my tank is 12 months old now and green hair algae appears to be growing on the base rock only their is quite a bit and it is on the snails shell to none on the live rock. Is this normal. Iv been thing about vodka dosing. Any thoughts would be helpful and appreciated. The battle goes on diatoms and green hair algae. I have not added any more fish yet I want to get this tank under control first. 90 gal tank with 40 gal sump and skimmer.
green hair algae on base rock
- Thread starter Mollydog
- Start date
scooter31707
New member
How much are you feeding? That means there is a lot phosphates in the water. Are you running GFO. If not, I recommend running GFO at the dosage that is recommended.
whosurcaddie
New member
Your dry rock is leaching phosphates. Its the only explanation for it growing on the dry rock and not the live rock. You need aggressive manual removal of the algae as well as a GFO reactor. Its going to be expensive getting this problem under control. If you don't have a reactor I would get one then change out the gfo every week until you start to see the algae die off. Cut your feeding back to once every two days to limit the input of phosphate until you get this under control. Also up your water changes to twice the amount your doing now.
I dealt with this same issue with my dry rock. I used the Lanthanum Chloride method. Before you were to try something like this you need to research it fully. I actually would steer all new reefers away from this method and just use GFO but feel like it needs to be mentioned.
Here is a good quality reactor that wont break the bank. You need a pump with it.
http://www.amazon.com/Two-Little-Fishies-ATLPBR150-PhosBan/dp/B0006JM0KI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1455291462&sr=8-1&keywords=tlf+150
The cheapest GFO. I use this stuff. Go ahead and get yourself a few pounds. you're going to be changing this stuff out often until you get this under control.
http://www.amazon.com/GFO-Phosphate-Removal-Aquariums-Health/dp/B00RI5LE5K/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1455291517&sr=8-1&keywords=gfo
I dealt with this same issue with my dry rock. I used the Lanthanum Chloride method. Before you were to try something like this you need to research it fully. I actually would steer all new reefers away from this method and just use GFO but feel like it needs to be mentioned.
Here is a good quality reactor that wont break the bank. You need a pump with it.
http://www.amazon.com/Two-Little-Fishies-ATLPBR150-PhosBan/dp/B0006JM0KI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1455291462&sr=8-1&keywords=tlf+150
The cheapest GFO. I use this stuff. Go ahead and get yourself a few pounds. you're going to be changing this stuff out often until you get this under control.
http://www.amazon.com/GFO-Phosphate-Removal-Aquariums-Health/dp/B00RI5LE5K/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1455291517&sr=8-1&keywords=gfo
Sapelo
New member
Before you do any of that, try getting some hard numbers from your tank.
What are your levels? Have you been testing? It's a bit odd to suddenly start leaching a year into the tank but certainly possible.
If you've been monitoring perhaps you've seen a trend and can trace it to something different in your tank?
Regardless, GFO is a tool to be used in conjunction with solid test numbers.
What are your levels? Have you been testing? It's a bit odd to suddenly start leaching a year into the tank but certainly possible.
If you've been monitoring perhaps you've seen a trend and can trace it to something different in your tank?
Regardless, GFO is a tool to be used in conjunction with solid test numbers.
CStrickland
New member
+1
After 12 months, if the rock starts leaching it's probably because something is off about your setup / maintenance that let the rock soak up a bunch of fertilizer. Now that it's "full" it's soaking back out. I think base rock is a little easier for it to get started in because there's not a layer of coraline and other films on there to block the algae from attaching or something.
Additionally, it's unusual to still have diatoms after a year. What is your water source?
If your water isn't pure, all the lanthanum chloride of gfo in the world is going to be kind of a waste.
Can you post test results for nitrates, and phosphates? A pic can be really helpful too, sometimes the answer will be hiding in plain sight.
After 12 months, if the rock starts leaching it's probably because something is off about your setup / maintenance that let the rock soak up a bunch of fertilizer. Now that it's "full" it's soaking back out. I think base rock is a little easier for it to get started in because there's not a layer of coraline and other films on there to block the algae from attaching or something.
Additionally, it's unusual to still have diatoms after a year. What is your water source?
If your water isn't pure, all the lanthanum chloride of gfo in the world is going to be kind of a waste.
Can you post test results for nitrates, and phosphates? A pic can be really helpful too, sometimes the answer will be hiding in plain sight.
TimeConsumer
Active member
Little bit of cyano on the sandbed. In my experience GHA has a harder time growing on rock encrusted well with coralline. So if your dry rock is growing GHA and your live is not, that could very well be the reason.
You need to get your nutrients under control. You will likely get a false low reading if you test for them because the algae is consuming them quickly. But they are there. Start by pulling out some rocks and taking a wire brush to them to remove the GHA. The more you can remove manually the better, that exports nutrients. Use a turkey baster or powerhead to blow off the rocks and get all the detritus out of there. Next break out the siphon and suck up all the gunk you can find, including the cyano on the sandbed. Give the sand a little stir too if you want, it may be full of detritus also. Keep up this process for several weeks.
On the equipment side several things will help you battle this problem alongside the normal practices of good maintenance. Skimmers, refugiums with chaeto, GFO reactors, turf scrubbers. You can use none, one, or all of these to help you in this process.
You need to get your nutrients under control. You will likely get a false low reading if you test for them because the algae is consuming them quickly. But they are there. Start by pulling out some rocks and taking a wire brush to them to remove the GHA. The more you can remove manually the better, that exports nutrients. Use a turkey baster or powerhead to blow off the rocks and get all the detritus out of there. Next break out the siphon and suck up all the gunk you can find, including the cyano on the sandbed. Give the sand a little stir too if you want, it may be full of detritus also. Keep up this process for several weeks.
On the equipment side several things will help you battle this problem alongside the normal practices of good maintenance. Skimmers, refugiums with chaeto, GFO reactors, turf scrubbers. You can use none, one, or all of these to help you in this process.
the diatoms on the sandbed look red in pic but they are brown in the tank i run two two little fishy 150 one with phosguard the other with seachem renew skimmer pulls tea like water i run rodi two little fish 8 snails i feed every other day light led on 5 hours should i start vodka doesing all test show 0 ph 8.0 API test kit cant wait to get this right thanks for the help i cant get my computer to upload mooe pic
TimeConsumer
Active member
I'd go with the manual route before organic carbon dosing, that can cause more harm than good if you screw it up. Scrub the rocks, siphon out the gunk. Do big water changes. Ensure your water is clean, check the TDS of your product water to ensure you don't need to replace your RODI filters. If you have a good checker, like a Hannah, test the phosphate of your RODI water to ensure it isn't slipping through.
Algae turf scrubber. It's a nutrient export process. Algae grows on your scrubber rather than in your tank. Helps control nutrients. You can buy or make them. I prefer a waterfall type. Google "diy algae turf scrubber".
