Dictyota. Need a real solution.

Logzor, I am glad to hear that the chaeto is making a difference. I am going to be setting my fuge back up so I hope this helps to control my dictyota problem.

I am also planning on setting up a new tank. What I would do is first do an acid bath on all the rock you want to put in the new tank. Give it a good cure period to make sure no algae comes back. Then, frag any corals you can. For the larger corals that you cannot frag you should either try to sell them to someone with a Naso Tang, etc. that is aware of the risks or try to sand/shave the algae off of the skeleton. Give these corals a good long quarantine to make sure that no dictyota remains. You know as well as I how frustrating it would be to introduce this into the new tank. Good Luck!
 
Of course, any such acid bath or what have you will radically reduce the viability of the bio-diversity on the live rock... essentially rendering it "dead"

Just FYI but I am sure you know this.
 
What's the update on your dictyota problem? I hope you are winning like me!!! I'm 98% dictyota free in my tank. About a month ago when I added 2 tuxedo urchins, 6 emerald crabs, and a seahare. I didn't move for a least 2 weeks. Then I added 2x 6045 nanostreams and started noticing that it keeps sucking up the algae and so it gets clogged. I had to clean it up almost everyday because it would be blowing micro bubbles. Then I started noticing the dyctiota on the rocks are getting less and less. I don't really know which ones of my creature is making the dent but I can say that I'm really happy because its not coming back at all. One of my reef buddy will be borrowing my seahare, my urchins really soon. That's all!
 
I have one more week in Cleveland then I will be able to manage my reef.

The dictyota problem has gotten better. Less and less growth each week. I wish I could say that I was winning, though.

My sea hare died. It starved, refusing to eat any dictyota. That made me pretty sad, I wont buy another one. This dictyota in my tank is some really noxious stuff, the smell of it is just horrible, no wonder stuff does not eat it.

I have not tried tuxdeo urchins. I have one emerald crab, have yours eaten dictyota?

I had a short spined black urchin but it would not move or eat and also died.

My poor koralias get clogged up very quickly (daily) and that may be a sign that it is starting to die off some.

Once I get back this weekend I am going to reduce feedings and run the skimmer 24/7.

On a side note, I bumped my alk up from 7.7 to 9.7 dkh and I think it helped mitigate dictyota growth. I have also been blowing off my rocks religiously.
 
The emerald crabs that I got from liveaquaria eats that stuff like there's no tomorrow. I didn't think that the tuxedo would want it but they do. I hope that clogging of powerheads is a sign that its dying off because I have been cleaning mine almost every and I'm talking about CLOGGGGED! I will keep everyone posted in about a month or so with my status.
 
My Tunzes get clogged from this stuff quite a bit also. It turns into a horrible cycle. The reduced flow allows more detritus to settle and facilitates more algae growth. I could clean them every day if I had the patience.
 
I could say that I am 100% dyctiota free as we speak. I hope it doesn't come back anymore. I cleaned my overflow last night because it got clogged too. But no more clogging in my powerheads
 
Alright,

I may have you get you on the phone or something but I really need to figure out, more in detail, what you did to get rid of this stuff.

I am back home now for the summer, so i can run the skimmer all of the time and reduce feedings. So that should help some.

I dictyota covers most of my rock and is probably an inch thick in some places. There are massive amounts, I should post some pictures.

Can you post your parameters and detailed feeding schedules, how many fish you have, etc?
 
I have been feeding a lot less and the skimmer is on 24/7 now that I am home. It has had little impact on these algae.

On my back glass I have a bunch of xenia growing to hopefully take some nutrients out. Chaeto only trapped nutrients, so it is not very helpful.

Should I stick in some urchins or something? Nothing seems to be working.
 
I just think that the seahare made the most dent in my algae problem. He still alive up to this point. I thought he's already gone about 3 weeks ago. He is in my overflow eating up something in there.
 
I’ve had a slug for a total of two days now. Seems to be trying to eat something, but it doesn’t look like I have any less hair algae.

Anxious to hear how you guys progress battling you algae problem.
 
Logzor, I have done so much research about this algae and unanimously, the cure to this particular algae is nutrient export and FLOWWWWW. and more flow. I have a spot with a dictyota algae on it, so I pointed a tunze nano streams at it, its not growing anymore. Its actually residing and going into the suction side of the nano streams. So, heavy skimming, PO4 binding, and the top most cure for it... FLOW!!! No more dictyota!
 
Yeah I think high flow plays a key role in getting rid of this stuff. The issue is that the algae traps sediment and ensures its propagation. So, even in areas of high flow, if stuff is trapped, the algae will still grow.

You are right, in most of my high flow areas it has more difficulty but yet in some places it does just fine.

I hook up a canister filter I had laying around and I plug it in after I use a powerhead to blow everything off of the rock. I also will scrub the rock afterwards and catch it off the powerheads with a big net.

I have been using the canister filter for about 3 days now, I think it is helping pull out what my skimmer can not. Without a sump I can not use a filter sock to catch this heavy debris.

I do have to say I have a decent amount of flow in my tank. In my 55 I have one koralia 4 and two koralia 3's, plus whatever water the skimmer and canister push around.
 
Mine liked to grow on the top of the bubble trap dividers, so pretty much in medium-high flow areas, however a good place to trap particulates and sediments for nutrients. As the refugium grew in it just died off on it's own. I liked it personally, it never lived long in the tank itself...
 
I recently found that my salinity was 1.030 due to the inaccuracy of my hydrometer. I found out it was high after getting a refractometer.

Could this have somehow contributed to algae growth? Maybe since the water was more dense the detritus had a hard time escaping into the skimmer?
 
No, I dont think this was\is the problem. I really think that a Naso tang will be your best bet; or possibly one of the rabbit fish mentioned above. I battled this stuff for over 2 years when I had my 65g up and going. Literally a week after I added the tang the tank was cleared of this stuff. I too had the types of outbreaks you speak of, 1-2 inches in places... this stuff is aweful. It may be pretty, but dear God don't ever introduce this stuff willingly to your tank, it can smother coral in a heartbeat. GL.
 
You had the naso in a 65? How small was the guy? I just recently got a Siganus Doliatus rabbitfish which is supposed to eat the stuff. It is in quarantine right now and not really eating :-( .
 
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