Seahare for GHA and long term

M

Marchillo

New member
Battling GHA that is seemingly getting worse. The root of the problem seems to be a mishap with an automatic feeder that occurred 2 months ago. I did my best to get out as much as possible but this occurred one day before my son was born so it was pretty crazy.

I have an 80 gallon. I cut feedings from 3 to 2 xs a day. I feed very small amounts at a time and it all gets consumed from what I observe. I have a skimmer rated for 125g, dual filter socks, and I do 15% wc once a week. I also added a gfo reactor last month and just changed it out to run gfo and carbon (dual canisters). I have hc gfo from BRS.

So I think I am doing everything right. I could cut one feeding but like I said it's all being consumed.

So thinking of trying a seahare but I've read expert only. I don't mind buying and then returning it or if it's possible - keeping it and feeding Nori after the GHA is gone.

I haven't tested phosphates. It's on my list to do. So yes I'm guessing on the gfo. Ran the first batch for a month and changed it last night.

Thanks in advance. I'm looking more for advice on the seahare but I know a lot of comments will say "find the root of the problem"

Before the auto feeder mishap the tank was free of GHA. I had a Cyano issue as well that had all but disappeared since adding a third powerhead and manual removal. The Cyano also occurred after the feeding mishap. The tank was relatively "clean before that". Half dead and half live rock - 80 #s in total and 100 #s of sand I think.
 
Can you post your parameters?

I had a high nitrate problem that led to a GHA problem. I ended up changing 10% of the water every other day for a week until it finally dropped.
 
I dont know if this will help ya but i ran dual canisters with gfo and carbon and I notice that carbon some time restric the flow of the water which it will make the gfo not work as effincently, so I moved the carbon to the sump.
 
The first month I ran gfo alone and the GHA just got worse. But I'll keep an eye on that. Thanks for the tip!

Id like to get rid of the GHA in there and then see if it comes back. I'm hoping to identify if it's an ongoing problem or something that is feeling the impact of the food mishap. I mean it was bad. The pellets looked like a snow globe when it happened. It was a disaster. And I had just come home from a family funeral and had a newborn arrive the next day. Talk about some craziness!!!!
 
I have a sump with cheato. A lot of the cheato died off but I think it was getting out competed. I have added more.

Would I really have to screen of my pumps and returns for that guy? Looks interesting. Id add him.
 
Tested nitrates this morning with Red Sea pro and the are undetectable. The vial stayed a light blue color so my guess is less than 2 ppm of nitrates.

Tested alk 7.7, calc 395, and mag 1170. I don't have corals so this probably isn't a huge deal. Also don't think this has an impact on algae? Lights have been out for 2 days. Not sure if that does anything. Fuge light still going 12 hours a day.

So back to the original question. Anyone have experience with a seahare. If I can get rid of the issue in my tank, then I can hopefully figure out if my issue is ongoing or if it was due to the food mishap 2 months ago. As stated my tank was very "clean" before that occurred.
 
What else do you have in the tank in terms of Herbivores? Personally I would avoid adding something like a seahare to eat algae, because after the algae is gone you would have to either take it back to the store or watch it starve, maybe adding a few more snails/hermits might help, or a Tomini or Kole tang to eat the GHA, depending on your current livestock.

But since you said the algae came from a feeding mishap, I would just take a turkey baster or spare powerhead and blow on the rocks really good to get all the detritus out and siphon it all out of the tank, siphon the sandbed if you have one, up your water change schedule, and let it run its course.
 
I am pretty lightly stocked. 2 occ clowns, 2 pj cards, and a starry blenny. The starry is my herbivore. I would love a kole tang but I am pretty sure it wouldn't get along with the starry due to color similarity and eating habits.
 
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I may have missed it but have you tested phosphates yet? Since your nitrates are low, you may have an imbalance... though with lots of GHA it might not show up on the test either. I think your best bet to remove the GHA is to do so manually. The sea hare might help remove the GHA but those nutrients that allowed it to grow out of control are still going to be in the tank, just in another form. So you either remove the nutrients by pulling the GHA, or you do so by waiting for a critter to eat it and then remove the detritus.
 
A sea hare will take care of the GHA, but it will grow back quickly if you don't take care of the problem. They are also difficult. I lost my first one and then got a second and he did great. They will not survive long term though without algae. You will either need to buy or grow your own macro algae (specific to the species of sea hare you have) or you will need to pass him on to someone else who has a GHA problem. They will eat GHA fast (mine took about two weeks to completely take care of a really bad GHA problem) and will then starve unless you have other foods to feed.
 
I'm fighting the same battle as you imo starry blennies don't touch hair algae they like the micro stuff (diatoms, film, etc)

You could try a tuxedo urchin or some scarlet reef hermits those guys rock

Try throwing in a few 3-6 turbo snails and pulling off as much gha as you can and leaving the shorter stalks for the cuc I mentioned earlier

Good luck my friend, this stuff has smothered about 3/4 of my tank and corals my tank is a little bigger than yours though :p
 
If you don't have corals or you have easy to remove polyps move them to another temporary tank with a light and leave your lights off in the other tank for a few days the algae will die off and release nitrates and phosphates and the gfo will pick it up so will he skimmer

For gha it takes a week of lights out to get it to start bleaching
 
feed 1x/day. Especially if you're lightly stocked. You're stuffing the tank with excess nutrients and feeding the algae growth
 
Marchillo said:
I am pretty lightly stocked. 2 occ clowns, 2 pj cards, and a starry blenny. The starry is my herbivore. I would love a kole tang but I am pretty sure it wouldn't get along with the starry due to color similarity and eating habits.
Click to expand...

Then I would just up the maintenance and pulls as much of the GHA as you can, aggressive detritus removal, maybe increase the flow a little (detritus can become trapped in GHA which is partially the reason why GHA can survive in low-nutrient conditions because they have all the nutrients they need already trapped in the mats of algae), and let your starry blenny finish the rest in time (IME starry blennies only eat shorter GHA, so pulling them will help your blenny eradicate the GHA).
 
manual removal of as much as you can bring alk and mag up mag to 1350 should be good
cut down to one feeding and you can even skip a day sea hare will eat alot but if they die they can release toxins and wipe out your tank
 
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