hair algae or bryopsis?
- Thread starter Daddyrawg
- Start date
losthawk1969
New member
clean up crew looks like new tank setup. it well last a month maybe, starve it out maybe set timer for light 8 hours a day when it looks like its dying off hit the rocks with a tooth brush then water change. that's how I do it don't feed it. clean up crew will eat it. once you get fish just feed small in the morning only and things will be better. keep testing dkh cal and mag. I keep my dkh at 9 plus look up suger dosing on youtube. watch some off these guys high mile reefer some of his buddies learn
Melev did a great video on YouTube about removing GHA:
https://youtu.be/xilqKzoOgBE
I also fought this battle, while I agree with the others here in terms of removal, you also need to tackle the root cause of it which is usually an excess of nutrients.
A reduction in nutrients has visible effects on GHA. Within hours of hitting trace numbers of phosphates it looses its colour and also looses its grip on your rockwork... It also makes removal so much easier.
Depending on how much rockwork you have, removing it entirely by hand can be near impossible as healthy GHA grips the rocks so well. By tearing the majority of it away, it's rooting system is still usually present meaning that if phosphates are readily available it will simply grow back. I've been here and have felt the frustration of it.
You have a few choices...
- As others have stated, buy a chemical that targets the algae directly.
- Work with GFO and good husbandry to reduce your nutrient levels gradually
- Use other kinds of chemicals that bind to phosphates, similar to what Melev does in the linked video.
https://youtu.be/xilqKzoOgBE
I also fought this battle, while I agree with the others here in terms of removal, you also need to tackle the root cause of it which is usually an excess of nutrients.
A reduction in nutrients has visible effects on GHA. Within hours of hitting trace numbers of phosphates it looses its colour and also looses its grip on your rockwork... It also makes removal so much easier.
Depending on how much rockwork you have, removing it entirely by hand can be near impossible as healthy GHA grips the rocks so well. By tearing the majority of it away, it's rooting system is still usually present meaning that if phosphates are readily available it will simply grow back. I've been here and have felt the frustration of it.
You have a few choices...
- As others have stated, buy a chemical that targets the algae directly.
- Work with GFO and good husbandry to reduce your nutrient levels gradually
- Use other kinds of chemicals that bind to phosphates, similar to what Melev does in the linked video.
So take a toothbrush and scrape off the rock while rock is positioned in tank? or remove the rock out of tank and scrub?
mcgyvr
New member
If you can remove it from the tank then soaking it for 10-15 minutes in 50% old tank water/50% hydrogen peroxide while scrubbing with a toothbrush does wonders..
Then a quick rinse in some more old tank water or RO/DI and right back into the tank.. Just a quick rinse.. Don't need to go crazy..
The toothbrush manually removes it.. The peroxide kills whats left..
Then a quick rinse in some more old tank water or RO/DI and right back into the tank.. Just a quick rinse.. Don't need to go crazy..
The toothbrush manually removes it.. The peroxide kills whats left..
kowyzg0moo
New member
Consider getting a sea urchin! It ate all of ours.
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