Algae and corals.. (1 Viewer)

[mario8402]

Those who have had to re-do a tank due to algae, what are you doing with your corals? will the algae follow to the new setup?
I have been battling hair algae or bryopsis and nothing wants to eat it and no products will kill it.. thinking about taking everything out and nuking everything, possibly bathing my rocks in acid.. what to do with the corals? I hate to try to sell and pass the algae onto someone else but I also hate to get rid of them since I have grown them out myself... what did you do?

 

[Mark L.]

I don't think you can pass hair algae onto another tank just from the coral. Now if the coral is attached to a rock that is covered in HA then sure the HA will go with it. If that is the case then remove the coral (frag it) from the rock and it should be ok.

 

[DustinB]

Are you sure it's bryopsis? If it's just regular algae, then it's a nutrient problem. Do you run GFO or anything?

There's no reason to redo a tank from bryopsis. Elevated magnesium with Kent Tech M has very good results. I restarted a tank partly from algae, but it was from 2 types of caulerpa.

 

[mario8402]

problem is that some of the rocks that the corals are on are covered with algae.. my baseball candy cane coral has algae growin on the branches deep within, my birdnest are all pretty much drowned out and my frogspawns and hammers all have the algae growing on the branches deep within.. there is no simple "remove the algae" and i would have to bust up a softball size hammer and scrape the algae off each branch? no thx
this stuff is bad, i think it could be passed.

 

[DustinB]

You're going to have to post a pic. I am still leaning toward a nutrient problem. I run such a clean tank that any algae added to the tank withers and dies quickly.

There's no reason that removing the nutrient problem shouldn't kill off the algae without issue. Unless of course, it is bryopsis. Then I would try elevating mag as mentioned.

 

[mario8402]

Are you sure it's bryopsis? If it's just regular algae, then it's a nutrient problem. Do you run GFO or anything?

There's no reason to redo a tank from bryopsis. Elevated magnesium with Kent Tech M has very good results. I restarted a tank partly from algae, but it was from 2 types of caulerpa.

I have purchased a brand new 6 stage ro unit March this year putting out 0 TDS, I run carbon 24/7, I have run rowaphos, wet skim with a reef octopus extreme 250, elevated the mag with kent tech m, manual removal, run 3x250w pheonix bulbs for 6.5hrs a day purchased in Feb
I have to clean my koralias every few days because they get clogged up and dont put anything out. at this point, its either nuke the tank or sell the whole thing.

 

[mario8402]

ill try to get some pics but its nasty.
I have also tried tangs, rabbitfish, sea hare, snails.
The rocks were from another tang that was taken out due to algae but I nuked them in bleach for 2 weeks, fw for 3 weeks, and then let them dry out. I then cycled them for about a month. this didnt start until recently and has just been getting worse... like clean the overflow grills and gain about 6in of waterlevel in my sump worse.

 

[Mark L.]

I agree with Dustin that its a nutrient problem. Your rocks are probably leaching phosphates. Is there any reason you haven't tried using GFO? I run it and my tank is so clean I actually have a hard time keeping my LPS corals fed and alive. I think I'm at the edge of starvation all the time. My SPS are doing great and not a spec of algae.

 

[mario8402]

I do? rowaphos is gfo

 

[DustinB]

It really does depend on the algae, but if it is just hair algae then it can be beat with nutrient removal.

Try taking a powerhead and blowing the rocks off every couple days to remove anything that may be settled. Water changes and aggressive GFO use after that should kill any algae. rowaphos is supposed to be GFO, but there are no tests showing the effectiveness of rowaphos compared to something like BRS GFO. rowaphos is very expensive though.

What is your PO4 testing at?

 

[Mark L.]

Doh! Sorry I completely missed that. I'm not too familiar with rowaphos. Do you have it tumbling in a reactor or is it in a media bag somewhere?

 

[davidsugarland]

Very cheap and effective treatment for HA: spend $10.99 on a bottle AlgaeFix Marine !
We saw this reef tank full of inches long green HA. Looks very "au naturel!". We came back 3 weeks later and found the same tank was relatively clean: the reefer show us a bottle of Algaefix Marine!

 

[NarnyTheGreat]

I checked the reviews on Marine depot . com.

While there are MANY positive reviews there are also a few, not so positive ones also. Some people claim this product killed some fishes and inverts (mostly inverts including snails from what I could see)

If you take out the inverts and fish you should be fine. Other than that I would try it if it were me.

I have had it BAD before. I ended up FILLING my tank with macro algae. I got about 7 or 8 different pieces from another member here and it worked like a charm.

 

[blitz69]

I'm still learning as well, but have u thought about shutting down ur lights? Put the tank in complete darkness as well as run gfo like crazy... id have to agree about the rowafos. Never really read any great reviews compaired to othe gfo (brs, like mentioned earlier, has great reviews and results) also how is ur macro? Light time? Could it have re sexed? Like I said I'm still learning and could b wrong in everything I just said, but I'm trying to remember everthing I have read about everything... hope u get this fixed. I would nuke ur tank just yet. Eventually it has to starve its self....oh wut about u food, could that b feeding ur algae?

 

[RR-MAN]

Those who have had to re-do a tank due to algae, what are you doing with your corals? will the algae follow to the new setup?
I have been battling hair algae or bryopsis and nothing wants to eat it and no products will kill it.. thinking about taking everything out and nuking everything, possibly bathing my rocks in acid.. what to do with the corals? I hate to try to sell and pass the algae onto someone else but I also hate to get rid of them since I have grown them out myself... what did you do?

Mario, if it looks bad and not fixable then just nuke it. You are experienced enough to make the right decision.

If I were you, I would start with new rock.

 

[Kabuto]

Algeafix is getting good reviews.

I had a tank full of HA and byropsis algea (wasn't taking care of tank for a while) and got rid of it by dipping my rock in a 25% solution of tank water and Hydrogen Peroxide. Also shook and used a powerhead to clean the rock. Some coral don't like H2O2 (xenia, some SPS) so you have to have some bare rock. Dipped a blasto frag and worked great. Then ran GFO in a HOB filter and dosed vodka. Got some chaeto a month later and had trouble with it dieing because I got it too clean. Had to stop dosing vodka. I don't have much livestock right now and wasn't feeding much.

 

[mario8402]

dustinb- yeah i guess it does depend. pics i have seen of bryopsis or HA i cant really distinguish.. regardless its a pita. I do water changes and seems to make it greener. i had another member test my phos with a high dollar phos meter and it was there but wasnt bad? i dont remember exact numbers but it seemed low?

badls1- the rowa is in a reactor boiling as it should be

david&narny- i have heard of algaefix, that is one thing that I havent tried. just didnt want to do too many chemicals for the inverts etc.

blitz- i have done a blackout for a week. I havent fed my tank in 2 weeks trying to get the tangs hungry for it a with no results. I run chaeto reverse cylce and it doesnt seem to grow much.

rr-man- thats what im thinking but it aint cheap and I dont wanna lose my corals :-x

kabuto-thought about vodka but i dont want to complicate the matters.

at this point it really isnt on how to get rid of the algae, but more of will it come back if it rides in on a coral plug. ihate to toss all my corals out but removing from a hammer isnt really easy

 

[NarnyTheGreat]

If you are really at that point I would just try the Algeafix. Cant hurt especially if you might toss everything anyway.

 

[DustinB]

Take a good picture of it and we'll see.

 

[andrew7b]

Its the same algae that Karlo had last yrs. He gave up after a yrs. battling it. The reading was .04 from your RO and .06 from the sump. I seen the tank 2 weeks ago. Its pretty bad.