pico reef pest algae problem challenge

update.........as seen in the earlier pages of the thread i had a MASSIVE GHA outbreak, i pulled most rock out and bathed it in peroxide then replaced it in thank. now as maintenance i am scrubbing the rocks every few days to keep the algae from coming back. it is trying to come back but by scrubbing it can never get a good foot hold on the rock its also a much lighter color because it is not as thick and healthy. i scrub my tank and my skimmer goes nuts pulling out chunks of algae, it is awesome. I'm also running carbon and rowaphos to reduce the no3 and po4 in the tank. they read 0 because the algae is consuming them so quickly. so I'm worried that when I'm killing the algae its gonna release them back into water column so i have got more aggressive with skimming, carbon, vinegar and just did a 80 gallon water change!! :)
this stuff really works.....thanks brandon
corey
 
yay

yay

Im so happy Corey!! Your tank was a particular challenge, that large water change is a breath of fresh air. I think it should be poured back in very slowly to avoid kicking up wastes but the actual water change itself is a refresher, always, if done right.
Our tanks never get enough of them.

Fling us some update pics in the next couple days when its really clearing up and this will show your tank during marked progress after the before pics!
thanks for posting
B
 
Here are the succession pics 5 day trial.

I'm going to try it on a zoa rock next.

Day1
35kudk1.jpg

Day2
hv9rhx.jpg

Day3
119555j.jpg

Day4
2642fj8.jpg

day5
icoche.jpg
 
Sadly I found another section of algae. I don't think it is GHA but I cannot get a picture of it. It is very short and brush like if that makes any sense like a green turf algae.

It is at the water's surface (some of my rock sticks out of the water all the time) and is about 1 inch long by .25 inch wide.

I noticed it when I was topping off so maybe tonight I will grab a q tip and go painting.
 
I will see what I can do. My led light white wahseseverything out so maybe I could grab a different light for the shot.

I cannot remove the rock since it is concreted to my backwall and forms one of the walls hiding my powerhead.
 
brandon429 said:
its been great seeing all the awesome pics, a challenge thread is only as good as its proof>

Reefscape 15 nice to meet you~

you can use peroxide as a spot treatment externally anytime you want for a quick cheat

this kind of growth you describe isn't anchored by holdfasts onto the rock like GHA and simple removal using the end of a siphon hose or rinsing off the growth outside of the tank is also an easy way. It will need to be repeated a few times but is effective (if I dont occasionally insert non peroxide options people can tell how slanted towards its use I really am lol)

I never bought into the notion that you have to allow any ugly growth to occur in a tank as part of its beginning phases. To me it sounds like endorsed neglect...a hands off method doesn't ensure tank success, it ensures you keep putting off the time your reef will look like a corvette.

there is nothing wrong with the older method of letting a tank go through diatom, then green hair algae phases (as every magazine article about cycling says) but what if another option was to look pristinely clean from day 1 to day 3000, and we are spending all this money on our tanks... and how many times does a guest to your home want to see a brown covered surface, those are the reasons I started taking pride in my tanks and refusing to let anything tell me how the aquascape would look. Every one of us knows the feeling of showing your tank to someone and then having to apologize about a certain area, or leave it unspoken and still hate the way the tank looks, taking action against an invader can take forms other than peroxide but in the end the tank free of algae is the winner any way you get there





Thank you for posting


B
Click to expand...

Brandon, I guess I never looked at it that way before! I just thought that the cycle phase was something that everyone had to deal with anytime they set up a new tank. I know that the bacteria need to build and become established on the rocks and in the sandbed for the overall health of the tank, but I guess its definitely not going to hurt to get my hands in there a little bit and mess around.

Also, still wondering about the traces of peroxide entering a tank, and the effect it would have on a refugium? I'm not sure if this has been a situation anyone has been in.

Thanks again Brandon!
 
In time I began to see algae cycling and bacterial cycling as independent



About the only growth I wouldn't take harsh action on are the standard light brown diatoms common in a brand new tank

Those really can subside naturally, but in adhering to the forced clean tank rule they were still removed with a light siphon simply because I choose to entertain no eyesore


We don't have a lot of refugium data mainly because most treatments are external spot treatments that account for all peroxide
 
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What I found in observing thousands of problem algae threads was all tank keepers had the chance to act at some point and choose not to. They took every step but ignored the basic tenet of if you see it, remove it


Its like there is an invisible force that makes everyone stop short of total aquascape control

There has always been a way to accomplish that...before peroxide there was fire burning and simply removing anything with algae on it until it could be cleaned.
 
So it remains that the smaller the tank the easier it is to keep totally free of algae


The big tank keepers have a harder battle ahead and i'm very glad large tank keepers stopped by to show their battles in pics
 
brandon429 said:
So it remains that the smaller the tank the easier it is to keep totally free of algae


The big tank keepers have a harder battle ahead and i'm very glad large tank keepers stopped by to show their battles in pics
Click to expand...

Yes I do think the battle is harder for larger tanks..but I find that by dipping even 3-5 pieces every week to two weeks I am winning the battle when nothing else has worked..at least now I can actually clean off the rocks and I even tried dipping an acan a few day ago. (still waiting on that one to see how it goes).
 
I have a large macro problem and have been trying to reduce my phosphates to begin using phosban and carbon in my magnum 350. I came across this thread but I will begin trying this method. I will post before pics later but I will be able to remove the rocks. I have some mushrooms on some of the rocks will this be an issue for them?
 
Try to treat around them if possible

If its any help I put straight 3% on them to try and kill them and it didn't phase them

This method will certainly kill the macro
 
Alright, ill bite... I have a little different situation though. I got some live rock for a good deal, Problem is, some of it has a good amount of red turf algae on it. I have this rock curing right now, so i dont really mind doing a whole tank treatment, but i would like to not totally kill all the good bacteria on the rocks.... ill see what i can do about pics in the next few days, but what would be the process?
 
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