GHA Removal Questions

[mluntz]

Good morning,
I have some green hair algae developing. It is basically limited to one rock in the tank. Unfortunately it is a large base rock that I am unable to remove from the tank. I will remove as much of it as I can by hand.
Questions:
1. Has anyone ever applied something to the GHA in the tank via a syringe to remove the remainder of the algae and if so what did you apply?
2. Can I use a wire brush to scrape the remainder off the rock in the tank without having to worry about it spreading throughout the tank?

Thanks

[mcgyvr]

In general if your nutrient levels are low then you should not have problems with nuisance algae.. So I would suggest you look at your nitrate and phosphate levels to see if there is a problem there.. If you don't fix the problem it will likely come back..

There are products out there that are intended to be added to the tank water to kill algae..
I have not used them because they typically don't solve the reason the algae is there in the first place so its just a coverup..
This is one.. There are others I don't remember the names now..
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/produc...fm?pcatid=4098

People have also been using fluconazole recently to battle bryopsis and GHA I believe with good results..

[mluntz]

Nitrate-0
Phosphate-.03

I only feed once a day, about 30 seconds worth.
I am running GFO and carbon, getting ready to change out this weekend

[rtparty]

As a general rule, I'd get your nitrates up a little. 2-5ppm is a good place to be. Older, mature tanks seem to run well on 0 nitrates but they can be a high nutrient tank because they have the bio filtration in place to consume everything and recycle it in the tank

[fishsuse29]

Originally Posted by rtparty

As a general rule, I'd get your nitrates up a little. 2-5ppm is a good place to be. Older, mature tanks seem to run well on 0 nitrates but they can be a high nutrient tank because they have the bio filtration in place to consume everything and recycle it in the tank

Can you explain this more? I am in a similar boat 0 nitrate .001 phosphate but still have hair alage issues. (Tank has been setup for 8 years) wouldn't increasing nitrates make the gha grow faster?

[rtparty]

Originally Posted by fishsuse29

Can you explain this more? I am in a similar boat 0 nitrate .001 phosphate but still have hair alage issues. (Tank has been setup for 8 years) wouldn't increasing nitrates make the gha grow faster?

Your tank is more mature then most so it can be a little different.

For newer tanks, low nutrients blocks the good algae and bacterias to thrive. Things like cyano and dinos love low nutrients because they can out compete the good stuff when a tank is young and not as diverse.

My general rule of thumb, no matter tank age, is 2-5ppm nitrates and .03 or even a little higher for phosphate.

If you are having hair algae in a more established tank, you might need to check your clean up crew and source water. I've always used a short spine urchin when I had GHA pop up in older tanks. Mexican Turbo snails can also help but they've been hit and miss for me.

You may want to a "deep clean" on your tank with a 30% or so water change. Get a power head and blast all the rocks. Vacuum the sand. Get any built up crap out of there and then change the water.