gha attack...

[asgrande]

I have a mass attack of gha going on right now. What can I do to stop it?
tank specs:
75 gal dt
29 gal split in two equal sections and a smaller return section sump/fuge
Chaeto and lr with a dsb on the same cycle as the lights on one side, skimmer and reactor on the other
Eshopps Psk-100h skimmer
Phoban reactor 150
2 taotronic led lights

Tank parameters:
Ammonia 0ppm
Nitrites 0ppm
Nitrates 0ppm
Phosphates >.003 ppm
All 9 dkh
Copper 0ppm
Ph 8.2
Specifc gravity 1.0025

I feed the take every 2-3 days. Just enough for the fish to eat in a few mins.a few pieces maybe left over.

Cuc:
15 hermits
15 astrea snails
20 nassaurius snails
1 Mexican turbo snail

Livestock:
1 blue jaw trigger
1 lawnmower blenny
1 bullet goby
1 occelaris clown.

Please help I don't know what else to do to get rid of this crap

[Buzz1329]

Do you have an RO/DI filter? If not, that could be a major part of the problem.

[asgrande]

Yupp ro/Di as well.

[Eric45]

How often do you change out your gfo?

[asgrande]

i just put the reactor on about 3 weeks ago, and its the GFO i started with.

[asgrande]

Bump. Anyone have an idea?

[brandon429]

want to see something kind of amazing loaded with before and after pics? go to nanos forum, read the whole thread titled pico reef pest algae problem challenge. Its a challenge to present us any algae problem in any tank, look at the after pics

[coralsnaked]

How old is your tank and in particular how did you start it IE live rock fully cured from LFS or base rock cured in tank or base rock cured out of tank and tested prior to moving into tank ect... I ask this because of two reasons. GHA can just be part of new tank syndrom and will pass. However if you have rock leaching phospahates and Nitrates, which is part of NTS, but at high levels you may have to deal with it for a while. Or you could be adding phospahtes in to your tank in high levels. Do you use flake fish food?

If you really want to know the secret of controlling GHA you must control your phosphates, and you really need to read this>>>>>>>>

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-09/rhf/index.php

Happy Reefing

[brandon429]

is .003 low enough for phosphates>? thats so low I question the test accuracy...

[brandon429]

we need pics too. you may not have enough algae to bind up the phosphate or you might, lets see how much lettuce we're talking here. Many many times a phosphate reading is low before the algae outbreak, which is why controlling phosphate may or may not help.

If its being consumed by the algae, then removing the algae will show the real dissolved measures for the tank and we can pinpoint nutrient issues. You also might not be dealing with green hair algae, if its a bryopsis variant, nutrient control rarely works. Direct action is required on obligate hitchhikers the vast majority of the time. be sure and check the thread I mentioned

a common statement is that any algae in a tank is consuming phosphates and nitrates and thats why the measures may be low. THis is more often not the case than it is...algae has to be in a growing phase to take up nutrients. in cases where a few tufts of algae have been present for a while and aren't adding biomass, they aren't uptaking much either. Same is the case when someone adds a single, slow growing mangrove. If new biomass isn't being added, we can't measure the nutrient uptake benefit. post pics!

[asgrande]

It's covered the back wall and most the rocks and corals.
http://i1134.photobucket.com/albums/m609/asgrande/IMAG0438.jpg

Set it up around the beginning of June so 3 months old. All the rock is from a local guy that had it in his tank for 10 yrs.

[asgrande]

It's covered the back wall and most the rocks and corals.
http://i1134.photobucket.com/albums/m609/asgrande/IMAG0438.jpg

Set it up around the beginning of June so 3 months old. All the rock is from a local guy that had it in his tank for 10 yrs.

[brandon429]

Thats really good detail

A decade ago we weren't practicing the detritus removal, phosphate binding etc that we do now that rock could in itself be a nutrient source, even when you have your water params in great condition. Imagine a clean water table, but a substrate that leaks nutrients to algae directly above it and within the area as a direct feed line...

the good thing I see is not a lot of mass, I know its low lying and covering a lot of the tank but the majority of it is not as heavy as the bryopsis we see in really wrecked tanks.

One benefit is that you don't have sensitive animals listed in the peroxide thread I mentioned, if you treat that tank it won't hurt it. Whether or not it rebounds in growth remains to be seen after its been wiped clean...it depends on the pre loaded condition of the rocks in my opinion. the tank is clearly not overstocked and doesnt appear abnormally eutrophic

The rocks are stacked in such a way that they can be removed for treatment, the ideal method. The walls can be scraped down with a razor, and you siphon off the junk that comes off at the bottom substrate area

Im always thinking a peroxide method so if you want to use something else thats fine...but if you do want to try it, your tank is a great candidate due to access, target type, nutrient profile and your animals and corals. The thread in the nanos section has all the rest of the details if you like
B

[brandon429]

also even if you dont use the method exclusively, you'd have a great test in removing your worst rock, pouring 3% peroxide across the bad areas, don't hand remove any of it, let it sit outside the tank for 3 mins, rinse off and place back in. watch as the algae dies off, then chart its regrowth compared to the rest of the tank.