Paul 1, Green hair Algea 0

[Fatboy Stinger]

For about 6 months I was battling a green hair algae bloom. It seemed no matter what I did, it would just keep coming back. Not to mention I really did not enjoy pruning it manually for an hour at a time.
I was running GFO, doing my water changes weekly, my phosphates were at zero (probably being eaten up by the algae itself) and hoping that my tang would help me keep up with the problem.
Finally I decided to take the next step and try adding a carbon source by dosing Vodka. My Tank is a 75 gal with a 20 gal sump. I started small by adding 1/2 a tsp a day for about 2 weeks, then upped my dose to a full tsp in week 3, then in week 4 2 tsp's. After week 4 I found that my skimmer started going absolutely crazy! There were so many microbubles that the collection cup would fill in a matter of seconds! I also saw that all my glass and pumps were covered in a clear slimmy mucus. I thought maybe I have made a mistake and over done it. So I stopped dosing, did a good clean-up of the tank and skimmer, a 10 gal water change, and now a week later I find my tank is looking better then ever, no green hair algae, skimmer working better then ever and I am back to dosing 1 tsp a day of vodka.
Needless to say, I am happy with my decision!
:rollface:

 

[Dave VG]

Nice success story thanks for sharing. Gives others like myself hope lol.

 

[Johnsy85]

what do you suppose the coating was? bacteria going nuts off of the vodka?

 

[Capt_Cully]

what do you suppose the coating was? bacteria going nuts off of the vodka?

That's my guess. 100%. New bacterial explosion is described as just. Pockets of a slim/film where they are in excess.

It's obviously working for you, so stick with it. Nice work!

Out of curiosity, how long has your tank been set up?

 

[Fatboy Stinger]

Thats what I think. It was all over everything. (Kinda gross) But after I cleaned it all and cut back on the vodka, it is not back yet.

 

[Fatboy Stinger]

The Tank has been set up since March of 2009.
I have a feeling that my DSB may have been part of my original problem, but if this helps combat it, I'm good with that.

 

[Capt_Cully]

I remember reading that if you started Vodka dosing on a tank that was over 1 year old with a moderate to heavy bioload, that these slime pockets or build up, are common.

Cool to see it play out as advertized. I'm wondering if you might see it recur a few times until your system gets used to the extra sugars in the water collumn. If it does, just know it's a good thing. Sounds like it cleaned up easily enough.