Reef Discussion
Hi Susan , That is a million dollar question . if we had a simple answer to that one we would be rich.
GHA need high nutrients ,P04, nitrates and light to survive.
You could also start to feed a little less and do more water changes
to see if that helps
Just a few questions for you
Can I ask how you tested for p04?
have you got a skimmer running ?
What sort of lighting do you have ? . (for some reason poor lighting as well too much lighting can also contribute to the problem)
GHA need high nutrients ,P04, nitrates and light to survive.
You could also start to feed a little less and do more water changes
to see if that helps
Just a few questions for you
Can I ask how you tested for p04?
have you got a skimmer running ?
What sort of lighting do you have ? . (for some reason poor lighting as well too much lighting can also contribute to the problem)
Ok so this is where you are going to get a range of different suggestions and contradictions to other peoples advice so strap yourself in for confusion :rofl
First of all we need:
- a complete run down of anything you test for
- what kind of lights (brand, type of bulb), what settings you have them on and how long they are running each day
- pictures of the hair algae - so we can see the extent of it and make sure it is hair algae
- size of the tank and what equipment you are using so far
Some will encourage you to ride it out and let it sort itself out with time, others will encourage you to remove rocks and treat them hard core, and still others will be somewhere in the middle with a range of other treatments you can try.
I'll post more later this arvo when I have some time but if you want to do some research:
- using magnesium to treat hair algae
- trialling various forms of chemical filtration to reduce algaes in the aquarium - such as Purigen, Chemi-pure, Poly-Filter
- using Hydrogen peroxide 3% solution
- using clean up crew (invertebrates)
- manipulating your water - such as pH - to create an environment that doesn't foster algae growth
There are more but thats all I can think of off the top of my head
First of all we need:
- a complete run down of anything you test for
- what kind of lights (brand, type of bulb), what settings you have them on and how long they are running each day
- pictures of the hair algae - so we can see the extent of it and make sure it is hair algae
- size of the tank and what equipment you are using so far
Some will encourage you to ride it out and let it sort itself out with time, others will encourage you to remove rocks and treat them hard core, and still others will be somewhere in the middle with a range of other treatments you can try.
I'll post more later this arvo when I have some time but if you want to do some research:
- using magnesium to treat hair algae
- trialling various forms of chemical filtration to reduce algaes in the aquarium - such as Purigen, Chemi-pure, Poly-Filter
- using Hydrogen peroxide 3% solution
- using clean up crew (invertebrates)
- manipulating your water - such as pH - to create an environment that doesn't foster algae growth
There are more but thats all I can think of off the top of my head
Hi Susan. You may well be getting really low to zero test results for nitrates & phosphates. Unfortunately it is very deceiving as the GHA actually consumes it before most of it hits the test tube. So your numbers read low in testing but are actually very high. I have been lucky & not had the battle with GHA so I can't help you with a solution. Just thought it might explain your zero readings. Good luck !
I am in this camp :)
In my experience, you will get waves of different types of algae over the next few months as your tank matures.
Your rocks may be loaded with a bit of phosphate from the initial cycle so the algae feeds from this until it is exhausted.
Keep on top of your basic water maintenance and don't feed too much and just enjoy your tank :)
Or you could go and dump a heap of chemicals in it :p
[QUOTE="RobbieMVFC
GHA need high nutrients ,P04, nitrates and light to survive.QUOTE]
i have found, reducing feeding, plus a couple of heavy water changes(50%) spaced out by 3-4 days and light starvation for a week heavily eradicated algae, i did also dose magnesium during this time and have now added it to my dosing list to assist with future algae prevention.
I have also found that my tank with a fuge has had allot less algae issues (almost none) than my tank without it.
There are many different avenues to take, for prevention in the future and cure for your current issue, its a matter of trial and error and finding what works for you and your tank.
I am sure the friendly people here will assist you.
good luck:)
GHA need high nutrients ,P04, nitrates and light to survive.QUOTE]
i have found, reducing feeding, plus a couple of heavy water changes(50%) spaced out by 3-4 days and light starvation for a week heavily eradicated algae, i did also dose magnesium during this time and have now added it to my dosing list to assist with future algae prevention.
I have also found that my tank with a fuge has had allot less algae issues (almost none) than my tank without it.
There are many different avenues to take, for prevention in the future and cure for your current issue, its a matter of trial and error and finding what works for you and your tank.
I am sure the friendly people here will assist you.
good luck:)
regarding the riding it out method.
The problems i have encountered when trying out this method is, you dont know how long you are going to be riding out this part of your tank maturity faze and during this time I have lost quite a few corals and frags due to algae smothering them.
The tank looks hidious. You feel helpless and beaten.
I have spent up to 20hrs a week even more cleaning it out for it to grow back within a couple of days.
I believe while the nutrients are in the water for these algaes to thrive they will.
So you need to ask yourself, i have high nutrients in my water, why?
There are many many ways phosphates and nitrates enter our systems, and a quick google search will explain this in detail, a few of the main reasons have already been mentioned by other reefers here.
Now if you can not pin point the reason as to why? which was me at the time, then you just roll with it, you say to yourself, so i have high nutrients and a shit load of algae, so i need to get rid of the algae, but i need something else to obsorb all the excess nutrients so the algae doesnt grow back.
So to get rid of the algae, I water change, this will bring nutrients down in your water, if you are mixing your own ASW, use RO and high quality salt or you will just be putting more nutrients back into the tank making your hard work pointless. Just after doing a 50% water change I light starve, algae NEED light to thrive, deprive it of this.
So you have just taken most of the nutrients out of the water and are starving the algae of light, which are the main things algae need to grow. I do another 50% water change 4-7 days after the first 50% change to really get the water super low in nutrients,
Once you have removed the algae from your tank, you are going to need something to obsorb these nutients to stop the algae from returning, once again there are many many methods to accomplish this, IMO a refugium is a great start.
I am not saying riding it out wont work, it definatley would, its just that i was loosing corals and stumbled across the method i use now, and for me has worked out to be my quick algae response program.
Good luck
p.s dosing magnesium will help your situation
The problems i have encountered when trying out this method is, you dont know how long you are going to be riding out this part of your tank maturity faze and during this time I have lost quite a few corals and frags due to algae smothering them.
The tank looks hidious. You feel helpless and beaten.
I have spent up to 20hrs a week even more cleaning it out for it to grow back within a couple of days.
I believe while the nutrients are in the water for these algaes to thrive they will.
So you need to ask yourself, i have high nutrients in my water, why?
There are many many ways phosphates and nitrates enter our systems, and a quick google search will explain this in detail, a few of the main reasons have already been mentioned by other reefers here.
Now if you can not pin point the reason as to why? which was me at the time, then you just roll with it, you say to yourself, so i have high nutrients and a shit load of algae, so i need to get rid of the algae, but i need something else to obsorb all the excess nutrients so the algae doesnt grow back.
So to get rid of the algae, I water change, this will bring nutrients down in your water, if you are mixing your own ASW, use RO and high quality salt or you will just be putting more nutrients back into the tank making your hard work pointless. Just after doing a 50% water change I light starve, algae NEED light to thrive, deprive it of this.
So you have just taken most of the nutrients out of the water and are starving the algae of light, which are the main things algae need to grow. I do another 50% water change 4-7 days after the first 50% change to really get the water super low in nutrients,
Once you have removed the algae from your tank, you are going to need something to obsorb these nutients to stop the algae from returning, once again there are many many methods to accomplish this, IMO a refugium is a great start.
I am not saying riding it out wont work, it definatley would, its just that i was loosing corals and stumbled across the method i use now, and for me has worked out to be my quick algae response program.
Good luck
p.s dosing magnesium will help your situation
Very sensible advice @Mr.Reeefer
Ok so lets start problem solving a step at a time -
- lets reduce your light schedule for a little while until the algae is under control - to 8 hours a day. Schedule the light to come on at the times when you want to view the tank most - for me personally, I have my lights on in the late afternoon after work.
Low pH will be contributing to the algae so we'll look at that next.
What is the pH reading exactly?
Nitrate reading?
What filtration do you have?
- lets reduce your light schedule for a little while until the algae is under control - to 8 hours a day. Schedule the light to come on at the times when you want to view the tank most - for me personally, I have my lights on in the late afternoon after work.
Low pH will be contributing to the algae so we'll look at that next.
What is the pH reading exactly?
Nitrate reading?
What filtration do you have?
ph is 7.8, been try to get it up, nitrate over 20, i am running 2 skimmers at the moment because i am not happy with either 1 is g 216 and other is red sea prism, it purchased a uv light yesterday but have to what until i finished using medic for my tang to put it in, and i also got a lawnmower blenny he is very busy lol
Members online
No members online now.