pico reef pest algae problem challenge

Ok brandon429 I'm posting the pic I had in the other section of the forum. I have what looks to be a red hair algae problem however it isn't red hair algae at all but another hitchhiker. I believe I to be closely related to cyano red slime. I know there are forms if cyano bacteria that closely resemble hair algae but are not.
0ef4768d4e44581f4eb002f9334b6dbe_zps72d2555b.jpg
I appreciate any info and or help on this thank you.
 
LonelyR thanks for posting I feel confident this is a good fix for your tank.

simple topical application of peroxide, from a brand new unopened bottle, will zap it fast, in a little over a week 95% predictable kill. always allow 5% for mutant alien nonresponsive strains lol

cleaner shrimp are pretty much the only thing to watch out for in this treatment

the reason your aquascape is matched for this treatment is because the rock isnt all piled in there and unaccessible.

it is accessible, so you would lift out that big rock chunk in the picture and set it in the sink that has been rinsed really well of any deposits before use.

you would take the peroxide and pour around the corals, on the target, let soak for about 3-4 mins
then you have a bunch of clean change saltwater made up, and you rinse pour it over and over down the drain to rinse off the peroxide well

put back in tank, dont hand remove any this will make for neat after pics.

as you can tell from the previous pages, no follow up after a cure kinda leaves things open ended, the after pics cement the example for the next person down the line should they have a similar problem...so if you can, in a week some back w update!

nice to meet you
B
 
this will not recycle the rock, kill the corals, do anything bad other than simply target kill the algae

if you want to be nice to your corals, dribble clean saltwater on them a few times while baking in the wind, but hit that algae right with 3% medical peroxide and you w love the after pics. this method rocks :)
 
I will try that treatment after I finish the chemiclean treatment I'm trying. I also so have an anemonee on a rock that won't come off and it would be hard to get him off. IF this doesn't work I will deffinetely will try that method. I plan on moving my tank in the next 3 months so i meh just keep up with manual removal and then when I do the big move peroxide my whole tank.

The thing is I have dipped some of my zoos in a pure peroxide solution and let them sit in it for 3 min and it didn't actually cure the algae from the frag plugs it did well but it always would regrow even if it took a few days. I'm not sure if it was because it just regrew because of it still being in the tank or for some other reason.
 
Yes thats the right stuff. I had to keep up with my applications for almost a year but it was key in preventing spread to new parts of the tank when the target does respond

its an easy move to take as a test against the invader if chemi clean doesnt. I've never seen it used on anything other than cyano mats. Won't hurt to try either way.
 
Great post Brandon, sorry I didnt have time to read through the whole thing so if my info is a repeat I apologize. I've had a process that I did about a year ago and its worked great.

Anyway, here is my process. I did this process about 3 times- each during a water change. I setup 3 buckets of water that I pull from my tank during the change and a spray bottle.

• ~1 gallon of SW with about 6 ounces of hydrogen peroxide (from walgreens or any drug store)
• ~3 gallons of SW to use as a dip after the hydrogen peroxide treatment
• ~5 gallons of SW to hold the livestock for about 20 minutes after the dip to make sure its free of all the hydrogen peroxide
• the spray bottle is about 1/3 hydrogen peroxide and about the rest is salt water

I do the process at night as most zoas and corals are likely to be closed during the night. I pick off what I can of the hair algae and throw it away. I remove the piece from the tank and I invert it, then spray the piece upside down to try and get the least exposure to the actual coral (its going to depend on the piece).

I let the spray sit for 60 seconds or so- depending on the coral, its sensitivity, how exposed it is, etc. I usually gently scrub the rock (never the livestock) with a really, really soft brush- i think its called a bottle brush but its much softer than a toothbrush. I then put it in the dip and gently move it back and forth for 20 seconds, then place it in the holding bucket and move on to the next piece.

I only use the 1 gallon hydrogen peroxide mix bucket if the hair algae is hard to reach- like between polyps/zoas or inside rock. I leave it in the bucket for a short period- 1-2 minutes max. I use this in place of the spray- so it goes into the dip next, then the holding bucket.

I notice a day or two later any remaining strands turn black and just seem to dissolve. I think the cause of the problem was my sand bed. I never vacuumed it in the past- now I vacuum a section of sand each water change.

Every couple of months Ill see some small pieces of what appears to be hair algae and I just pull it off and everything seems to be ok.

Hope this helps anyone is some way.
 
brandon, I really didnt feel like reading 50 pages for the answer...please forgive my slackerness.

Great method.....got one for those that have rocks fixed in place and cant be moved

i would have used punctuation but my "question mark," "sideways N" and a few other keys dont work....kids.....not La"N"iness.
 
We use the full tank shot to look for weaklings like cleaner shrimp and anemones

The application method involves shutting off circulation and using a diabetic syringe and needle to slowly inject the target underwater. Other methods exist too. .. We don't just add peroxide to the tank.
 
Whats the best method of dipping full rocks? No corals on the rocks either. I have gha and some pink and brownish red algae in patches that Id like to kill off. I was thinking of doing a 50/50 solution. 1 gallon tank water and I gallon of peroxide in the first bucket, 2 gallons of fresh water in bucket #2, and 2 gallons of tank water in bucket number three. Thoughts?
 
brandon429 said:
I just like to avoid dips altogether. I put rock in a clean empty sink and simply pour new bottle right on the bad areas.
Click to expand...

Maybe I should just leave it alone. I'm starting a new tank right after the new year with all dry rock anyway. This rock is just in a temp tank with my fish and a couple of lps that aren't attached to any rock.
 
I have been dealing with GHA for almost a year now (after restarting my tank from full loss during hurricane Sandy), I have tried manual removal, Tech M, GFO, etc. The tech M dosing was the most helpful, but more so in ease of removal. I pull and siphon with weekly water changes and it just keeps growing back by the next WC. I just noticed some red brush popping up on a zoa frag as well... yay.

After browsing through this entire thread, I am excited to try something that is proven effective. I am not sure if spot or submersion would be best for me, I have four big rocks in a 34g cube, two of them are basically covered in HA.

If I go submersion, I have a few concerns, I have some emerald crabs that hide in the rocks and a chiton that is basically part of the rock when he settles on a spot. Will they be affected by the peroxide? With submersion, should I then soak in some tank water for an extended period to help with the dilution of peroxide before putting the rock (very porous pukani) back in the tank or will a dip in tank water suffice?

In any case, I will absolutely take before and after pics.
 
Ok, initially I picked up some peroxide with the intention of spot treatment. I dipped my king midas zoas that were getting some red brush growth. The next day I was able to see some progress. Due to the size of my rocks and the small volume of my tank, I really did not want to pull the bottom rocks and possibly cause a mini cycle from stirring up whatever is underneath them, so I began dosing the tank in 3-5ml doses over the last few days.

I performed a water change yesterday, and the algae in the tank is definitely changing in texture. It was easier to pull and siphon. I then pulled the top left rock (see picture) and spot treated. I didn't want to do the one on the upper right half as I did not want to introduce too much peroxide at once.

Please excuse the current state of the tank, I stopped adding corals a long time ago because of the hair algae and I never really put anything in a permanent position for the same reasons.

Tank pre peroxide
IMG_2308.jpg


King Midas pre peroxide
IMG_2311.jpg


Tank post water change/siphon and spot treatment (1 day, but skewed because of the siphon)
IMG_2323.jpg


King midas post dip (4-5 days)
IMG_2324.jpg


Also, the birdsnest was dipped. It seems a little stressed, but I am pretty confident that it will rebound.

I might just keep doing the smaller doses for the time being. We'll see. I will update as time goes on though.
 
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