AlgaeFix Marine to control Hair Algae

[thebanker]

Here are some crappy "before" shots I took from my iPhone. Sorry about the quality, but I don't feel like messing with my digital camera at the moment. (bigger fish to fry... err... algae to fry I suppose)

The disaster area.

Green hair algae on my live rock (everywhere like this)

Green hair algae & diatoms on sand

Cyano outbreak!

My royal gramma is embarassed of his home's poor condition.

Dose #1 in the tank as we speak... stay tuned.

 

[cj hill]

I just got some alaefix last night added it to my tank
now this morning my skimmer is going nuts and my clams look to be dieing i hope that they are just in shock or something
if my clams do end up dead then the algaefix will have done its job cause i will just drain the tank and be done with it

 

[Boomer]

Cliff

I get allot of free stuff from trade shows and yesterday, believe it or not, I found a bottle of AlgeaFix Marine, by API, that I never knew I even had :lol: You made this comment long ago here on this thread.

AlgaeFix Fresh Water: dimethyliminoethylene dichloride, ethoxylate 31512-74-0 4.5%

AlgaeFix Marine: dimethyliminoethylene dichloride, ethoxylate 31512-74-0 4.5%

It may be exactaly the same but what some do for marine product liquids, in some cases, is add a buffer to boost up the pH.

 

[cj hill]

so far i have lost 4 fish and snails are droping off the glass in less than 24 hours i dont think this is a good idea any more

 

[iFisch]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15619743#post15619743 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by cj hill
so far i have lost 4 fish and snails are droping off the glass in less than 24 hours i dont think this is a good idea any more

Must be dosing wrong or something. No one here has lost 4 fish and tons of snails.

An invert or two, sure, but lots of snails + 4 fish... I don't know.

 

[cj hill]

i must have but i dont think i did any thing wrong other than adding that stuff

 

[iFisch]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15619951#post15619951 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by cj hill
i must have but i dont think i did any thing wrong other than adding that stuff

How big of a tank? How much did you dose? How often did you dose?

Maybe you lost one fish - then got an ammonia spike, which acted like a chain reaction, unless you got the ammonia out right away.

 

[cj hill]

main tank is 224 i have 1 55 gallon rock tank and 1 55 gallon ref a 40g skimmer tank and a 55 gallon sump
i added 2 1/2 caps full witch should be 250 gallons wourth mabey i am wrong on my math i dont know but i think i would have more than that much water
i just doesed it in my sump
that was the first time i did it

 

[HighlandReefer]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15619373#post15619373 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Boomer
Cliff

I get allot of free stuff from trade shows and yesterday, believe it or not, I found a bottle of AlgeaFix Marine, by API, that I never knew I even had :lol: You made this comment long ago here on this thread.

AlgaeFix Fresh Water: dimethyliminoethylene dichloride, ethoxylate 31512-74-0 4.5%

AlgaeFix Marine: dimethyliminoethylene dichloride, ethoxylate 31512-74-0 4.5%

It may be exactaly the same but what some do for marine product liquids, in some cases, is add a buffer to boost up the pH.

Boomer,

I agree. You never know what the difference may be. I would stay with the AlgaeFix Marine to be sure.

 

[HighlandReefer]

cj hill,

Sorry to hear about your losses.

The amount you dosed adds cup correctly for me.

As stated above, this is the first fish kill I have read about in this thread. There have been other problems with the larger systems in this thread. Possibly due to the amount of AF being applied at one time. If the AF does not get dispersed quickly it could contact organisms in a much more concentrated form. Perhaps braking the dosing amount for larger systems into two doses spread out over a half hour or so may be safer.

Another possibility would be if you had a lot of vegetative algae growth in your tank and it suddenly died, it could spur a bacterial population that could rob the oxygen from the water column, particularly at night. This is one reason why the manufacturer recommends that you remove as much algae growth as possible, before dosing the AF.

FWIW, I dosed AF Marine at the three day interval for 1 1/2 bottles worth without any problems except that my chaeto died.

 

[The0wn4g3]

I tried to read most of this thread but ran out of gas...

On Drs Foster and Smith it says, "NOTE: Do NOT use AlgaeFix with crustaceans, including crabs, shrimp, freshwater shrimp and freshwater lobsters. "

I've got several scarlett hermits in my 40, should I take them out and put them in a QT before dosing?

 

[iFisch]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15621499#post15621499 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by The0wn4g3
I tried to read most of this thread but ran out of gas...

On Drs Foster and Smith it says, "NOTE: Do NOT use AlgaeFix with crustaceans, including crabs, shrimp, freshwater shrimp and freshwater lobsters. "

I've got several scarlett hermits in my 40, should I take them out and put them in a QT before dosing?

General consensus is you may loose a CUC member or two. Won't wipe out your CUC though.

 

[HighlandReefer]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15621499#post15621499 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by The0wn4g3
I tried to read most of this thread but ran out of gas...

On Drs Foster and Smith it says, "NOTE: Do NOT use AlgaeFix with crustaceans, including crabs, shrimp, freshwater shrimp and freshwater lobsters. "

I've got several scarlett hermits in my 40, should I take them out and put them in a QT before dosing?

You are reading the label for the freshwater version called, AlgaeFix.

I would recommend using the marine version called, AlgaeFix Marine.

The label for AlgaeFix Marine:

Algaefix® Marine
http://aquariumpharm.com/Products/Product.aspx?ProductID=127

Marine

Reef "“safe aquarium algaecide. Controls many types of algae in marine and reef aquariums. Will not harm marine fish, corals and other invertebrates. Will not harm coralline algae. Effectively controls Green algae, "œRed Slime," and "œBrown algae" in marine aquariums containing live corals, invertebrates and fish. Use weekly to control algal growth and reduce aquarium maintenance. Does not discolor water or cause foaming.

 

[bshumake]

I'm glad to see that this thread is still alive. A few pages back (I can't believe its gotten to 28 pages! Highland, you must be proud ) I posted my own experiences with Marinefix and Algaefix. What I noticed, to sum up, was that in all, Marinefix killed off all the algae I had, leaving me with a single strain remaining. Whatever type this one was/is was not matter to me. Iwas still stuck with a stuborn HA that would mock me every time I passed the tank. I could swear it flipped me the bird one day. Sulking in my green tank misery, I stopped by my LFS and lamented my sorrows to the owner. Verily he said unto me, "Have you heard of Zeovit?" "Alas, no," I replied. I did some research. Thought about it a little. And finally, one Saturday while I was shoulder deep in my tank, giving my HA covered rocks a perm, I finally decided it was time to try Zeovit. All I bought were the Zeoliths. No additives, no bacteria. Just gravel. I put them into a spare cannister filter I had and ran it for 3 hours on, 3 off, and gave my tank one last Sinéad O'Connor. Its taken about a month of waiting and one more trim between then and now, but my HA battle is almost over. I'm due to change my liths soon and imagine this will be the final nail it my HA's coffin. I'll get some pix up here in a day or two, but for anyone interested, give the Zeovit system a look. I've been told that once the tank is "converted" fully that the corals look amazing. I have noticed that mine are getting a little more color than usual. And the damage they suffered during the war of 2009 is healing quite well.
Happy reefing all!

 

[bshumake]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14991825#post14991825 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by bshumake

This is the initial tank before Marinefix treatment. (cringe)

 

[bshumake]

Constant pruning and the treatment cleared away the greater portion of the algae, but like I said, a monoculture of one HA came to rule and returned it to its HA dominated state. Even though I could remove a good portion of it, I still had green, stubbly rocks and corals.
Now, after almost a month and a half of Zeolith treatment with no water changes, no GFO/Carbon, no ozone; I have this:

 

[bshumake]

I still have places where its entrenched, but its lighter and thinner. I believe after another month or two the battle will be over. And the best part is I can finally use all my T5's. With both banks the algae Exploded, and I was reduced to using only one bank If I ever wanted to see anything other than algae.

 

[thebanker]

Update: my fourth dose is going in tomorrow, and my tank is already looking better. I siphoned out a lot of the GHA, and the algaefix seems to have knocked down the rest considerably. I have noticed some side effects. My chaeto is not doing as well, and my mushrooms are noticeably downtrodden. The frogspawn is not as "out" as it normally is, and the same for my goniopora. Zoas don't look as good either.

Green star polyps are unaffected. Actually they look better. Fish are fine, and my crustaceans seem to be unaffected as well.

The cyano has come back, and seems to be doing quite well for its disgusting self. I'm thinking it has a lot of tasty dead algae to feed on, and if it keeps getting worse, i'll nuke it with blue life red slime remover... but only after my AF marine dosing has gone into "maintenance mode".

 

[thebanker]

also, my anemone looks like crap.

oh wait, it always does.

 

[HighlandReefer]

bshumake,

You do have skills in writing and expressing your thoughts. It's a pleasure reading your post.

Thank you for the nice comments.

The only way I can equate a successful reef system, is that it is like a symphony playing a wonderful suite. All the individual instruments chime in at the appropriate moments to complete the symphony and make it into a master piece. It can take a lot of work, trial and error and studying the known facts to make your reef system (master piece) come together. Once it does, it is a wonderful thing to look at and enjoy.

In a reef system you are working to bring your water parameters, lighting, feeding & tank occupants selected to a harmony where all your occupants are happy and flourish, yet exclude the weeds & pests you do not want. Easier said then done. :lol:

The subject of weeds in a reef system is similar to weeds in a garden. Most successful gardeners start with good soil and carefully prepare the soil to eliminate pests and weeds. This can be done in many ways.

In a reef system, this can be accomplished by carefully quarantining all your items to be placed in your reef system. This includes everything. Introducing live rock, live sand & possibly natural seawater without proper quarantining is asking for problems.

As in gardening there are many weeds that are easily controlled, buy pulling them by hand. However, there are always weeds that lead to major problems. Trying to control these type of weeds can be difficult if they are introduced into your system. Usually there is no one easy method for removing them. Instead, you may be faced with using many procedures to gain control and sometimes chemicals may help.

Carefully observing your reef system on a regular basis will allow one to detect these weeds when they first start growing. Acting as quickly as possible when you first notice them is of great importance. It is much easier to control these type of pests when they first start then to wait until they have taken over your reef system.

If the weeds are allowed to get out of hand, then you are faced with other problems such as the increased organic matter these weeds create in your water column. When you remove them, parts of them end up in the water column. Most of these weeds in the reef system will create other toxic substances (built in defenses) into your water column. All of this increased DOM takes a while to remove from your water column. Many of these toxins have adverse effects on your coral and possibly fish, which is not taken into consideration as you kill them off. It is possible that this is an underling effect that causes problems with many coral and possibly fish that hobbyists attribute to other things.

To sum everything up, I feel that particular attention to the increased DOM from weed infestations is one of the critical aspects commonly overlooked in any weed pest control program used in a reef system. Your use of the Zeoliths to help accomplish this is certainly one approach to removing DOM along with other known methods such as proper skimming, running GAC, proper water changes & running other filter methods that grab the DOM from the water column (using fine filter bags, sand filters & diatomaceous earth filters may be included here).