DragonDiver Posted February 13, 2012 Share Posted February 13, 2012 sadly my 14 gallon has been attacked by GHA, and although I warned my dad to get some Cuc for it, he blew it off, of course there's a huge outbreak! So does anyone know of the best way to absolutely obliterate GHA? naturally would be better but Isuppose chemicals would work, also I have a moss like algae growing in my 8 gallon, it's dark green and doesn't really extend like GHA, I've googled it to no avail so I'm asking for your help. I will see if i can post some pics soon! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClarkiiCircus Posted February 13, 2012 Share Posted February 13, 2012 Since its such a small tank, some natural remedies may be hard: normally I would just say toss some foxface in there and let them have at it! For a natural grazer try an urchin (relatively small one!) or 2, and sell them or pass them along when the job is done, since the tank may be a little small to sustain them long term. Do you have corals? If not, try reducing the photoperiod drastically. The fish will handle it fine (as it basically just mimics a natural "overcast" or thunderstorm day). Keep doing large water changes to get rid of the spores or any GHA that might be floating around loose. Also, a phosphate reactor may help! In addition, reduce feedings to the fishes, not drastically however, to try to reduce waste in the system (nitrates) that could be driving their growth! Don't get frustrated, just stick with it, the GHA tends to stick around a while because of loose spores or particles that re-attach and keep colonizing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wesreyn Posted February 14, 2012 Share Posted February 14, 2012 Test your water source Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DragonDiver Posted February 14, 2012 Author Share Posted February 14, 2012 Yes, I do have corals and I'll cut down on the feedings and see if i can get some urchins! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VooDoo Posted February 14, 2012 Share Posted February 14, 2012 use rodi water Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DragonDiver Posted February 14, 2012 Author Share Posted February 14, 2012 Well right now I buy my sw premixed from RCA so I really think I just need to increase wc's and maybe get an ro/di unit and mix my own saltwater. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timfish Posted February 14, 2012 Share Posted February 14, 2012 . . . Don't get frustrated, just stick with it . . . +1 There are a lot of different approaches and sometimes several may have to be tried to find one that works for your tank. I am quite fond of urchins myself (Dr. Martin Moe has some fascinating research he did for NOAA which strongly suggested the decline of the caribean reefs can be directly related to the die off of the native Diadema sp. urchins from a bacterial plague in the early '80's). One thing I would do is pull all the affected rocks out and scrub off the GHA with a small brush/toothbrush (sounds tedious but it goes quicker than you think). Use a bucket of water from the tank so you minimize killing beneficial stuff. I would evaluate the rock to see it it's worth trying to save also. This gets rid of alot of the nutrients that have been fixed by the GHA so when you add herbivores you're not just processing it into fertilizer for more to grow. Definitely increase your water changes. Boyd's chemipure elite is a combination of carbon and ion exchange resins that kinda takes a shotgun approach but straight carbon and GFO is cheaper. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DragonDiver Posted February 14, 2012 Author Share Posted February 14, 2012 Awesome, yeah definitely get some urchins and scrubbing the rocks, gonna get more sw for some water changes! thanks for the quick response everyone! and I'm gonna get some GFO too I guess might as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timfish Posted February 14, 2012 Share Posted February 14, 2012 Also, the lagea in your 8 gal might be a "turf" algae. They can be mistaken for GHA but are slower growing and courser, much more rigid than GHA. "Turf" algaes can be an issue like Valonia sp. (bubble algae) as it can get into corals and gradually out compete the corals but the few times I've seen it it seems to stay in one place and not spread like GHA can. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DragonDiver Posted February 14, 2012 Author Share Posted February 14, 2012 That might be it, but it definitely is spreading and growing onto other rocks, and all my zebra hermits are avoiding it completely Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teresa Posted February 14, 2012 Share Posted February 14, 2012 Once I started purposefully growing turf algae above my "sump" all GHA has stayed out of my seahorse tank. Google Algae Scrubber. Its an easy DIY project. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DragonDiver Posted February 14, 2012 Author Share Posted February 14, 2012 Nice! I was wondering my 8 gal cube has bioballs in it for filtration is this bad? and my dad has lots of chaeto in the 14 gallon's sump Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michae52 Posted February 14, 2012 Share Posted February 14, 2012 I would start pulling out the bio-balls. A few at a time. Try to get a little skimer, it will help get rid of the organic material. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bannerfish Posted February 14, 2012 Share Posted February 14, 2012 +1 to the rock scrubbing, I've been able to eliminate most of the gha in tanks by just doing this. Also getting some phosphate remover will help greatly. In my own tanks personally I have had nitrates not grow algae but if there was any phosphates the algae will start growing. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DragonDiver Posted February 14, 2012 Author Share Posted February 14, 2012 Nice, i was looking up phosphate removers and saw phosban is this good? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DragonDiver Posted February 14, 2012 Author Share Posted February 14, 2012 I would upgrade to skimmer but really don't have the money right now so probably just going to scrub the rocks and all that fun stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bannerfish Posted February 14, 2012 Share Posted February 14, 2012 I've never personally tried phosban. I've found for my little tank gfo is awesome and lasts long enough fit new to continue to use it, but lanthanum chloride works better for my big tank (alot cheaper too). If you wanna try that method do your research on it first there's a humongous thread on that topic on rc I think. Lately though I've been trying to grow algae in my algae trough to control nutrients instead of media and chemicals, so far so good! Not having too much luck getting a bunch of hair algae or turf algae, but the calurpa likes to grow quickly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
(Bio)³ Posted February 14, 2012 Share Posted February 14, 2012 This thread just recently gotten posted, might check it out. http://www.austinreefclub.com/topic/21184-nano-algae-scrubber/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+o0zarkawater Posted February 14, 2012 Share Posted February 14, 2012 Nice, i was looking up phosphate removers and saw phosban is this good? I'd try to jump on the BRS group buy in the group buy section that is happening soon. You can get their GFO for a whole lot cheaper than what phosban runs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DragonDiver Posted February 14, 2012 Author Share Posted February 14, 2012 Alright! Thanks Will try... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+dapettit Posted February 14, 2012 Share Posted February 14, 2012 I have some gfo if you need a little. I also have a 3 little fish phosban reactor you can use until you get it under control. I won't be needing it for about a month. JLMK. Dave- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+dapettit Posted February 14, 2012 Share Posted February 14, 2012 Ooops I forgot this is a small tank the reactor may be overkill. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jestep Posted February 14, 2012 Share Posted February 14, 2012 What's you stocking? In my experience, the only real meaningful way to get the nutrients and thus algae in control permanently is to reduce the bio load on the tank. Adding urchins and more CUC further increases the bio load on the tank. They can get rid of some algae, but the problem isn't gone, it's just masked and can often be worse since you just removed a nutrient removing method. You can use GFO and carbon and other methods, but they require continuous replacement. The real problem is that we all stock too much in our small tanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DragonDiver Posted February 14, 2012 Author Share Posted February 14, 2012 Its a six line wrasse and a royal gramma and a bunch of hermits and snails Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dc5842 Posted February 14, 2012 Share Posted February 14, 2012 Don't forget about your lights too. If they haven't been changed as recommended they can be drifting into the wrong spectrum and could not be helping your problem. I had GHA show up in my 120 pretty quickly after it got up and running. I was using some older bulbs i inherited and didn't think it would make that big of a difference. I added a turbo snail, changed the lights, and have been running phosphate media with a BRS reactor and it's nearly gone. I hope to start my refugium in the next month as well to help my nutrient export and grow some pods. Best of luck, manual removal is good to get you ahead of the curve too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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