♥Heart of the Reef♥ Posted October 26, 2012 Share Posted October 26, 2012 I have a ducans coral with multiple heads. when we got it it had a little bit of green algee on it. the problem is its gotten a lot worse and i think its starting to kill the ducans coral. we pulled it out of the tank and srubbed as much off as we could, then put it back. it seems like its growing faster. grr... I got a good deal on this coral and dont want to watch it die. the algee is only on the ducans coral, it hasnt spread, doesnt seem to interested in leaving this coral alone. its dark green algee. I would appreciate any ideas, advice, or remedies. thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arminius Posted October 26, 2012 Share Posted October 26, 2012 try a coral dip maybe even a hydrogen-peroxide dip 1 part peroxide to 10 parts tank water and add a little peroxide until the mouth of the coral begin to "sizzle" slightly - leave it in there for a couple of minutes then swirl the coral head in clean tank water for 5 or ten minutes, then back in the tank in a lower light area - observe for the course of a few days...It has really worked out well for me in the past. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
♥Heart of the Reef♥ Posted October 26, 2012 Author Share Posted October 26, 2012 by sizzle you mean, the peroxide starts to bubble/sizzle around the coral. would it be fine to do it once i turn out the lights for the night, or does the coral still need some light after the dip? thanks for your help Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stylaster Posted October 26, 2012 Share Posted October 26, 2012 Your missing the point of the problem. You really need to address what is causing the excessive algae growth. Most likely its either phosphates or nitrate issues. You need to test those levels and see where you are at. Do two 50% water changes over two weeks and that should help some. Make sure your skimmer is working properly. Also check what kelvin your lights are. If your running close to 10k then 20k your going to get more algae growth. How long is your photo-period? How much do you feed your fish, what is your fish load in comparison to your tank volume? How do you export excess nutrients? Do you run a sand bed, do you clean it? Run some carbon in the tank that will remove any phenols that are in the water that the skimmer isnt picking up. Be sure to run phosphate remover and replace it on a schedule according to what brand you use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arminius Posted October 26, 2012 Share Posted October 26, 2012 Stylaster is right - the treatment I have prescribed is going after getting the stuff local to the animal in question. I sort of presume that all the parameter issues are being addressed. Lots of good info on dipping (iodine, peroxide, others) out on the internet though. And tons of expert advice here on water and lighting conditions obviously. Lots of local reefers really know their stuff, as I have discovered from reading their posts. Best of luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alterego Posted October 26, 2012 Share Posted October 26, 2012 NHow old are your bulbs? Are you using city water? Or RO/DI Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
♥Heart of the Reef♥ Posted October 27, 2012 Author Share Posted October 27, 2012 Arminius ill try your dip idea, sounds the most promising.. thanks for all the help. Yes i do regular water changes with ro/di water and test regularly too.. my tank parameters have always been very good. the algae is localized to the duncans head, it was on the it when we got it, from another individual. I dont have a algae problem any were else in my tank. its just on this piece and its consuming it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toby Flenderson Posted October 27, 2012 Share Posted October 27, 2012 Do you have a picture? You might try to give it one more manual removal before the dip. Have you tested for Phos? It can build up no matter how good your water change routine. Running a GFO reactor can be done economically through brs and is a great way to remove P. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dtech07 Posted October 27, 2012 Share Posted October 27, 2012 Do have pictures and what are you tank parameters? This may help a little more on the fix. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
♥Heart of the Reef♥ Posted October 27, 2012 Author Share Posted October 27, 2012 just did the dip, took off a bunch that was on the base and stems, but didnt take off to much on the heads them selves, will keep a eye on it for the next few days to see how it does. hope this helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burningbaal Posted October 27, 2012 Share Posted October 27, 2012 I'd bet that ducan came from a tank that had high phosphates/nitrates, particularly in a dirty sandbed. I don't know where it came from, but that's my bet. therefore, the skeleton of it is overloaded from soaking in the nutrients. if your tank parameters are right and you scrub off what you can as often as possible, it should diminish over time. Think of it as the stony part having been bathing in algae food for months/years. you've transplanted it into a low-algae-food environment (so you tell us, though numbers would be helpful). so the algae will continue to grow as long as the nutrients are there (and there's enough light). You could light-starve it, but it'll just grow again once the lights are back on. you can dip it, but it will just grow again after it recovers. you've just got to keep removing it for a few weeks (hopefully not longer). As the algae grows, it'll pull the nutrients out of the skeleton, into the algae, which you remove. enough iterations of this will cause it to eventually starve out. It probably did grow faster after you removed a bunch because it was growing closer to the nutrient source. I, personally, wouldn't focus on a dip because it doesn't remove the nutrients and, in fact, slows the algae growth so it'll just drag the problem out. just my $0.02 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harold B Posted October 28, 2012 Share Posted October 28, 2012 I've had good results with algaefix to eliminate the overgrowth/get it under control while changing filter socks constantly and keeping an eye on ammonia. But you must pinpoint the root causes and make the nessesary changes in order to be completely successfull. EXCESS NUTRIENTS! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gill Posted October 28, 2012 Share Posted October 28, 2012 Your missing the point of the problem. You really need to address what is causing the excessive algae growth. Most likely its either phosphates or nitrate issues. You need to test those levels and see where you are at. Do two 50% water changes over two weeks and that should help some. Make sure your skimmer is working properly. Also check what kelvin your lights are. If your running close to 10k then 20k your going to get more algae growth. How long is your photo-period? How much do you feed your fish' date=' what is your fish load in comparison to your tank volume? How do you export excess nutrients? Do you run a sand bed, do you clean it? Run some carbon in the tank that will remove any phenols that are in the water that the skimmer isnt picking up. Be sure to run phosphate remover and replace it on a schedule according to what brand you use.[/quote'] I usually agree with stylaster because he knows way more about this hobby than I do; that being said I totally disagree on this one. You can come test my water and it will max out every test strip IE my water is terrible, however I have ZERO bryopsis, bubble algae, hair algae, majanos, aptasia or flatworms; i do have a problem with coraline though. Don't get me wrong I'm sure these would all thrive/take over my system but that is my point, I refuse to let them in. I will not put any of the above into my system and I will kill any frag which carries them. This obviously becomes more difficult when you are buy/trading a lot (I'm on a budget so I don't get many new corals.) I believe in a varied group of herbivores and prevention, prevention, prevention. You will not have these undesirable critters/algaes I you don't let them in, in the first place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
♥Heart of the Reef♥ Posted October 28, 2012 Author Share Posted October 28, 2012 burningbaal has it right. came from a tank that wasn't being taken care of/ he was breaking down. Gill i totally understand and agree with you on prevention. unfortunately im lacking a full clean up crew. I had shrimp, crabs snails and cucumbers. BUt my wrasse ate the srimp and some crabs, so im stuck with mostly snails and cucumbers (and the few crabs that made it through) at this point. I have always maintained a healthy clean tank. I haven't had any issues. just this one piece of coral that came with algae already living on it.. here my parameters: Ph 8.1 Phos 0-0.25 Nitrate 0 nitrite 0 free iron 0 calcium 580 KH 110 Magnesium 1250 my photo cycle is 10hrs on 14 hrs off Temp is 78.6 I do regular water changes(10-15%) and sand bed cleaning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gill Posted October 28, 2012 Share Posted October 28, 2012 Have seen cap snails before? They are little hitchhikers who come out mostly at night. They reproduce on their own and do a great job. Most LFS have them in their tanks; it might be worth asking your shop if they can round some up for you. Just put them in after lights out so the wrasse doesn't get them. Having a variety of snails seems to help, I think they each have different algaes that they prefer/dislike. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
♥Heart of the Reef♥ Posted October 28, 2012 Author Share Posted October 28, 2012 Um not sure. ever since i lost the shrimp, i have been getting a variety of snails, and little crabs. i dont remember all the types, just know i have some of every kind the lfs carried. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
♥Heart of the Reef♥ Posted November 7, 2012 Author Share Posted November 7, 2012 my ducans head is doing good, recovered from the peroxide dip. looks great and no algae. yippy thanks for all the help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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