Dictyota. Need a real solution.

[spsfreak]

He was about 3" long when I purchased him, when I git rid of this particular one he was about 6" long

 

[Logzor]

Yeah I really want to try a naso, is sounds like they are better behaved than the rabbits and are more of a sure shot.

I would have to take out my tomini tang, I am probably over stocked right now anyways as I have 2 small clowns, 5 small chromis, 1 tomini tang, 1 watchman goby.

 

[jun_celis]

I still think that its the phosphate reactor and more flow made the difference. Here's the picture of my tank now without the eye sore dictyota. It was fully covered with the algae about a little bit 2 months ago.

 

[drawman]

You would never know it was there. Any pics with the dictyota?

 

[jun_celis]

Let me put it this way... I was almost about to give up this hobby! That's how bad it was. The halides was never turned on during that dark time because all you see is the algae. There was never an inch of rock and some corals that was not covered. I was hopeless, almost. The picture that Logzor has on the previous page with algae, not even close. Mine was totally covered! It almost look like a macro tank

 

[drawman]

Reminds me of my tank right now . It is incredibly frustrating. The only thing that is giving me hope is knowing that in a month or so I can start the process of tearing it down and putting another dictyota free tank in it's place.

 

[jun_celis]

Get the fuge going, incorporate a phosphate reactor with phosban media specifically, and then lots of flow. I have tried other phosphate media during the interim but replaced it with a phosban 3 weeks before it started to go away. I know non of my livestock is eating it right now but I am maintaining the tank free of algae just because of the reactor. Just my observation. I also had a spot of left over about 2 weeks ago, I pointed the powerhead directly to it and guest it, gone!

 

[Logzor]

Thanks for the advice!

Ok, so how can I start a fuge on a sumpess tank? Is there a HOB version, I have JUST enough room for my CSS 125 HOB so it needs to be able the same size.

As far as the phosban rector I do have a marineland C-220 canister filter, could this be converted into a phosban reactor? What is the best media to use?

And by the way, your tank is a perfect example of a tank with good water quality but having the dictyota plague, many people do not believe you have a good tank setup when they hear you have an algae problem!

 

[jun_celis]

I think the best way is to incorporate a sump. Do you have space under your tank? A 20gal plastic tub should work and an external overflow for the main tank to drain. As for the phosphate media, little fishies phosban is the best imo. I don't really think that you can use c-220 canister filter for a phosphate reactor of that purpose. Thanks for the kind words above, I agree!

 

[paulsilver]

I also dont think the canister filters are the way to go with Phosban, which I use as well... the recommended flow rate through the media is 50 gallons an hour, I think, and most canister filters pump much more than that... I use the $30 odd dollar PhosBan reactor, and feed it off a spur from my main pump back into the sump...

 

[tasos]

I managed to get rid of dictyota when I upgraded me skimming with a deltec APF 600 plus my already excisting REEF DEVIL...
A GFO phosphate remover is a must, especially if you don't have a refugium.I also reduced the amount of vegetable food to my 4 tangs in order to trigger them eat this algae more intensively.

 

[ericdamangus]

jun_celis, Your tanks inspiring to all off us. I bought the rabbitfish and emeralds. Next upgrade is a GFO reactor along with the dolabella sea hare. I've had the rabbit for about a week now and have already seen a small dent takin out of this garbage algae. Logzor, hows yours struggles goin? Do you have any pics of how the tank looks now?

 

[TomCs]

if you have the space, on a recent trip to lady elliot island i witnessed several hawksbill turtles tearing through a few clups of the stuff with ease....but like i said, for those that have the space .

 

[Airwolf75]

I had a crew of rock boring urchins that ate it all. I was actually trying to keep it because I had a pretty bluish variety.

 

[Logzor]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15470544#post15470544 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ericdamangus
jun_celis, Your tanks inspiring to all off us. I bought the rabbitfish and emeralds. Next upgrade is a GFO reactor along with the dolabella sea hare. I've had the rabbit for about a week now and have already seen a small dent takin out of this garbage algae. Logzor, hows yours struggles goin? Do you have any pics of how the tank looks now?

Wow! This is an old thread.

Anyways, my dictyota is totally under control. My two-barred rabbitfish loves the stuff.

Running phosban did not seem to effect the algae. I have had success with carbon dosing, though.

I really knocked a dent in this algae using marine algaefix. It took over a month of dosing but it worked. The problem is that it was not completely eradicated. So far it is limited to small patches on the rock. It no longer encroaches upon corals nor is it an eyesore.

Now that the tank is growing out much of the algae will be covered with coral growth.