Cracking down on my GHA outbreak

[MMacro]

For the past 5-7 months I have been trying to exterminate my green hair algae. I have tried absolutely everything that you can think of and more. Recently, I decided to get my water tested 'professionally' to see my exact results which you can see below. Anyone have any ideas as to what is causing this issue?

Ammonia (NH3-4) 0 0.000 - 0.050 mg/L
Nitrite (NO2) 0.007. 0.000 - 0.100 mg/L
Phosphate (PO4) 0.02 0.000 - 0.250 mg/L
Nitrate (NO3) 1.7 0.000 - 25.000 mg/L
Silica (Sio2-3) 1.6 0.000 - 0.500 mg/L
Potassium (K) 386 350.000 - 450.000 mg/L
Ionic Calcium (Ca) 282 100.000 - 400.000 mg/L
Boron (B) NA 3.000 - 6.000 mg/L
Molybdenum (Mo) 0.3 0.000 - 0.300 mg/L
Strontium (Sr) 8.5 5.000 - 12.000 mg/L
Magnesium (Mg) 1440 1100.000 - 1400.000 mg/L
Iodine (I) 0.07 0.030 - 0.090 mg/L
Copper (Cu) 0.05 0.000 - 0.100 mg/L
Alkalinity (meq/L) 2.9 2.500 - 5.000 meq/L
Total Calcium (Ca) 390 350.000 - 450.000 mg/L
Iron (Fe) NA 0.000 - 0.010 mg/L

 

[MMacro]

I made the graph look more organized when I initially typed it but I guess it screwed up or something. Anyways, here is a more simple version.



Ammonia (NH3-4) 0
Nitrite (NO2) 0.007
Phosphate (PO4) 0.02
Nitrate (NO3) 1.7
Silica (Sio2-3) 1.6
Potassium (K) 386
Ionic Calcium (Ca) 282
Boron (B) NA
Molybdenum (Mo) 0.3
Strontium (Sr) 8.5
Magnesium (Mg) 1440
Iodine (I) 0.07
Copper (Cu) 0.05
Alkalinity (meq/L) 2.9
Total Calcium (Ca) 390
Iron (Fe) NA

 

[JohnnyHildo]

the first question that comes to mind is what kind of rock did you use? was it cured?
it's very common to test and it display low phosphates in your system yet have a completely healthy green hair algae population as they are consuming whatever is in the water column.

 

[PatW]

I used dry rock to start my tank. I tested for phosphates and had .13 ppm. Then the algae came. Later tests for phosphates all showed 0 ppm. They had sucked it all out of the water column. So I did water changes, scrubbed the rock, ran GFO and put macro algae in my sump under a light. After all that the algae is now almost completely gone. During the whole time my nitrates ran at 0.

I think that phosphate issues are behind many algae out breaks. For smaller tanks a series of large water changes is probably the easiest approach. Since you are running 150 gallons even a 30 gallon water change will only be 20 percent. Even so doing two of those per week should get the thing under control in a month.

 

[CStrickland]

Those levels look fine to me. The trick with algae control and parameters is having the algae "limited" by something. Basically, if any one thing the algae needs is not present, it can't grow. Algae can be light-limited if you do a blackout, or phos-limited if there's none available etc. I suppose it could also be molybdenum-limited, but that would be harder to achieve. Focusing on nitrates and phos is easy because reefers have been messing with those for a long time so we have tricks to keep them down, and the amounts that coral like are very low as well, so managing them is like killing two birds with one stone.

That said, I do think it's possible that macro like chaeto might help limit some of those trace things like iron. That competition would make life harder for gha.

The pickle is that our tests can't see all the phos in the system, and phos changes forms readily to "hide" from the test. If a chunk of food lands in a dead spot, rots there and fertilizes gha, the phos is only testable for a hot second when it's in the water. That hot second is also the only opportunity your nutrient export has to "catch" it before the gha does. So if the clever algae scoops it right up, you're boned.

Do you have a thread that covers all the stuff you've tried, with a pic of your tank?

 

[MMacro]

the first question that comes to mind is what kind of rock did you use? was it cured?
it's very common to test and it display low phosphates in your system yet have a completely healthy green hair algae population as they are consuming whatever is in the water column.

I used real reef rock to start up my tank. I did do an acid bath to try to get any of the remaining phosphates out.

 

[MMacro]

Those levels look fine to me. The trick with algae control and parameters is having the algae "limited" by something. Basically, if any one thing the algae needs is not present, it can't grow. Algae can be light-limited if you do a blackout, or phos-limited if there's none available etc. I suppose it could also be molybdenum-limited, but that would be harder to achieve. Focusing on nitrates and phos is easy because reefers have been messing with those for a long time so we have tricks to keep them down, and the amounts that coral like are very low as well, so managing them is like killing two birds with one stone.

That said, I do think it's possible that macro like chaeto might help limit some of those trace things like iron. That competition would make life harder for gha.

The pickle is that our tests can't see all the phos in the system, and phos changes forms readily to "hide" from the test. If a chunk of food lands in a dead spot, rots there and fertilizes gha, the phos is only testable for a hot second when it's in the water. That hot second is also the only opportunity your nutrient export has to "catch" it before the gha does. So if the clever algae scoops it right up, you're boned.

Do you have a thread that covers all the stuff you've tried, with a pic of your tank?

GFO, excessive water changes, lights out, scrubbing rocks, cutting back on feeding, took out some livestock, chaeto, caulerpa, phosphate removal chemicals, crabs, snails, adding more flow, cleaning dead spots in the sump, and added protein skimmer.


Another thing that I should probably note is that I do use RODI water and tropic marin pro salt. This tank is just a temporary holding tank for all of my fish until I get my 150 setup so I dont have any current pictures of it.

 

[DLreef]

Do you have a skimmer? And do you have a CUC with turbos? I had an extremely bad case of GHA to the point you couldn't see the rock. I also had 0 phos/nitrate. Fixed the problem by first siphoning out as much as I could and running my skimmer on high. Then a bought a large CUC with a few golf ball sized turbos. I do see a few little specks grow every once in awhile but I leave them for the snails to eat so they don't starve. But the rock is crystal clean and finally im getting coralline algae to grow I'm also going to start running a phosphate remover foam pad.

 

[MMacro]

Do you have a skimmer? And do you have a CUC with turbos? I had an extremely bad case of GHA to the point you couldn't see the rock. I also had 0 phos/nitrate. Fixed the problem by first siphoning out as much as I could and running my skimmer on high. Then a bought a large CUC with a few golf ball sized turbos. I do see a few little specks grow every once in awhile but I leave them for the snails to eat so they don't starve. But the rock is crystal clean and finally im getting coralline algae to grow I'm also going to start running a phosphate remover foam pad.

I have tried all of this...
I tried the turbos but don't really like them because they destroy all of my corals. I recently bought two pincushion urchins and they are doing a decent job.

 

[CStrickland]

I used real reef rock to start up my tank. I did do an acid bath to try to get any of the remaining phosphates out.

Isnt realreefrock the fake purple stuff? How would that get any phosphate in it?
I think it's more likely that the rock picked up some phosphates in your tank and is leaching it now.

If you've got a decent skimmer carbon dosing can be effective and not dangerous for fish the way some more aggressive treatments are. That, plus diligent manual removal worked for me after a tank sitter overfed and soaked my rocks in phos. When you tried all those diff things, did you give each like 2 months to work?

If you can snap a quick pic with your phone and attach it to a post, you might be surprised what people will notice that you don't even see.

 

[borderreef]

Please forgive me if I'm wrong, but it sounds to me like you have not given any one fix enough time to work. In only 5-7 months I count 15 different remedies that you have tried. We all know that nothing in this hobby happens quickly (except the bad stuff, right?). If it were me, I would start from scratch. I would run gfo and continue with frequent water changes. I would give that at least a couple of months before moving on to the next remedy.

 

[MMacro]

Isnt realreefrock the fake purple stuff? How would that get any phosphate in it?
I think it's more likely that the rock picked up some phosphates in your tank and is leaching it now.

If you've got a decent skimmer carbon dosing can be effective and not dangerous for fish the way some more aggressive treatments are. That, plus diligent manual removal worked for me after a tank sitter overfed and soaked my rocks in phos. When you tried all those diff things, did you give each like 2 months to work?

If you can snap a quick pic with your phone and attach it to a post, you might be surprised what people will notice that you don't even see.

I have been trying all of this consistently for about four months. It has been retreating a little bit but there is still a bunch there. I will try to get a picture soon. TBH - I will be pretty embarrased when I post the pic haha. Its pretty bad.:lol:

 

[MMacro]

Please forgive me if I'm wrong, but it sounds to me like you have not given any one fix enough time to work. In only 5-7 months I count 15 different remedies that you have tried. We all know that nothing in this hobby happens quickly (except the bad stuff, right?). If it were me, I would start from scratch. I would run gfo and continue with frequent water changes. I would give that at least a couple of months before moving on to the next remedy.

I have added most of these methods at the same time and have been consistently doing them since then with the exception of the phos chemicals.

 

[borderreef]

I have been trying all of this consistently for about four months. It has been retreating a little bit but there is still a bunch there. I will try to get a picture soon. TBH - I will be pretty embarrased when I post the pic haha. Its pretty bad.:lol:

Don't be embarrassed, a lot of us have been in the same boat. You probably are making that dent, it's simply not readily apparent.

 

[wildman926]

Short term - use API's Algaefix Marine. HERE is a thread of its success on RC.

Long term - set up an ATS (algae turf scrubber). Grow the hair algae where YOU want to, and remove unwanted excess nutrients naturally. HERE is a thread about them if you are not familiar with them.