AlgaeFix Marine to control Hair Algae

After reading this ENTIRE thread, I decided that the only thing I had to lose was GHA! I did a 20% water change immediately followed by the first dose. Three days later did the second dose. Yesterday I did another 20% water change and the 3rd dose.

I should say that I have been doing manual removal also and noticed a big difference in the ease of pulling this demon spawned stuff out of my tank. I do believe that I am definitely on the right track.
 
Here's an extract from Dr.Foster&Smith regarding UV Sterilizer usage.
"...Also, many medications can be "denatured" by the UV light, so the sterilizer should be turned off when using medications, especially chelated copper treatments. The UV light will "break" the bond of the chelating agent, and the aquarium will have a sudden, lethal concentration of ionic copper..."

Does anyone know if there's a similar issue if we run UV Sterilizer while dosing AF? I ask because AF works on Algae itself but not on the spores. Hence, UV Sterilizer can be used to erradicate the spores.
 
I'm not sure if UV can breakdown AF & ruin its effect. AF only lasts about 24 hrs in your tank though. So, cutting off the UV for caution for 24 hrs and then turning it back on to help control free floating algae & spores may be the best route.
 
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I have watched this thread off and on for some time and bought some Algaefix but never used it. I recently changed to a different calcium reactor media and man did the algae take off, this stuff had to be loaded with phosphates. My main problem was with a what I will call a turf type algae and not a long hair type. Changing the media and using some lanthanum chloride with my gfo helped but progress was slow. I gave algaefix a try and wow after three doses the algae was pretty much gone! I did a fourth dose and am now doing once a week maintenance doses. This stuff is great!!
I have an SPS dominate tank with zoas, blastos, favia, lobos and acans. As far as it harming delicate SPS, I'm not sure if these are considered delicate but here are a few I have. Red planet, pearlberry, ice fire, hawkins, the real red dragon, millies, and other acros. All survived just fine and continue to grow! I was left with cyano but that is easily fixed so no problem.
Sorry no before and after pics...

John
 
AlgaeFix Marine to control Hair Algae

Thanks Cliff. I've been doing something like that after the fifth dose. I run UV Sterilizer of 32W bulb with a flow of 132gph through it for about 24hrs prior to AF dose. I then shut it off for 2days after AF dosage and so on.

I have a Ritteri Anemone that's held itself on two rocks which holds a section of aquascape in place. Can't risk disturbing the anemone to take those rocks out. But I still have some fuzzy dried GHA on some hard to reach areas of those rocks. I hope these dried GHAs wont cause any new sprouts. I'm thinking of temporarily placing a small powerhead to keep blowing at them in the tank. Any other bright ideas on how to get them off the rocks?
 
AlgaeFix Marine to control Hair Algae

I had been fighting GHA with good husbandry for about 6 months before trying AlgaeFix, with not much success. It probably slowed down the growth but did not eradicate it. And I was already on ULNS tank while fighting GHA and was really frustrated. And then, a fellow RC member recommended AlgaeFix based on his experience. And I'm glad to have found this thread.

Here's the tank before I started dosing:
7a0f716dfe1c99edcdca03d8558390e2_zps1d76045c.jpg


And here's after 7 doses:
03d7b072ef533c11e87351ca9b42effd_zps68f6fbcf.jpg


I still have some more progress to make. But slow and steady getting there. Thanks to all the ppl sharing their inputs and experience here.
 
Currently, I notice my rocks clearing up. But my gravel seems to be getting some small patches of new GHA here and there.

How do I decide when to switch to weekly dose? Is it after total eradication? That might take several more doses. Anyone here who may have done the 3-days-interval dose for 2 months or more? Plz share your experience.
 
My PO4 remains undetectable with Salifert kit at Higher Sensitivity test. However, my Nitrates have climbed from 0 to 10ppm.

I believe that's due to the GHA die offs. However, I hope AF does not kill the good bacteria or disrupt the Nitrogen Cycle of the tank. Any idea?
 
I doubt it will disrupt the cycle unless you overdosed. However I would do a few good sized waterchanges to get the nitrates back down some. Stick with dosing every 3 days for now

I'm on my 8 th dose. 99% of the h/a is gone if not all. I'm doing 1 more dose then a maintenance dose.

I have noticed some cyano in the sump.

I have some other algae issue In the tank. It was there before and has improved. It is either Dino's or cyano of some kind. I purchased a decent quality microscope to identify it.
 
I dose about right, considering the total volume in Display and sump as well as displacement by rocks. However, I dose it into the sump so that it mixes up well before entering the display tank. Obviously, concentration of AF in the sump is temporarily high for a while and I have my NP Biopellets reactor there. Do you think that matters for the Nitrogen cycle?
 
I used algae fix to get my gha under control and it seemed it work great. It did take me about 10-12 doses before I noticed it dying off though. I dunno if this had anything to do with the fact I run gfo and biopellets also. Mine is all white now and pretty much falling off my rocks.
 
I've done my 10th dose, last Thursday. The rocks look good with hardly any noticeable regrowth.

Damn these GHA are so stubborn. I'm not sure how I would have fought them without AF. They don't even die completely. Now I'm dealing with Zombie GHA :)
Its definitely not dinos or diatoms because I've fought them in the past and know what they look like. And I know this withered GHA because I had seen them change like that upon adding AF. Fortunately, these dead-looking GHA grow very slowly in my overflow (which gets the best light) and gravel. They don't seem to be on the rocks.

I've siphoned them out of my gravel and overflow yesterday. I'll observe for any regrowth.

My chaeto location in the sump is a little tricky and not easy to observe. However, it seems like there's a lot of detritus stuck in the chaeto. I'm not sure if that's from death of GHA that were stuck in them or is it the chaeto itself. If I touch it to remove it all the detritus gets spread in the sump. I can't work on that this weekend. So, hopefully I'll take them out next weekend when I'm doing a waterchange. Since, I'm moving ahead with 10+ doses now, I just need to decide if I should clean them up and place them back in the sump, or keep them out until I switch to maintenance dose.
 
After reading parts of this thread, I have seen people use the algae fix with just about every coral and invert. Has anyone used it on a tank with a clam or anenome? What happened? I am about to go buy some but dont want to loose my clam and anemone.

 
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