Aaaagh HELP!

[ryshark]

I consider myself to be somewhat of an advanced aquaritst, including growing sps as I have successfully grown many sps from 1" frags into huge colorful colonies. I took a break and just got back into the game 6-months ago. Lately I've been dealing with a Hair Algae problem. So 2-weeks ago I decided to add GFO to my system. I got a reactor and added 1/2 cup of Aqumaxx Phosphate out, my total water volume is about 115-gallons. After over a week, I saw no improvement with my hair algae so I upped the dose to 1-cup of GFO. another week went by and my corals looked fine but the Hair Algae was still growing. So LAST NIGHT I decided to take a toothbrush and scrape as much of the algae off the rock as possible, which I did and most of it was filtered into a filter sock which I have not changed yet. TODAY - I come home to all of my SPS bleached out, but still have polyp extension.

Did the GFO level finally just drop below an acceptable level and it is a coincidence that I took a toothbrush to the rock last night?
Did scraping the rock actually lower my Phosphate somehow since Hair Algae is actually loaded with Phosphate?

I didn't cause a cycle, my Ammonia, Nitrate and Nitrite are all 0. PH is 8 and Alkalinity is 8.5 which is pretty stable.

I just fed the tank Reef Chili. Should my next plan of action to be to turn off the Protein Skimmer? Turn off the GFO? Or is that being too reactionary and maybe I should just feed more?

 

[PaleHorse]

Has to be the gfo. I would def. shut skimmer and gfo off till color gets back. Good luck

 

[reefmutt]

+1 you probably had a cumulative effect of adding all that gfo...
Get yourself a decent po4 test kit as well..

 

[ryshark]

I have the Hanna Checker. PO4 has always tested 0.00. I can't get an accurate result with the HA consuming all the PO4.

 

[reefmutt]

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2470271&page=2
Check out Shih's po4 levels as soon as algea started to grow in his tank.
I was amazed how fast it dropped. Clearly that algea can remove a lot of p.
I think you need to add some good alge eaters- snails etc and feed feed feed.

 

[ryshark]

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2470271&page=2
Check out Shih's po4 levels as soon as algea started to grow in his tank.
I was amazed how fast it dropped. Clearly that algea can remove a lot of p.
I think you need to add some good alge eaters- snails etc and feed feed feed.

I had the exact same thing happen to me with the Astrea snail shell. I didn't get the Hanna Checker until a couple months after my tank was up and running, so what he is experiencing may be the exact same thing that happened to my tank(the phosphate going down further and further as the algae grows). By the time I got the PO4 checker I was already reading 0.00

 

[MrSandman]

Aaaagh HELP!

I had the same exact problem as you. See my post here. http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?p=22796931

It got really bad as you can see in the video. So bad that the 10 large turbo snails couldn't make a dent and we're losing the battle badly. Even brushing the rock was worthless. In the end I blacked out the tank with trash bags for about 3 days and rocks were super clean and the snails were able to keep up. Worth a try if all else fails.

 

[ryshark]

I had the same exact problem as you. See my post here. http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?p=22796931

It got really bad as you can see in the video. So bad that the 10 large turbo snails couldn't make a dent and we're losing the battle badly. Even brushing the rock was worthless. In the end I blacked out the tank with trash bags for about 3 days and rocks were super clean and the snails were able to keep up. Worth a try if all else fails.

Yep, that is exactly what mine looks like except more green. I may try this too with the lights out. My only concerns are 1. My anthias need to eat. 2. Now that my coral are bleached, I don't know if I should have them go lights out now or not. Then again, maybe my water is so clean now that the sps is getting too much PAR.
I really am having the same problem as you. The tops of my rocks are pretty clean, and that is where the turbos tend to hang out. The HA keeps growing quickly in areas it is already in, but not so much is other areas where it isnt. With a clean slate, maybe my turbos can keep up, I've got like 12+ of them in there.

 

[ryshark]

I turned my halides down from 6 to 4 hours tonight and my T5s are still on the full 8-hours. I turned the manifold valve that was going to my GFO reactor completely off. My skimmer is still on, however, I dropped the water level to have it skim dryer.

 

[tdb320reef]

I have only seen Hair Algae in my tanks early in its life cycle. I took GFO off line a year back and watch my P04 climb from time to time and still no HA. I do run Biopellets on low flow, have a ton of tangs and snails, Run UV and rinse my foods.

Perhaps just start rinsing your foods and give it some time?

 

[jda]

Did you restart with dead or dry rock? If so, then the hair algae needs to just run it's course. The P that is feeding it is from decaying matter inside of the rocks and not the water column. Get a consumer - sea hare, rabbitfish, or something like that.

If you do have lots of PO4 in the water column, then the GFO could have been filled up rather quickly - within hours with enough flow. Did you test the PO4 before and after the GFO addition? If so, what were the levels? GFO can be dangerous if you drop the P too fast.

 

[ryshark]

I have only seen Hair Algae in my tanks early in its life cycle. I took GFO off line a year back and watch my P04 climb from time to time and still no HA. I do run Biopellets on low flow, have a ton of tangs and snails, Run UV and rinse my foods.

Perhaps just start rinsing your foods and give it some time?

When I feed frozen I thaw the cube out in a few tablespoons if tank water and then pour it threw a net to drain the water. I don't know if that is considered rinsing or not

 

[ryshark]

Did you restart with dead or dry rock? If so, then the hair algae needs to just run it's course. The P that is feeding it is from decaying matter inside of the rocks and not the water column. Get a consumer - sea hare, rabbitfish, or something like that.

If you do have lots of PO4 in the water column, then the GFO could have been filled up rather quickly - within hours with enough flow. Did you test the PO4 before and after the GFO addition? If so, what were the levels? GFO can be dangerous if you drop the P too fast.

I started with live rock, which must have already been cured since I couldnt get my ammonia to go up at all. My PO4 has always tested 0.00. I've been planning for a couple weeks now to buy a one spot foxface. Once my work schedule permits, I'm going to do that.