rebekwl November 7, 2015 Share November 7, 2015 So, due to neglect and a very busy schedule, Our tank has developed the biggest (greenish/dark brownish?) algae outbreak I have ever seen!! We are trying to figure out whether to start trimming and do water changes? Tried the light cycling.. No go. Or, if we should just sell the livestock pull the rock Clean it and Dry it out so we can start over..? Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YHSublime November 7, 2015 Share November 7, 2015 I'd do water changes, manual removal, and a proper CUC. Maybe a sea hare if you can pass it along when you are done. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lutz123 November 7, 2015 Share November 7, 2015 When I got a bad hair algae outbreak a bunch of Mexican turbos took care of it very quickly - even the very long stuff. Start with identifying the type of algae you have and go from there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rebekwl November 7, 2015 Author Share November 7, 2015 Thanks guys, We are going to remove rock and begin the scrubbing down process.. Not sure what type it is, Fluffy but confident it's not byprosis. Thinks it's some type of hair algae Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cbashaw November 7, 2015 Share November 7, 2015 I had a similar problem a few months ago, and once I got serious about fixing it, it didn't take much. Here's what I did: Beefed up my cleaning crew Replaced my or membrane Added a brs gfo reactor Then I did 50% water change and picked as much algae off the rocks and glass as possible. The algae that was left turned brown so I did another water change and it came off really easily. After that The algae hasn't come back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjv0103 November 7, 2015 Share November 7, 2015 I had a huge outbreak a while back and was so busy i couldn't get to it in time. I scraped and ciphined it off through a filter sock and just kept taking water out and putting back until I couldn't see any on the glass anymore, then did a 3 day lights out cycle, and a 20% change. I still have a resilent type growing on the rocks alone, i take them out and scrub them down once every 2 weeks during water change Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rebekwl November 9, 2015 Author Share November 9, 2015 Thanks all! We're going to go ahead and take some of the above measures to get the nitrates in check, and then move on to pulling as much out as possible and scrubbing everything clean. I'm having trouble uploading a pic to help ID the algae, any suggestions? Has anyone used to peroxide method of removal? Thoughts on that? Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LCDRDATA November 9, 2015 Share November 9, 2015 Has anyone used to peroxide method of removal? Thoughts on that? Thanks! I've had mixed success with hydrogen peroxide; sometimes it kills the algae, sometimes not, but any damage to corals I've tried it with has been minimal at worst. I mix standard over-the-counter peroxide (3%), diluted with 4-5 parts tank water to 1 part peroxide, and soak with circulation for 5-10 minutes. If it's practical, it's probably worth a shot, but don't expect miracles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xabo November 9, 2015 Share November 9, 2015 Thanks all! We're going to go ahead and take some of the above measures to get the nitrates in check, and then move on to pulling as much out as possible and scrubbing everything clean. I'm having trouble uploading a pic to help ID the algae, any suggestions? Has anyone used to peroxide method of removal? Thoughts on that? Thanks! Try a hosting site like Photobucket Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lutz123 November 9, 2015 Share November 9, 2015 I've had mixed success with hydrogen peroxide; sometimes it kills the algae, sometimes not, but any damage to corals I've tried it with has been minimal at worst. I mix standard over-the-counter peroxide (3%), diluted with 4-5 parts tank water to 1 part peroxide, and soak with circulation for 5-10 minutes. If it's practical, it's probably worth a shot, but don't expect miracles. I got a spray bottle of hydrogen peroxide from rite aid I think and just sprayed it directly on some turf algae I had. No diluting. Worked like a charm! It also killed the hair algae in those spots. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YHSublime November 9, 2015 Share November 9, 2015 Thanks all! We're going to go ahead and take some of the above measures to get the nitrates in check, and then move on to pulling as much out as possible and scrubbing everything clean. I'm having trouble uploading a pic to help ID the algae, any suggestions? Has anyone used to peroxide method of removal? Thoughts on that? Thanks! The first thing I did in this hobby was get my rock off some guy on Craigslist who said his tank had been running for 10 years without a water change. The way the hair and bubble algae looked on it, I believe it. In hindsight, I should have just bought new rock, but I was just dipping my toes into the water, so to speak, and the price per lb seemed pretty steep (big LOL looking back.) I spent hours scrubbing the rock with a brush and removing as much of it as I could, rinsing in saltwater, and then more scrubbing. Finally, I soaked the rock in a hydrogen peroxide and saltwater solution, and it did indeed kill off all the algae. It probably killed off whatever was keeping it "live" as well. My ideas about handling that situation have changed a lot over the years. I prefer a more natural approach vs. drastic approach like hp. Consider this, the algae is caused by some element that your can control, perhaps it's your phosphates, perhaps it's your TDS, there are a number of variables. It will take a bit more work, but it will serve as a more permanent solution to handle it naturally, and figure out what the root cause is. Just my personal experience along with my .2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sen5241b November 9, 2015 Share November 9, 2015 WHAT IS THE SOURCE OF THE NITRATES AND PHOSPHATES that are fueling the algae growth? I would not do anything until you knew that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul b November 9, 2015 Share November 9, 2015 I generally don't get involved in algae threads but I figured, just one more. I would not change any water. With all that algae all those nutrients and iron is already incorporated in the algae. The water is now perfect. If it were not, the algae would be growing up your walls. Remove the algae by scrubbing it and removing with some type of filter. I use a diatom filter but any mechanical filter will work. You may have to do that a few times, but then your water will be perfect and there will be nothing left in the water to grow algae. After everything stabilizes, change some water and go out for dinner and have a nice glass of Merlot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
s2nhle November 10, 2015 Share November 10, 2015 I generally don't get involved in algae threads but I figured, just one more. I would not change any water. With all that algae all those nutrients and iron is already incorporated in the algae. The water is now perfect. If it were not, the algae would be growing up your walls. Remove the algae by scrubbing it and removing with some type of filter. I use a diatom filter but any mechanical filter will work. You may have to do that a few times, but then your water will be perfect and there will be nothing left in the water to grow algae. After everything stabilizes, change some water and go out for dinner and have a nice glass of Merlot +1 best advice from the expert Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rebekwl November 10, 2015 Author Share November 10, 2015 (edited) Here's a pic link to photobucket, I hope this works!! http://i981.photobucket.com/albums/ae296/rebekwl/tank.jpg Edited November 10, 2015 by rebekwl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gmerek2 November 10, 2015 Share November 10, 2015 there are a lot of different kinds of hair algae. Just like there are a lot of different corals. I don't happen to be a hair algae expert and I doubt there is a HA guru on here. I had stuff nothing would touch lol. I never tried Mexican turbos so it might be worth buying a few and letting them taste test it. I hate adding livestock to worsen nutrients but it seems like a great idea as long as skimmer and water changes are removing that snail poop aggressively. GFO worked wonders for me. No matter what kind is growing it is eating phosphates. I didn't have delicate SPS back then and could go aggressive on the GFO.mBut also have to give credit to upgraded larger skimmer to help remove nutrients. I agree with mostly all stated. The Rock is probably loaded with phosphate. You can peroxide dip till the next blood red moon but if the rock is loaded with phosphate it will bounce back and continue to grow off the phosphate leaching from rocks. If money isn't an issue: GFO, better skimming, water changes, manual harvest, possibly swap rock out for stuff someone acid treated. Or peroxide treat and just use GFO till phosphates are done leaching out. There will be a lot of die off keep up on the water changes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul b November 10, 2015 Share November 10, 2015 (edited) That ain't algae! This is algae. This is my "reef" quite a few years ago. I must have been experimenting or doing something stupid, I don't remember, but you can see hair algae and trees of codium seaweed growing all over the place. The corals were healthy because all the bad stuff was in the algae. I didn't do anything except let it go through it's cycle and it disappeared. I did have to suck a lot of it out though. I don't know about phosphate as people are always saying to boil rocks to eliminate it. All of that gravel and most of those rocks have been in there from the 60s or 70s. No boiling yet and there is no algae in my tank now. So much for phosphate infused rocks which I think is a fairy tale like Tinker Bell who I actually like. I feel people think to much into this stuff as it is not that difficult. Algae will sometimes go through a cycle no matter if you boil it, change water, add magnesium, stand on your head or offer up tea leaves to the moon. None of those things work (with the exception of the leaves thing) If any of those things worked, there would be no hair algae now would there? Edited November 10, 2015 by paul b Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob A November 10, 2015 Share November 10, 2015 I have been having a hair algae issue in my frag tank for months now and it's pretty discouraging, although it's getting better recently. I haven't tried the leaves thing yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ctenophore November 10, 2015 Share November 10, 2015 If you do manual removal, it will grow right back. You need to address the source of the nutrients feeding the algae. Take a look at All In One biopellets, PO4x4, or GFO. Any of those will reduce phosphates. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monkiboy November 10, 2015 Share November 10, 2015 the photo that the OP tried to post of his tank and algae: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lutz123 November 11, 2015 Share November 11, 2015 That algae doesn't look insurmountable. When I used mexican turbos I put 12 in a 34 gallon tank. It would be a hefty investment for a larger tank but I did very little work (mostly because I would remove a bunch and it would be back in a day or two). They took care of it in just a couple of weeks. It did not return even though I never did test for phosphates or nitrates and didn't add gfo/carbon or anything else. I was initially super excited about emeralds because they attacked it immediately after dropping them in, but after a week they decided they would much rather eat snails. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rebekwl April 9, 2016 Author Share April 9, 2016 Update: Livestock Transferred to this tank now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rebekwl April 9, 2016 Author Share April 9, 2016 And we are back to square one.. Tank going through small cycle after a complete breakdown/cleaning.. I think we are gonna leave the other livestock in the downstairs tank and get some new residents for this one.. Everybody loves new fish!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rebekwl April 17, 2016 Author Share April 17, 2016 Also forgot to mention:the water coming from our RO/DI unit had small amounts of ammonia. We believe this was the culprit. We've replaced the filters and so far so good... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YHSublime April 17, 2016 Share April 17, 2016 Also forgot to mention:the water coming from our RO/DI unit had small amounts of ammonia. We believe this was the culprit. We've replaced the filters and so far so good... woah... when was the last time you changed your filters? And the membrane? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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