Jack-the-reefer Posted February 18, 2015 Share Posted February 18, 2015 So... I've been battling GHA popping up all over the 40b. It's mostly in the sand, but is popping up on the rocks quite a bit now too. I just tested my RODI water and it's reading 3 on the tds meter. I know 0 is best, and I'm ordering new filters, but is 3 enough to cause the algae or should I be looking elsewhere? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Dave Posted February 19, 2015 Share Posted February 19, 2015 What kind of lighting do you have and how old are your lights? When I had MH and VHO I would tend to get an outbreak when it was time to change lights. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack-the-reefer Posted February 19, 2015 Author Share Posted February 19, 2015 Ocean revive led's. It's not that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Dave Posted February 19, 2015 Share Posted February 19, 2015 Maybe too many nutrients?? Do you feed heavy? What do you have for filtration? Skimmer? Only LR? I always have luck with Turbo snails for the rocks. As far as the sandy areas, I've tried both a Diamond Goby and a Yellow head Sleeper Goby - the diamond goby would bury any frag I had on the sand and/or make huge mounds from digging out holes. My sand was crystal clean but he had to go since I was loosing too many frags. The sleeper goby worked for me - he would scoop up sand and swim around so it would sprinkle a bit but not bury anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Exodus Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 Ocean revive led's. It's not that. Actually have you made any adjustments to the LED settings? I have battled GHA many times, and got one nasty case directly after adjusting my AI SOL settings and got a bad spectrum, had to readjust the settings and within a couple weeks it quickly disapeared. the best thing I can advise weekly water changes and ensure you are vaccumming the top layer of sand lightly, cut back on feeding makesure you still have an adequete cleaning crew (They die off over time) and spot remove large clumps of it with a toothbrush and hopefully that helps. Phosphates/Nitrates are typically the culpriate see if there is a source to track down and nip it in the butt. good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matty Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 I have a Hanna phosphate checker if you need it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack-the-reefer Posted February 20, 2015 Author Share Posted February 20, 2015 I got the water tested. Nitrate and Phosphate both showed 0. But I'm sure it's all tied up in the algae. I'm going to up the water changes for the next little while. I feed everything in the tank from tweezers, so I know there I don't overfeed. I also don't really have any snails in the tank. So that's going to happen this weekend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saltwater newbie Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 Get some red banded trochus snails well worth the money by far the best snails. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ninjabeaver Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 Get some red banded trochus snails well worth the money by far the best snails.My favorite workers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheClark Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 For me I had phosphate laden sand. Once I started siphoning that out, things were allot better. Reasons vary for everyone but that was my experience. Good luck, it was a several month battle for me, quite miserable! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack-the-reefer Posted February 20, 2015 Author Share Posted February 20, 2015 I was wondering about the rocks and sand. I got them all off Craigslist. They were long dead when I got them. So I have no idea what conditions they were in when they were previously set up. Would they start leaching as soon as the tank was set up? It's been running for 8 months now, and this is a fairly new issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheClark Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 My rock and sand was heavily used also. However many people get away with it without issue all the time. For some odd reason for me, it took many months then I had a GHA explosion! I have all these early pictures of the tank and the rock is spotless. Then out of the blue, bam! The rumor is it will absorb phosphate up to a point, then start releasing it. Did you get a chance to test phosphate? My phosphate was quite high during all of this. I did allot to try and reduce it but ultimately it started taking care of itself when I took out the sand. Once the sand was gone, the cleanup crew could actually keep up. I have thee very fat sea hair's that are going to need a new home as they ate every last spec of GHA. Again, not saying this is always the cause, just sharing my particular situation. Personally after this, as a wise reefer told me 'any new rock in my tank will go through the muriatic acid treatment' and I am on board with that to avoid this in the future. Good luck, it is so frustrating! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bombertech Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 Jack, cover up the 660nm reds on your fixture while you combat the Hair Algae, it will help I'd recommend taking your sand out in quarters and rinsing it very well. As previously stated, the rock can leach the organics back into the water. If it gets out of control, you can always bleach/acid bath a rock or two at a time. The only thing to watch for when swapping out a lot of rock at a time is depleting your anerobic bacteria; it takes a long time to establish deep in the LR. So, if you over do the rock swaps you have to compensate with more water changes to keep nitrates down, macroalgae also helps. We just ran through the same thing over here on a fellow reefer's tank. If you end up needing some well established rock let me know and I can swap you some, I've got plenty... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandinga Posted February 21, 2015 Share Posted February 21, 2015 (edited) Time to BATTLE! Can you check your Mag?? 0 TDS is important yes. Time to really limit the nutrient import. How are you exporting PO4 and NO3? Refugium, algae scrubber, carbon dosing, or just water changes? Cheers Edited February 21, 2015 by Mandinga Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack-the-reefer Posted February 21, 2015 Author Share Posted February 21, 2015 Skimmer, fuge, and water changes. I'm getting a decent amount of red slime on the macros in tge fuge too though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandinga Posted February 21, 2015 Share Posted February 21, 2015 I've got the gha in my fuge, and it's doing quite well. I'd put some gha in the fuge and see if it'll grow down there. Then in the display, just beef up the clean up crew...lots of good recommendations on critters that'll eat it. I believe that each and every tank will at some point encounter gha. I also believe that gha has a half life that will eventually run its course...IF the aquarist is willing to battle it by manual removal, limiting input of P04, and the addition of a wicked awesome cleanup crew! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack-the-reefer Posted February 22, 2015 Author Share Posted February 22, 2015 The plan for now is lots of water changes, and pulling it as fast as it grows. I also dumped a bunch of snails in yesterday. I figure it'll run out of food eventually. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
icepikbiker Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 Why not just get yourself a tang? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack-the-reefer Posted February 22, 2015 Author Share Posted February 22, 2015 It's just a 40 breeder. I don't want that big of a fish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
icepikbiker Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 oh ok gotcha, what about a lawn mower blenny? They usually don't need a lot of room. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack-the-reefer Posted February 23, 2015 Author Share Posted February 23, 2015 I had one for a while. He wouldn't touch the algae for some reason. I found him a new home when he started looking skinny. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
icepikbiker Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 I had one for a while but quickly cleaned what he could and wouldn't eat pellets or nori, sadly I wasn't able to get him out of my tank before he died. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheClark Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 Sea Hares are unbelievably good. You would need him for a few days then probably be looking to rehome him though, they are that good! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
icepikbiker Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 Maybe see if you could rent/ borrow one from someone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack-the-reefer Posted March 2, 2015 Author Share Posted March 2, 2015 Okay... I've been doing 5 gallon water changes every 3-4 days. I still have algae growth, except now it's more of a red/brown color. Good sign? Bad sign? Impending doom!? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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