Hair Algae Control other unwanted crap

[ralph atl]

if our cleanup crew did all that they promised, I guess no one would have any issue with unwanted algae whatsoever...hehehe...albeit my best ever hair algae eater was a top crown snail...I don't have one right now, d'oh! Of course, keep many snails, dwarf hermits, Super Tongan Nassarius Snails.....etc...


let's keep this simple:

phosphates & nitrates are the only reason why you have issues!

I have a dual BRS reactor with Rox Carbon & GFO Pellets
I just got rid of that crappy Maxi-jet 1200 that has caused me $$$$$$ wasted dollars for this baby:
<u><span style="color: #004b91;">Ahem 1000 Compact Pump</span></u>
<span style="color: #004b91;">what a fix!!!!</span>


trates:

need to keep under .5
How?

1. stick with PE Mysis & Hikari Frozen Spirulina Brine Shrimp and add Selcon (depends of course, upon fish species, duh!)
why? high quality food

2. Good Skimmer
3. unless that cheato is tumbling & growing, get rid of fuge! it's a nitrate factory
4. Sand bed? replace sections every month or two and keep many Super Tongan Nassarius Snails...
5. Live rock? replace some now & then
6. Rox carbon from brs (or purigen if you have tangs)....CHANGE every 10-14 days!
7. water changes weekly or max 14 days at 20% or more up to 30%
7. Vodka/carbon dosing/ bio pellets

Phosphates:
keep under 0.028 (Hach, DD Merck, or colormeter...maybe new hanna & elos test kits read low range)

I use a BRS dual reactor now driven by a competent pump, the eheim 1000 compact. Soooo much better!

1. Change BRS Pellets every 7-14 days depending upon phates & algae

The major issue is that phates are absorbed by organic matter quickly, so that if you have algae already,those phates are being used by the algae quicker than can be absorbed by gfo (and NOT IN THE WATER COLUMN TO MEASURE!)

Also, Live rock & sand will absorb phates, so you need to keep gfo going for a long time and change frequently until you see the effect (SO PHATES WILL CONTINUE TO LEACH OUT OF ROCKS & SUCH TO REACH AN EQUILIBRIUM, so continuous use of GFO is a must!).

see here:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2073428">http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2073428</a>




[B]OK, NEXT:[/B]

for the past 5 or so years I have never had a hair algae issue that wasn't just a simple fix, i.e., change gfo quicker, more vodka, etc...

[B]OK, NOW[/B]

Well, crap....I added a fourth Leopard Wrasse and he did not fair so well wih all my other wrasses at first! He began the decline of death from harrassment...

I added pods, live foods, more feedings with PE Mysis & Selcon, prazi-pro, metro-focus, cyclo-peeze, and low and behold! algae!

OK, he's fine, then all of a sudden my freakin' Potter's takes a turn for the worse! Like his side is blistering and pus is coming out and scales have separated! DEATH any minute!

I added even more pods, live foods, more feedings with PE Mysis and Selcon, prazi-pro, metro-focus, cyclo-peeze.....

I change out some rock as usual, except this rock wasn't cooked...phate infested! D'oh!

[B]OK, sooooo now I have an algae problem![/B]

I will continue my current feeding regimen even though this is causing my algae issue,However I am glad to report that [B]ALL FISH ARE now BACK HEALTH![/B]

[B]BRING ON ALGAE FIX MARINE:[/B]
[IMG]http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?p=19502128#post19502128">http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?p=19502128#post19502128</a>


After 4 doses I am seeing significant dieoff.....I am following instructions...

My algae looks like hair algae and/or briopsis.....cannot confirm species..


I realize that I am adding too much nutrients which is causing this issue, however, until I feel 100% sure that all Leopards are 100%, I will continue...

I feel that feeding less is not a viable option in my case, I want healthy & fat fish, but my sps at the same time can't "tank", lol....bad pun I know...

This system should work for anyboby willing to spend the time, which isn't much.

 

[seth the wine guy]

mysterybox;703898 wrote:
3. unless that cheato is tumbling & growing, get rid of fuge! it's a nitrate factory

I thought chaeto was supposed to absorb nitrates?
Thanks for the write up. I'm trying to figure out the best way to address some annoying algae in my tank.

 

[ralph atl]

Seth The Wine Guy;703924 wrote: I thought chaeto was supposed to absorb nitrates?
Thanks for the write up. I'm trying to figure out the best way to address some annoying algae in my tank.

Yea, but if it's not growing and tumbling,it's trapping detritus...most fuges just trap poop in the rock, sand, and Algae...eventually..if its not there, u can use a wetvac to vacuum out!

However, if it's functioning, leave it be!

 

[swalke2]

BRING ON ALGAE FIX MARINE:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?p=19502128#post19502128">http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?p=19502128#post19502128</a>


After 4 doses I am seeing significant dieoff.....I am following instructions...
QUOTE]

Is that die off of algae or other life forms?
I have a rock with HA on it that I stupidly plucked in the tank the other day not thinking about end results and has caused an outbreak in my tank. Its just in its infancy and thought about Algae Fix, but read good and bad?

 

[dakota9]

AlgaeFix is working for my tank.

I had a bryoptsis (sp) problem in my tank when I decided to seed from dead live rock for a new tank. I manually removed all the feather-leafed bryoptsis "vines" and scrubbed the rock. Then placed new dead rock in the tank to seed for my new tank.

Quite quickly, my old live rock started growing the bryoptsis again, and the new white rock started growing hair algae.

I dosed Algaefix and after the first dose, I could tell a difference in the hair algae, and now that I'm 10 doses in to the treatment, I can see it working on the bryoptsis as well. It certainly stunted the growth of the bryoptsis well before it started actually declining, but instead of it growing a little bit everyday, it stopped growing, and has now slowly started disappearing.

The white dead rock I put in the tank is doing quite well with the Algaefix, as it killed the hairalgae, and by-passed the green and brown phase that new rock goes through, and it slowly darkening up with no accumulation of nussance algae.

I plan to maintainence dose with algaefix from this point forward.

The only draw back I can see is my Cabbage Coral has been closed since the first dose a moth ago, but hoping it will do better once I drop to only a once weekly maintainance dose.

 

[gnashty]

Great write up Ralph, I am thinking of taking my fuge offline too. Im not having Nitrate or Phosphate issues as I keep up a militant WC schedule (I could do a better job of media changes though) but do get some algae on the glass and sandbed. I have a heavy hand with feeding and dont want to change that becasue I too, like fat fish but Im thinking of ditching the fuge. Its built into my 40b sump - about a small 9 gallon corner is making my fuge.

Now, about carbon. I bought a reactor on the last group buy and put a full container of Rox carbon in it. I read somewhere that since the carbon would harbor good bacteria that I could experience some issues when I change it out. I have had it going about 2 months straight now without changing the media. Now Im a little reluctant to change it out....thoughts?

 

[acroholic]

gnashty;704073 wrote: Great write up Ralph, I am thinking of taking my fuge offline too. Im not having Nitrate or Phosphate issues as I keep up a militant WC schedule (I could do a better job of media changes though) but do get some algae on the glass and sandbed. I have a heavy hand with feeding and dont want to change that becasue I too, like fat fish but Im thinking of ditching the fuge. Its built into my 40b sump - about a small 9 gallon corner is making my fuge.

Now, about carbon. I bought a reactor on the last group buy and put a full container of Rox carbon in it. I read somewhere that since the carbon would harbor good bacteria that I could experience some issues when I change it out. I have had it going about 2 months straight now without changing the media. Now Im a little reluctant to change it out....thoughts?

Your LR should have enough bacteria on/in it to handle anything in the tank. I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[ralph atl]

Acroholic;704080 wrote: Your LR should have enough bacteria on/in it to handle anything in the tank. I wouldn't worry about it.

:up:

Edit:

Edit: that eheim pump has made a world of difference on my dual BRS reactors, albeit I had to mod the connection smaller.

That Rox carbon can slow down flow tremendously ...

 

[acroholic]

mysterybox;704153 wrote: :up:

Edit:

Edit: that eheim pump has made a world of difference on my dual BRS reactors, albeit I had to mod the connection smaller.

That Rox carbon can slow down flow tremendously ...

I can't imagine using a MJ 1200 for a BRS reactor. I run two BRS single reactors, a calcium reactor and a denitrator off a dedicated Blueline 40 external pump.

 

[ralph atl]

Acroholic;704179 wrote: I can't imagine using a MJ 1200 for a BRS reactor. I run two BRS single reactors, a calcium reactor and a denitrator off a dedicated Blueline 40 external pump.

thats what they reccomend, and I'm guessing a lot of folks followed suit as I did.....fail.

 

[ripped tide]

Do your Sps seem to be irritated in any way?

 

[ralph atl]

phosphates & trates are some of the worst monsters of SPS! So, no, they are only happier!
(phates actually inhibit the process of calcification, so they will always do better under ULNS!)

 

[ripped tide]

I meant with the Algaefix. Lol

 

[ralph atl]

Nope! Nada!

Edit:

Edit: I am not going to use it until all algae is irritated either, I will stop short and continue on my ULNS...

 

[demifelix]

mysterybox;704180 wrote: thats what they reccomend, and I'm guessing a lot of folks followed suit as I did.....fail.

So MJ1200 is not powerful enough for a dual BRS GFO/Carbon reactor? When I first started using I believe someone told me that was the way to go so I followed. I guess I'm having the same issue that you were having then. What kind of flow rate do I need for a dual reactor?

 

[acroholic]

demifelix;704229 wrote: So MJ1200 is not powerful enough for a dual BRS GFO/Carbon reactor? When I first started using I believe someone told me that was the way to go so I followed. I guess I'm having the same issue that you were having then. What kind of flow rate do I need for a dual reactor?

Hi Felix,
I'm sure the submersible Eheim Ralph uses is a great pump (as are most eheim products), but I would use a sumersible pump like the Eheim, or a Mag 3 or the Quiet one equivalent in a submersible.

If your return pump has capacity to spare, then a tee/ball valve feeding the reactor can be a good way to power it without adding the heat a submersible pump can.

I use a separate external, because the only down side to powering reactors from the return pump is if you ever turn off the return, you can get air in the lines feeding the reactors, which makes them a pain to reset, and air bubbles can force GFO into the sump. If it is powered separately from the return pump, though, the flow rate stays constant no matter if the return pump is on or off.

 

[ralph atl]

Someone else can explain better than me, but it's not just the flow rate, it's also the inertia as carbon and GFO get "clogged", the MJ's flow deteriorates quickly...

 

[schwaggs]

I have no problem keeping GFO tumbling on my TLF 550 reactor with a MJ 1200, I have to tune it back a bit. I don't have it inline with another reactor, however.

Edit: Ralph, I'm surprised you are using a "quick fix" considering your mantra of "find the source" you tell everyone... (hehehe, I couldn't pass it up)

Do you know what it in the algae fix that makes it work?

 

[grouper therapy]

I have no problem keeping GFO tumbling on my TLF 550 reactor with a MJ 1200, I have to tune it back a bit. I don't have it inline with another reactor, however.

Edit: Ralph, I'm surprised you are using a "quick fix" considering your mantra of "find the source" you tell everyone... (hehehe, I couldn't pass it up)

Do you know what it in the algae fix that makes it work?[</em>/QUOTE]
All the water changes you have to do to get rid of the algae fix is what gets rid of the algae

 

[acroholic]

Schwaggs;704263 wrote: I have no problem keeping GFO tumbling on my TLF 550 reactor with a MJ 1200, I have to tune it back a bit. I don't have it inline with another reactor, however.

Edit: Ralph, I'm surprised you are using a "quick fix" considering your mantra of "find the source" you tell everyone... (hehehe, I couldn't pass it up)

Do you know what it in the algae fix that makes it work?

One difference might be the TLF reactors are in sump, so the head height needed for a TLF isn't the same as you probably have the MJ about 18 inches or so from the intake. My BRS reactors are wall mounted at about 4' of head height for any pump I would use.