GHA outbreak during/after cycle

[droog]

Hi,

I am just cycling my new 130g system. There was a diatom bloom around day 4-5 which was expected. Around day 10 or so there was an outbreak of GHA, which I did not expect. GHA is attached to the glass and rock.

I had the lights running which probably contributed to the algae growth. I turned the lights off yesterday and they will remain off for three days total. Current plan is to do a large water change before adding first fish.

Is the GHA outbreak normal and/or is there anything special I should do before adding first inhabitants?

Ammonia and nitrite tests at 0 now, salinity 1.025, ph. 8.0, phosphates .02. Nitrate was 15 a few days ago.

Carbon that shipped with the tank has been used for about 4 weeks - have some ROWA carbon or Chemipure Elite that I could put in the sump. Would it help to replace that now and if so which one would be recommended?

Thanks for any tips.

-Droog

[Reef Frog]

Yes GHA after the initial cycle is absolutely normal. Controlling the nitrates, water changes, adding fish slowly, not over feeding, adding the right CUC and physical removal are your first line of defense at this stage. It sounds like you are ready for a CUC. I'd recommend cerith, asrea & perhaps turbo snails first. See how they do and give them some time to get to work before adding fish.

It will pass. The lights out tactic isn't likely to eradicate it but should slow the growth. This is usually a complementary tactic to be used along with other methods - it rarely produces results all by itself.

Using carbon won't produce immediate results either but will adsorb dissolved organic materials that will break down into Nitrates & Phosphates later. But some new tanks don't have much dissolved organic compounds, but that depends on the tyoe & condition of your live rock. So it's use at this stage is optional IMO. ROWA is good stuff but is going to get expensive for your tank. There are equivalent products available forms fraction of the cost. Also Chemipure Elite has GFO in it and is also a very expensive way to control phosphates.

IMO the best single tactic is to remove as much as you can manually until it begins to recede from nutrient control & CUC activity.

[droog]

Awesome, thanks so much. Very clear and good advice :-)

Only thing I'm unclear on now is will herbivorous fish (e.g. blue damselfish) eat GHA or not?

-Droog

[SGT_York]

I've never seen a damsel eat hair algae.

Best advice I've heard when starting a tank is to add some phytoplankton very quick reproducer that will be removed by skimming. It is great for removing all those nitrates added to your water column during the cycle.

Adding a fish/CUC isn't as good as a method to remove algae as the fish just poop the nitrates back in which just goes back to algae, less what is removed by your skimmer. Manual removal is much more effective as mentioned above. That said get a good CUC as they will get the small stuff and places you can't reach.

Go slow on the fish, if you want corals just add a fish or two until the nitrates go to near zero, it is so much easier to spend time up front than to deal with a large nitrate phosphate problem in the future. Also don't get a damsel. Green Chromis is a good substitute. they are not nearly as aggressive.

[faithenfire]

GHA is a normal part of the cycle and when your tank is stable you may be able to get a fish that eats it but first make sure your tank is up to par so no fish has to suffer, which it seems you are doing :)

and don't don't get a damsel. just consider all possible ramifications of a damsel. they can be aggressive. but i had at least one for the majority of my tank's life and mostly they haven't been an issue. other people have had major issues with them. just saying...

[droog]

Thanks guys. Tank parameters now look good. Ammonia and nitrite are zero, nitrates were also very low (undetectable on the Red Sea test kit). Phosphates (Hanna ULR phosphorous checker) were low also. Will do a manual cleanup followed by PWC tonight.

Good comments on the damsel. I have a couple of yellow tailed blue damsels in a 3g nano tank, and they are pretty aggressive. I'll start with a couple of oculars clowns and an olive chromis over the next few weeks.

-Droog