I was looking at the two little fishies I might get that one.
The non stop gha...
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So here's the thing with pellets - They're nutrient PACKED. And they don't all get eaten so that's just excess nutrients in your system. You've got to find a way to get those nutrients out. Whatever works for your setup, but you'll NEVER be rid of GHA until you figure out how to remove the source.
Came here to say exactly this.
As for your previous question to remove the rocks. Yes. You’re saying that you already do weekly water changes. Add these steps as a major helping point.
1) WC into 1-2 buckets or storage totes with lids.
2) Remove a couple rocks (without corals on it) into bucket #1. And place lid on it. It also helps to put in an air pump with a diffuser to help keep the rocks alive.
3) Leave the rock in here for several days. GHA has a very strong light demand. Without light, it becomes weak very quickly. Whereas coralline can last a couple weeks before dying, and doesn’t need temperature control as much either.
4) During the next water change; use a toothbrush to scrub your batch #1 rocks in your Bucket #1 of WC Water. The gha will slough off very easily.
5) Use bucket #2 of WC to rinse the rocks before placing them back into your tank. There will be millions of little fibers, we want to get rid of as many as possible and not let them back into your tank.
6) Repeat with all the rocks in your tank that you are able. This process takes many weeks, and isn’t good on its own. But if you’re managing your feeding (nutrient input), and you have a solid clean up crew (especially with an urchin)... then this approach gives them a fighting chance!
GHA is a major pest. But you can take advantage of its weaknesses. Good luck!
You have 2 challenges - stop it from growing and getting rid of what you have. I would change feeding habits like others have pointed out in order to get it to slow down enough to allow you to catch up to it.
On to removing what you have already....
When I set up my frag tank I had GHA get started and grew to a plaque scenario pretty quickly. I stopped it - and am now GHA free (or at least fully managed) - very cheaply.
This may or may not work for you - but I seem to remember it may be difficult for you to get new equipment, gfo, reactors etc.
Get some peroxide - plain old household peroxide. DO NOT TREAT THE WHOLE TANK - no matter what you see online, don't do it. Peroxide is sensitive - keep it in that dark bottle in comes in and keep the lid on it. Pour a couple tablespoons into a small bowl when you are doing the following:
Several times a day when I would have a 10 or 15 minute break I would grab a couple tablespoons of peroxide, a tooth brush and grab a rock from the tank. Pull off as much of the algae as you can by hand. Then dip toothbrush in the peroxide and scrub just the rock that has or had GHA on it. Don't over due it and I wiped the peroxide off with a paper towel - carefully. Can peroxide get on corals? Some of them tolerated it just fine. Zoas were OK after a day, other corals were OK but ONLY IF I was quick about it. If you get it on a coral don't panic - just rinse the peroxide off with salt water - a bucket with a couple gallons of tank water works fine.
Over the course of about 2 weeks I pretty much eliminated it and it has not come back.
Your urchin is not going to do well with peroxide so I'd keep it away from him.
Most importantly - don't panic and do a bunch of stuff all at once - pick your method and work it patiently and persistently for at least 2 weeks.
On to removing what you have already....
When I set up my frag tank I had GHA get started and grew to a plaque scenario pretty quickly. I stopped it - and am now GHA free (or at least fully managed) - very cheaply.
This may or may not work for you - but I seem to remember it may be difficult for you to get new equipment, gfo, reactors etc.
Get some peroxide - plain old household peroxide. DO NOT TREAT THE WHOLE TANK - no matter what you see online, don't do it. Peroxide is sensitive - keep it in that dark bottle in comes in and keep the lid on it. Pour a couple tablespoons into a small bowl when you are doing the following:
Several times a day when I would have a 10 or 15 minute break I would grab a couple tablespoons of peroxide, a tooth brush and grab a rock from the tank. Pull off as much of the algae as you can by hand. Then dip toothbrush in the peroxide and scrub just the rock that has or had GHA on it. Don't over due it and I wiped the peroxide off with a paper towel - carefully. Can peroxide get on corals? Some of them tolerated it just fine. Zoas were OK after a day, other corals were OK but ONLY IF I was quick about it. If you get it on a coral don't panic - just rinse the peroxide off with salt water - a bucket with a couple gallons of tank water works fine.
Over the course of about 2 weeks I pretty much eliminated it and it has not come back.
Your urchin is not going to do well with peroxide so I'd keep it away from him.
Most importantly - don't panic and do a bunch of stuff all at once - pick your method and work it patiently and persistently for at least 2 weeks.
Thanks for all of the replies! I really appreciate all of the information and suggestions.
So my plan of action is going to be to get a gfo and continue with the manual removal options suggested.
Thats very help full with the peroxide i was actually considering that awhile ago. Since your tank was a frag tank, how did you get it off of the frag plugs? Even with the precations i took with moving all of them they still got some.
So my plan of action is going to be to get a gfo and continue with the manual removal options suggested.
Right when the gha started I moved all of my frags onto a frag rack so they didn't get completely covered in the gha. Since the frag racks got gha on them I would take them in and out cleaning them all the time. So all of my rocks are completely frag free besides 1 that has a rfa on it. So technically if I could get the rfa off could I put all of the rocks in the bucket at one time?
Thats very help full with the peroxide i was actually considering that awhile ago. Since your tank was a frag tank, how did you get it off of the frag plugs? Even with the precations i took with moving all of them they still got some.
I did something similar to this method, but I wasn't as careful since the corals I had at the time were able to be removed. I put the h2o2 in a spray bottle. During a WC, I would pull out a rock or two, remove any frags, sprayed/soaked the rock, put the rock in a bucket with the water from the water change and let it sit a day or two. Then in a day or two, the GHA is practically dead and you can easily brush it off with a toothbrush. Rinse it off in that same bucket and back into the tank. After a few weeks, mine was all gone as well.
Toothbrush dipped in peroxide and patience. Keep at it - you'll get it if you do this in little sections at least once a day. If you leave a little bit of the GHA on the rock or plug after brushing down with peroxide - I found the GHA would die off anyway. Algae does NOT like peroxide.
I would not recommend all the rocks at once, no. You want to do it piecemeal. It helps buffer any impacts on the bioload, and allows your GHA to concentrate prior to removal.
Oh yeah, like I said, I was not as careful and I got sick of seeing the GHA. If you do my method, be clear, you will kill any beneficial bacteria. But at that point, I had marine pure blocks in my sump (which I understand you don't have), so I didn't depend on my rocks as the source of my nitrifying bacteria.
Any chance you're around during the day? I'd be willing to come by and run a phosphate test to see where the heck things are. All of the suggestions given are good ones but I would try one and see how it works. In fact, I would take a reading and add some GFO and give it some time to see if that helps. That seems to be what your plan is and I think you'll get some good results.
I could most likely leave a sample outside. I’m trying to keep the COVID interaction as low as possible because of my dads rheumatoid arthritis.
30 gallons.
I still support the slow, methodical, and controlled removal, and I want to emphasize the strength of that approach. Sometimes the “if I just do this 1 simple thing, it will fix all these big problems that have persisted for months” approach works. But more often than not, it unfortunately doesn’t. I think lots of these other advices can/will help, but IMHO, they should not be relied on as your primary drive.
You should be prepared for a mildly prolonged and consistent push to fix the issue. The steps I outlined above will work 100%... but it’s not going to happen overnight. It’ll take at least 3-4 weeks to do it safely, thoroughly, and completely. During that time, your CUC will be targeting the easy-to-eat (weakened / immature) algae as you focus on weakening and removing the hardened/mature ones.
Slow and steady wins the race. #GoTortoise
You should be prepared for a mildly prolonged and consistent push to fix the issue. The steps I outlined above will work 100%... but it’s not going to happen overnight. It’ll take at least 3-4 weeks to do it safely, thoroughly, and completely. During that time, your CUC will be targeting the easy-to-eat (weakened / immature) algae as you focus on weakening and removing the hardened/mature ones.
Slow and steady wins the race. #GoTortoise
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Slow and steady does win the race. I have found in outbreaks you may need do combination of above recommendations. To remove the established algae and then treat the source to limit it coming back.
Then rinse and repeat.
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File this under 'getting it under control to help reset', not long term prevention... I fought GHA in my cube for months. At various phases of the war I tried...
Vibrant = no change.
DIY mix of everclear/white vinegar version of red sea NO3
O4-x a.k.a. NOPOX *and* Algaefix which took nitrates/phosphates to zero for several weeks = no change other than really irritated corals from the Algaefix.
on top of DIY NOPOX/Algaefix I added in Dr Tims Waste Away and Re-fresh = no change.
Checked my RODI output, fresh salt mixes, etc.
At this point it was a green mess, couldn't see rock, corals being taken over and I was about to sell the tank.
The final thing I tried was Reef Flux (and stopping all other dosing other than the DIY NOPOX) which is primarily a fungal treatment but is believed to have the side effect of preventing algae cell walls from doing what they do so it dies off. I did 2 treatments 3 weeks apart and no water changes for those 6 weeks to keep the stuff in the system. By 2-3 weeks the GHA was retreating and what was left was mostly turned grey, which made manual removal a lot easier. At 6 weeks the tank was *spotless* and coralline finally started growing on my rock instead of variations of green stuff.
Then the dinos kicked in because I was still zero nutrient. I've since backed off carbon dosing as much, started phyto dosing to get some nutrients and bio diversity back into the system, and added UV to help kill the dinos. Corals have come back full force (the dinos almost took them all out).
I saw zero impact to my fish/hermits/snails from the Reef Flux. My turbos have finally successfully reproduced and I have several dozen(million) now A co-worker who was battling GHA tried Reef Flux too and had similar results to me.
Now I'm working on the balance of nutrients and the GHA is coming back a little bit in spots after recently adding some frags, waiting on another bottle of Reef Flux to confirm it knocks it back again. I've not been a fan of GFO from previous experience with my former 75G which is why I tried other methods but may try it again as phosphates are back up to .25 (nitrates in the 15-20 range)
So if you want a boost on getting rid of it while you get nutrient export under control, I recommend giving Reef Flux a shot (depending on size of tank, I got two treatments out of the 10-capsule bottle, your mileage and cost may vary)
Vibrant = no change.
DIY mix of everclear/white vinegar version of red sea NO3
O4-x a.k.a. NOPOX *and* Algaefix which took nitrates/phosphates to zero for several weeks = no change other than really irritated corals from the Algaefix.on top of DIY NOPOX/Algaefix I added in Dr Tims Waste Away and Re-fresh = no change.
Checked my RODI output, fresh salt mixes, etc.
At this point it was a green mess, couldn't see rock, corals being taken over and I was about to sell the tank.
The final thing I tried was Reef Flux (and stopping all other dosing other than the DIY NOPOX) which is primarily a fungal treatment but is believed to have the side effect of preventing algae cell walls from doing what they do so it dies off. I did 2 treatments 3 weeks apart and no water changes for those 6 weeks to keep the stuff in the system. By 2-3 weeks the GHA was retreating and what was left was mostly turned grey, which made manual removal a lot easier. At 6 weeks the tank was *spotless* and coralline finally started growing on my rock instead of variations of green stuff.
Then the dinos kicked in because I was still zero nutrient. I've since backed off carbon dosing as much, started phyto dosing to get some nutrients and bio diversity back into the system, and added UV to help kill the dinos. Corals have come back full force (the dinos almost took them all out).
I saw zero impact to my fish/hermits/snails from the Reef Flux. My turbos have finally successfully reproduced and I have several dozen(million) now
A co-worker who was battling GHA tried Reef Flux too and had similar results to me.Now I'm working on the balance of nutrients and the GHA is coming back a little bit in spots after recently adding some frags, waiting on another bottle of Reef Flux to confirm it knocks it back again. I've not been a fan of GFO from previous experience with my former 75G which is why I tried other methods but may try it again as phosphates are back up to .25 (nitrates in the 15-20 range)
So if you want a boost on getting rid of it while you get nutrient export under control, I recommend giving Reef Flux a shot (depending on size of tank, I got two treatments out of the 10-capsule bottle, your mileage and cost may vary)
Just my .02$. Simple/ cheap reactor running GFO. I have some GFO you can have, I’m up north in Cumming area. Unfortunately I don’t have a spare reactor, but I do have a cheap pump you can use.
+ 1 for Reef Flux
