AlgaeFix Marine to control Hair Algae

[HighlandReefer]

biecacka,

From what I can see of your tank, it appears that you do have a lot of algae and such in your tank. Before starting AF if you so choose, I would clean out all the algae out of your tank before you start.

The type of algae you have I can't ID, it very well could be a specie that AF controls.

[biecacka]

cliff, i am doing that i am removing any rock i can and scrubbing it with peroxide and a toothbrush. what i can't remove i borrowed a a wet vac with a bristle brush on the end to loosen it up and suck it down!!!! I've increased my skimming by making it a bit wetter, and when I'm done vacuuming/cleaning the rock and ill change my gfo
corey

[HighlandReefer]

Good Luck

[biecacka]

Coming along well so far
Corey

[HighlandReefer]

I take that to mean your algae is dieing off. Good to hear.

[biecacka]

im pulling it out and using peroxide and a vac on it. no AF yet, gonna try to get done this way instead
corey

[HighlandReefer]

Thanks for the clarification.

[biecacka]

sure thing! i have noticed a little brown algae in some areas that i killed the gha on. i tested my water before i scrubbed down the algae and my po4 was 0 and nitrates o as well but I'm sure its because the algae overtake was using it all
looking for some more input on ways to tackle this
corey

[slag009]

I tryed AF for 12+ doses and no affect. I have added cheato to the sump, scrubbed off all algae off of the rocks, dipped zoa frags in peroxide/saltwater mix, and added Kens phosphate sponge to sump. But it keeps comming back. Any other suggestion? PO4 and Nitrates are reading 0.

[HighlandReefer]

slag009,

Can you provide a focused close-up pic of your pest?

[latinreefer]

Im on my 2nd dosing of AF because of hair algae. I'm starting to see alot of cyano growing in my sump, I do have a refugium with chaeto.
I have read most of this thread and I am a little confused. Do I run my skimmer or not? Dont run it on the first day within the 24 hrs of dosing AF when its most active? Do I run my bio pellets during dosing? Do I run my carbon while dosing? Sorry about these questions, just want clarity.
Thanks

[HighlandReefer]

I would continue skimming, running carbon, GFO and dosing your carbon source. From the posts stopping does not seem to make a difference and skimming is important for aeration plus removing algae debris.

[latinreefer]

Will do.

Thanks Highland !

[mtaswt]

First off let me apologize in advance if this has been previously answered....I have read through many of the pages and haven't seen much.

I started to use this and I am on my third dose and things seem to be getting better, but my phosphates have risen considerably. Is this due to the HA dying off? I don't have a big problem with the HA algae I'm just wanting to control it before it starts to control my tank. I'm running GFO now to help reduce them, but are the rise in phosphates coming from the dieing algae.

Thanks--Matt

[HighlandReefer]

When algae dies and breaks down it will release phosphate and nitrate into your tank water. This is why it is important to remove as much algae before and after it dies as possible.

GFO will take up phosphate, but keep in mind if phosphate levels rise significantly, the GFO can become saturated with phosphate within 24 hrs.

[slag009]

This is what it looked like in the begging.





and this is what it looks like now.











Thanks

[Ralph ATL]

you might have bryopsis there.....

[p0llywog]

My system description:

- 120 gallons Oceanic Tech Glass Tank 48" x 24" x 24"
- 32" x 15" x 16" sump divided into the skimmer section, return section, and refugium. Fuge has oolithic sand, rubbles, and chaeto lighted 24/7.
- Lighting is 48 inch Current USA SunPod 2x250W w/ 18 Lunar Lights. I was using 14K Phoenix bulbs replaced every 12 months.
- Protein skimmer is Super Reef Octopus XP 2000 In-Sump Cone.
- Top off evaporated water with 0 TDS deionized water.
- Temp: 77.4 - 80 degF.
- pH: ~8.3
- Salinity: 1.025 - 1.026
- Alkalinity: ~10 dKh
- Calcium: ~350 - ~400
- Magnesium: ~1350 - ~1400
- I dose Bionic 2-part using BRS two part doser.
- Manually dose Kent Tech M magnesium as needed, MB7 and vodka.

History of my battle with GHA infestation:

I've been battling GHA ever since I started setting up my tank 2 years ago. After the usual end of cycling period at around the 3rd or 4th month, I still have GHA on a couple areas of the sand and few spots on the LRs. They would wax and wane but the DT was never free of them even though nitrates was undetectable on the Salifert test kit and phosphate was 0.00 on the Hanna colorimeter. The DT also had some, but not in plaque proportions, red stiff wiry algae and caulerpa nummularia.

I've tried an assortment of supposedly GHA eating critters, but none would touch the GHA: all kinds or snails, hermit crabs, emerald crabs, sea hare, starry blenny, yellow kole tang, yellow tang. I did not try the light deprivation method cause I don't think it would have worked since they also grow in the fully shaded areas. In fact, they proliferated better in the partially shaded areas than in the fully lighted areas. Don't exactly know what GHA I have but looks like cladophora from the pictures I've seen on the web.

September of 2011, in order to automate my carbon (vodka) dosing, I hooked up a biopellet reactor. Maybe just a coincidence but, I must have put too much biopellets too soon as within 2 weeks the GHA infestation bloomed and covered all the LRs and 75% of the sand area. I tried pulling out as much as I could but they just come back with a vengeance in a couple days so I gave up, besides, sticking my arms all the time in the tank could also be contributing to the problem. Maybe also a coincidence, PO4 slowly crept up from 0.00 to 0.01 to 0.02 all the way to 0.05. I took the biopellet reactor offline and hooked up a GFO reactor from BRS. I also stopped using NSW from Scripps and started mixing my own with DI water and Seachem Reef salt.

Guessing that the spectrum of the MHs could be contributing to the problem, l changed from the 14K phoenix bulbs to the 20K ushio bulbs beginning January 2012. At the same time, I raised the mag level to 1700 in the hope that it would do something. This did not seem to have any appreciable effect on the infestation after 2 weeks.

I was at wits end and started entertaining the thought of giving up the hobby, till I came across this thread. After reading through a few pages, I was convinced that AlgaeFix Marine is worth a try. What have I got to lose anyway? This post has gone long enough so I'll continue on my next post.

[p0llywog]

I started my first every 3-day AlgaeFix Marine dose of 15 ml on 2011.01.19. On the third day, just before putting in the second dose, I was already seeing the effect. The GHA seem to have started to lose its vigor. I was already seeing them in some areas getting wispy and losing color. Between the first and the third dose on 2011.01.25, I had to clean the skimmer cup and filter sock twice. The filter sock was getting all clogged up with hand full of GHA and coated with brown slimy stuff. The skimmer was also pulling out this brown slime in addition to the usual skimmate it was pulling. I think the flow from the 2 Vortech MP40 was enough to dislodged most of the dead and weakened GHA off the sand bed and LRs. Before the fourth dosage and prior to a 20 gallon water change, I scrubbed with a tooth brush the rest of GHA that I could get to that were not blown off by the MP40s.

I put in the 5th dosage on 2011.01.31 and today, the DT is about 99% clean of the GHA. Also I do not see any of the red wiry algae and caulerpa nummularia anymore. They must have been outcompeted by the GHA and died even before the treatment. I could not say for sure because they were completely covered by the GHA.

During the treatment, I continued running the skimmer and GFO and daily vodka dosing. Also have not experienced the cyano outbreak as of today. I have not seen any negative effect on the livestock except for less PE on a couple of acros but that's about it. The chaeto in fuge still looks healthy.

I will be putting in my 6th dosage tonight. Not sure yet at this time when to switch over to the weekly dosing and when to completely stop.

[HighlandReefer]

p0llywog,

Thanks for sharing your experience. Good to hear you are winning the battle.

[HighlandReefer]

slag009,

Thanks for posting your photos and sharing your experience.

Pictures do add to this thread.

[p0llywog]

Just put in the 7th dose tonight. Looks like the GHA is under control so this will be the last of the every third day dosing and I'm switching to the weekly dosing. We'll see how it goes.

[kellerexpress]

Unfortunatley for me this product didn't work. I have been battling hair algae for months now, and thought I would give it a try. I have done about 8 doses now, and the algae is going strong. My sps however, have taken a big hit. 4-5 large colonies have rtn after all the dosing. All other corals and livestock have been unaffected. Bummer. Ive got about 60 gallons total water volume and dosed for 50g to be safe. Also, waiting 3 whole days in between dosing as recommend. Here's a pic of what I have been dealing with. Dont think its bryopsis, could be wrong??

[SimonSKL]

Originally Posted by kellerexpress

Unfortunatley for me this product didn't work. I have been battling hair algae for months now, and thought I would give it a try. I have done about 8 doses now, and the algae is going strong. My sps however, have taken a big hit. 4-5 large colonies have rtn after all the dosing. All other corals and livestock have been unaffected. Bummer. Ive got about 60 gallons total water volume and dosed for 50g to be safe. Also, waiting 3 whole days in between dosing as recommend. Here's a pic of what I have been dealing with. Dont think its bryopsis, could be wrong??

Yours look like what I had, Derbesia with very fine and smooth filaments. I tried AF multiple times without success. I finally washed the rock with diluted H2O2 and they were gone in 3 days. Good luck!

[p0llywog]

I should have taken pics of the tank before I started dosing. The best I could come up with was this pic taken 03/2011. The condition was like this for months until it really got bad around 09/2011 when the GHA was all over the rocks and sand.



The same area tonight:



And, the FTS: