trueblackpercula,

I posted before that it would not touch my bubble algae but then again I didn't state what type of bubble algae I had. It might work on Ventricaria ventricosa or Valonia but will not kill Derbesia(a type of hair algae which resembles Ventricaria ventricosa but it floats when unattached). PhreeBYrd is right in saying "misidentification" is a huge problem when it comes to algae.

APIS Claims:

ALGAEFIX Marine controlled:
o 100% of the Spirulina major culture
o 98% of the Oscillatoria culture
o 100% of the Cladophora culture
o 94% of the Cyclotella culture

I am new to the hobby and used your thread to figure out how to attack the problem of hair algae (I've even bought a blenny to try to work at it with no success). This thread has been really helpful in thinking about the next course of action. I will let you all know how my treatment goes.

Peace

Well it's been 24 hrs since my first dose and all i can say is wow. after months of doing WC and trying a sea slug and sea hare to no avail. I cant believe that 2 1/2 caps of this stuff and i can see the GHA falling apart. I am now able to see my returns that before where completly smothered with GHA. Also my whole sand bed was covered with cyano. now it lifting off like a carpet and decomposing. Also i notice there is some serious denitrification going on. alot of bubbles are coming out of the sand and coming out. I can now see most of my rock and the GHA that was smothering my corals is now receding and thats in just one dose? i spent $40 on those Slugs and a $14.99 bottle is fixing my problem. Well i will be doing my second dose tomorrow and hopefully it keeps dying off. after my 3rd dose i will do a 50g WC and do another 2 doses after that and see what happens.

This is what I have, and believe to be Bryopsis.

I tried the elevated Mg. Even used Tech-M. I had Mg over 1600 for 2 months. Had it over 1800 for 3 months. It stunted its growth, but that's all.

If anyone has had success with Algae Fix on this evil weed, please chime in or PM me.

http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t...h/Bryopsis.jpg

wow that looks ugly. Is it only on that rock? or all over the tank?

I did my 03rd dose today so far no changes.I also have a phosban and carbon reactor running and also purigen.I have not made any WC till now.

Let's hope and I am crossing my fingers.. :cool:

I, too did my third dose today with no visible changes yet. All my parameters are in line as well. I'll keep everyone updated.

Did my 12th treatment today on the every 3-day regimen. The algae is about 98% cleared off the aquascape rocks and rock wall, and holding steady. One small patch of hair algae on one of my rocks is holding on, as is some algae up near my lights, on the overflow.

Now the bad news. My mushrooms are definitely unhappy. My ricordea have lost some color and are somewhat deflated. The only other change I made to my tank was to boost my calcium levels to see if I could finally get some coralline algae growing, in place of the dying HA. This was a success, but I doubt the elevated calcium (about 500 PPM) is irritating my mushrooms.

The only other large change that I've noticed is that I've had a tremendous increase in the number of amphipods in my tank, since I've been running fishless for about 6 weeks. Could the amphipods be irritating my mushrooms? This seems like a stretch, since my mushrooms are all mounted vertically on my rock wall.

When I started:

http://i345.photobucket.com/albums/p...3047/ALGAE.jpg

Current pic:

http://i345.photobucket.com/albums/p...047/6-2-09.jpg

I'm going to discontinue the Algaefix and get my GFO and GAC running again, and see if my mushrooms come back.

Bruno,

At around the 10th or so dose is when the AlgaeFix started killing my chaeto. I don't know what to say, except that one may start to see negative effects after you hit the 10th dose on the 3 day basis. Perhaps giving your system a brake for a week may help and then hit it again?

I'm definitely interested in following up on your progress in this situation. ;)

Hey Cliff.

I'll get my GFO and GAC running again in the next few days, then probably give the tank a break from the Algaefix for at least a week, maybe two.

I'd really like to see if I can keep the HA at bay going forward with just controlling my PO4 and NO3 levels.

BTW. I did not see any increase in my PO4 and NO3 levels since the HA die-off, but then again, I haven’t been feeding anything since I’ve been running fishless.

We'll see what happens after I re-introduce my fish to the tank in a couple weeks.

HighlandReefer
Thanks for the help ............can someone post what pest does this work on and what it does not work on.
Michael

APIS Claims:

ALGAEFIX Marine controlled:
o 100% of the Spirulina major culture
o 98% of the Oscillatoria culture
o 100% of the Cladophora culture
o 94% of the Cyclotella culture

Would there be anything in ALGAEFIX Marine that would skew Alk, or magnesium tests?

I haven't seen any differences in mine.

The manufacturer did not test many types of algae to get their EPA label. The ones listed above are the ones they tested successfully. In general, AlgaeFix has worked for the green hair algae category of pests. Unfortunately, most hobbyists do not have the capability to properly ID algae type pests. IME, the AlgaeFix did help control the red cyano after about 10 doses or so. Other hobbyists have used AlgaeFix to control some of your macroalgae, but it will probably take at least 10 doses to control macro. I also had a blue green cyano that AlgaeFix worked well on.

I am always interested in any hobbyists who try to control any type of algae pest, but very interested in anyone who wants to try some of the other type algae pests such as bubble algae and bryopsis or even perhaps some of the dinoflagellates. :)

My hunch is that AlgaeFix may work on some of the tougher algae pests, but may very well take at least 10 doses, which is where many hobbyists begin to see some kind of problems.

After 1 dose, I noticed a pretty big drop in HA.
Hoping it helps with the bubble and bryopsis.

Was that in your 240?

i got home to find more GHA gone just with one dose. i read the bottle says something about cancer. is it safe to stick my hand in the tank? i notice the GHA look brittle now and looks like it can be pull out easily now. tomorrow night will be my 2nd dose.

Yes it is.

Wow! That's great! Too bad i'm on my third dose with no change...it'll be my luck that it won't work for me.

I have some patches i want to get rid of.. before I try it out i have some questions.

-Will this have any impact on the bacteria in the live rock?
-Is it safe to use with delicate corals like SPS and safe with Clams?
-and Can I use the freshwater version of AlgaeFix? My LFS only orders the freshwater kind and I have quick access to it

Thanks

I believe it's safe with all of the above. I'm using it on a SPS tank with clams and i haven't seen any signs of distress. As far as using the freshwater vs. marine... i couldn't say. Perhaps HighlandReefer would know..

The fresh water AlgaeFix and the Marine AlgaeFix have the same active ingredient and concentration. They may be identical except the label. I am not going to say that the fresh water version is safe to use though. :D

Anyone want to be a Guinea pig? :)

thanks cnaegler, maybe HighlandReefer can confirm. I'll pick up a bottle tomorrow evening if the FW version works

just order it from Marine depot to be safe. I got mine from PetSmart and got $3 off a bottle. Any Petsmarts in your area?

I read earlier in the thread that its the same thing. I could go by petsmart to see if they have some but since I work at my LFS I can pick up the freshwater bottle

I'm just wondering if it would do anything to the biological filtration?

Ruben:

Although the two AlgaeFix products have the same active ingredient, I would have to assume that AP has a reason for marketing them separately, and that they are not in all respects the same.

I personally would not use the freshwater version in a reef tank.

The AlgaeFix active ingredients consists of only 4.5%. It is the other 95.5% that we have to worry about. There is no published data that I can find that states what contaminates may be in that 95.5%. The manufacturer may refine that 95.5% in some way to help remove as many contaminates as possible. That said, the manufacture had to pay a lot of money to get the marine EPA level and they may be trying to make up for some of their expenses. :)

So can someone answer this. can i stick my hand in the tank. I read the bottle saying something about cancer and now im afraid to stick my hand in an pull out the GHA. Any one stick their hand in the tank after dosing and still has their hand attached to them?

I have done this many times and still have my hands and arms. And if I grow lumps, well then, i'll name them and pet them. Hey! We might even have a "who's cancerous lumps are larger" contest!

I think you have a lot more to worry about with gasoline. Ever look at the label on the side of the pumps and that isn't just for the state of California. There are a lot of things we eat, like mushrooms that are included in California's regulations. This warning applies to the state of California only. ;)

Rob aka STR:
Maybe I missed something, but it sounds to me as though you may be overdosing slightly. 2-1/2 capfuls, at least on my bottle, would be 25 ml, or the dosage for 250 gal of system water. A 225g tank plus sump, less rock, substrate, etc.; seems like it should be less than 250g of actual system water. Can you clarify your system, and let us know what type of algae you believe you're dealing with?

I gave my first dose yesterday, not much different today.

First Dose. I forget to put my lens and double dose my 125g tank; just find out that 1 cap is equal to 10ml.

Anyway everything looks fine after 12hr.

4th dose today. Seems like some is breaking loose but that may be wishful thinking

Has anyone thought of checking your source water? I had a HUGE GHA problem last year, and after 9 months of frustration and expense of testing my water, I finally broke down the tank and disposed of everything. Perhaps not the brightest of moves, but I thought it was at least a cure. Or so I thought. I bleached the tank, and purchased (at a great expense) all new live sand, rock, etc. And guess what.... the tank looks great, but is starting to grow the GHA again! can you believe this. Ok, so now I need to figure out why. I always knew it was either a nitrate or phospate problem. Bulbls replaced, so not that. Then I tested my R/O source water for nitrates with salifert. Guess what.. it was the same as my main tank (50) or 5 according to the low range. So I purchased new filters, and a TDS monitor which not alerts me to the detection of any nitrates, phosphates, and silica in my r/o water. I've picked the small bits of algae off of the plant in my tank, and am currently doing 20% water changes in my tank. Will keep you updated, but just food for thought to check the r/o system. You really want 0ppm reading, anthing else, and change the filters.

Oh yeah, that's the first thing i checked.:D

Did my 04th dose today,so far no changes yet.However I have gone three days lights off starting from y'day.Cheatos are doing ok.

Second dose today 30ml on change positive or nrgitave.

i'm at 5th dose and my algae is definately thinner. and it comes off easier. when i pull it out it breaks free much easier than before. I need to do something to remove the nitrate and PO4 once algae is reduced to an acceptable level. I think i'll load my reactor up with GFO.
Any thoughts on Zeovit?

Ok, how about this.. the nitrates and or phosphates have to be coming from somewhere. Either over feeding, supplements with organic components, overstocked aquarium, or source water (which you've already stated checks out fine). I found that I was dosing my tank with DT"s live phyto, I was following the manufactures recommended dosing, and my nitrates would be higher the next day. I cut the dose in half, and it started to go down. Of course, as mentioned before, they are on the rise again, but I am contriubiting this to the poor source water. Again, just a thought.

Was just reviewing my copy of Brightwells "The Nano-Reef Handbook", and it mentions (as stated above in regards to the organic components) that chelated calcium containes calcium gluconate which is a organic material. And "it can rapidly cause water quality to deteriorate as dissolved organic material acrues". If you have been dosing your tank with a lot of calcium, then this too could be a source of phospates and nitrates in the tank. let me know what you think.

I wonder if this could be a source with the Randy's Two Part? I know my tank is dirty enough to be causing it all on its own without the help of percipitated compounds, but this would certinly be an avenue worth looking into.
Nice call flrn!

Randy's two-part uses calcium chloride. No organics.

Cliff

Skipped my dose yesterday and, believe it or nor, a couple of my rics have already perked up somewhat from the moribund state that the Algaefix put them into.

I’m about 90% sure, at this point, that the Algaefix was killing my mushrooms, slowly but surely. I’m going to discontinue the dosing altogether now and see if I can make that 100% sure. Two of my smaller frags that I cut just before starting the Algaefix regimen detached from their moorings and refused to reattach in my small in-tank refugium, preferring instead to just dissolve.

As you can see from my “before and after” pics that I posted on page 19 of this thread, all of my mushrooms had taken on a lifeless, deflated look after 12 doses of Algaefix. The regression had actually started almost immediately after I began the dosing, then got progressively worse.

My bristle worms have become washed out in color and are not seen out in the open at all, even after lights out.

I suspect that whatever the active ingredient in the Algaefix does to kill the hair algae also plays havoc with the zooxanthellae in the ricordea. I’d be curious to know if you noticed any stress in your photosynthetic corals.

Anyway, there is another product out there that is made for controlling hair algae in marine and reef tanks that I used successfully years ago when I had my last tank. The only problem with it was that it would rob the water of dissolved oxygen and give it a slight “foamy” texture.

I think my experiment with the Algaefix is done for now, especially if my mushrooms continue to improve now that I’ve discontinued treatment.

If I can’t keep the HA under control by controlling nutrients, then I’ll probably give the product I used to use a shot.

I’ll keep you posted if you’re interested.

I had no problems with "mushrooms" at all. In fact, I wish it did slow down their growth. I have not dosed this product in weeks and my hair algae has not returned. The cyano that came after the death of the hair algae has pretty much subsided and things look great.

My nitrates and phosphates were zero before and after using this product. I suspect that my live rock was leaching out nutrients to fuel the growth as it was rock that I had allowed to dry out when upgrading to my current tank.

All seems fine now, and I'm glad I used the product.

i figured I'd do a cleaning before the 2nd dose,
and I was very surprised at how much of the HA that came out compared to before the first dose.

so far I'm happy.

I think i'll try pulling some out tomorrow...should come out easily ...especially after the fourth dose.

After my third dose, I can say that ha has stopped growing almost completely. No new has grown where I managed to remove it and no new has appeared anywhere I can see.
There are spots I couldn't manually remove it and they are still there, but not growing.

Bruno,

It does appear that at around the 10th dose when using the every 3 days routine for AlgaeFix, may start to cause some problems. At least any hobbyists who need to dose the AlgaeFix that long should be very watchfully for any negative changes and discontinue if problems do start.

If there is another algaecide labeled for reef tanks, let us know which product it is. I am interested in following up with your situation. ;)