Algae Clean Up

[Str8linespeed]

My tank has only been running since upgrading for a month and a half. I have some spots of algae on my rocks and trying to figure out the best way to rid it.

I have a healthy CUC, and the Turbos are the only ones that will somewhat eat it. I've been running GFO and Carbon, but it still seems to be stubborn and not die. It really isnt spreading, but just maintaining.

Water Parameters are....

Sal-1.026
PH-8.24
NH3-0
NO2-0
NO3-.02
Cal-410
DKH-7
PO4-0
Mag-1290

Any thoughts on what steps I should do next?



misc. dark algae

top center of the rock brown/green in color

 

[Str8linespeed]

No one?

 

[scooter31707]

Hard to tell, but it may be Byropsis which is hard to get rid of. I don't have any experience with it but you can search on this forum and there are plenty of discussions/treatments about it. I have heard hydrogen peroxide and raising your Mag up will treat it.

 

[Str8linespeed]

The majority of it doesnt appear to have the feathery type hairs like Byropsis. Just long strings. So the large clumps of algae I think are green hair algae. Now I do have some random pieces of algae, that just grow as a single plant (reminds me of a fern) like on this torch hybred. Could this be Byropsis?



My mag is at 1300 today and my DKH is at 7.3.

What is a safe level to raise the Mag to and roughly where should my DKH be at? Also I was thinking of adding Cheato, but Im running a Red Sea Max 250 tank so the Sump is narrow and in the back of the tank, and not a lot of light gets to it, so I dont think the Cheato will live, but Im not sure.. Thoughts about that?

 

[Str8linespeed]

After looking up Byporsis, that is what I have, Ugh! Its very smalll patches like on the frag above, and only on my new dry Pukani rock. So what is recommended to rid it of the few small spots? Do I just take the rock out and soak it in Muratic acid?


My original live rock has the GHA type stuff on it, and Im not sure how to get that off the rock? I took one of the smaller pieces out and used a tooth brush on it about 2 weeks ago, but I can see it slowly returning.

 

[gone fishin]

for the normal GHA you can always reach in and manually remove it. Eventually The GFO should help get it under control.

Bryopsis is a different story. From my experience with it, the bryopsis likes to really "root" down into the rock making it very tough to pull out. I only had some on a small rock, so I pulled the rock and left it out on my deck for a few weeks. Gave it a scrub and dropped it back in. I have not seen any in a few years since. Good luck just my 2 cents.

 

[Str8linespeed]

for the normal GHA you can always reach in and manually remove it. Eventually The GFO should help get it under control.

Bryopsis is a different story. From my experience with it, the bryopsis likes to really "root" down into the rock making it very tough to pull out. I only had some on a small rock, so I pulled the rock and left it out on my deck for a few weeks. Gave it a scrub and dropped it back in. I have not seen any in a few years since. Good luck just my 2 cents.

Thank you for the info. When you dried that rock you took out, did you have to cure it out again?

 

[scooter31707]

I would cure it again to be safe because you will have some die-off which can cause an ammonia spike once back in the water. If you don't want to do that, research the hydrogen peroxide treatment along with a 3 day blackout.

 

[scooter31707]

Here's some more reading on a treatment from fellow reefer

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2600760&highlight=byropsis

 

[gone fishin]

Thank you for the info. When you dried that rock you took out, did you have to cure it out again?

In my case it was a small piece going back into a large tank so I just put it back in. If you have a smaller tank or think it may adversely affect your filtration then I would suggest curing it again separately. good luck

 

[JeffyT]

I suggest a blackout for a few days with no feeding. See what your CUC and filtration can do.

If that doesn't work you might have to try gone fishin's method with the manual removal. But i can understand how much of a pain that might be.

I've had luck with NoPox from Red Sea, but I had GHA. But from what I understand carbon dosing or forms of carbon dosing will help starve out the nutrients for algae in general.

Good luck friend!