and get poked, but it really just feels like a mosquito bite.  It’s pretty small; the body is ¼ of an inch.

I want my tank to look beautiful like the ones on the forum.  It is 15 months old now.  Is that considered matured yet?

I really don’t want to use chemicals, has anyone used an algae scrubber before? I’m not sure if it would work for such a small tank; 13.5.

So how do I get that beautiful look?

Thanks

[mcarroll]

On 4/3/2020 at 6:57 PM, Crys said:

I am still fighting gha.  I manually remove it every 3 or 4 days

Pics?  How are you doing the removal?

 

Try doing it like the video at the bottom of this post if it's different from how you've been doing it.

 

Snails hunt from memory (like us!) so when you clean an area, place one to two snails right on that area so they know it's ready for them.

 

How many herbvivore snails are you up to now?  (Leave out the urchin and other cleanup crew.)

 

On 4/3/2020 at 6:57 PM, Crys said:

nitrates are 0

This isn't going to be helpful in cultivating the next wave of algae that will supplant the hair algae bloom.....coralline. You need coralline bloom to happen if you ever want there to be less space on the rock for hair algae to grow. 

 

If you're doing anything to lower nitrates (e.g. algae reactor, carbon dosing), stop doing it.

 

Have you been able to keep ca, alk and mg pretty stable?   Any signs of coralline growth around the tank?

 

On 4/3/2020 at 6:57 PM, Crys said:

I want my tank to look beautiful like the ones on the forum.  It is 15 months old now.  Is that considered matured yet?

Patience....and try to see the beauty in the tank right now.  The processes that are happening (or that want to be happening but are being starved) in your new tank are nothing if not miraculous.  You're just wearing brown colored glasses instead of rose.  Change your perspective.  👍  It's an adventure!

 

(Or more succinctly: Your tank will be mature around the time when you forget to stop wondering about whether it is or not. 😉)

On 4/3/2020 at 6:57 PM, Crys said:

So how do I get that beautiful look?

 

On 1/18/2020 at 3:17 PM, Crys said:

IMO you got it right there.

 

What's the deal with that giant clump of red algae?  If it's real (and still around), have you considered its care requirements?  Gonna need A LOT of nitrates and phosphates for that to stay happy.

 

And here's that vid I mentioned...