I would recommend using the Salifert test kit, it has a low range and seems very accurate. Just make sure your source water is reading 0ppm, and that you are not adding in any other organics with supplements you may be adding.. .check the label! Some of those supplements could also be the source of your extra organic waste if you are having phospate and or nitrate problems. I too would only recommend every 3rd day water changes.

Not exactly what I would consider an even remotely convincing argument. I had the cleaning lady at the local pharmacy look at the stuff, and she disagreed. And then she left the country, presumably to do more testing.

Funny how you would say that with out knowing anything about the testing and are basically blowing hot hair. It has been ID twice, one in part an once fully. That one place was Germany where you are not allowed to put products on the market without divulging its full active ingredients if requested, as deceptive advertising is not allowed there. They don't allow hype there. It was also ID by a university professor who has a Ph.D in Organic chemistry who ID erythromycin /esters/salts but not that is was actually Erythromycin cetyl sulfate, as he had no clue what it was when tested, let alone being sulfate based. If he would have known that it would have been a second + ID.

Not much merit in this

his surviving original team members. So for kicks I asked my acquaintance about the Boyd's product and gave him a sample to look at. He did explain to me that positively identifying compounds (esters and salts) of erythromycin is a fairly complex, multistep process, but there were certain indicators one could look for, and he had a (much) younger colleague take a look. The verdict was that if the Boyd's product contained any erythromycin compounds,

Your so called friends seem to be clueless and did not real testing and are guessing :lol: And yes it has small amounts and when using Succinate it is the same. Large amounts of these will wipe out a nitrification bed 100 %, such as those when used as a fish antibiotic at full dosage. It is the #1 antibiotic on the list for killing nitrifying bacteria along with MB. Despite the fact it is a gram positive drug it has a massive impact on gram negative nitrifying bacteria. So much for knowing what you know or should I say don't know. Take it to a lab and have is assayed and you will find out it is as stated, Erythromycin cetyl sulfate. It does not much of a deal for somebody in a lab to determine if it is sulfate based. There are many mthods fo dectecting "E" HPLC, TLC, GLC and Electrochemiluminescence will tell you if it is a Erythromycin.

THE END

Should I continue using GAC & GFO while using AlgaFix Marine? Thanks!

No Doug, not a good idea, as both willl suck the drug right out of the water.

I'm running Chemi-Pure and Purigen. I'm guessing I should take these out to while dosing? The directions don't say to.

any idea what these algae are?

1) bryopsis? or what is this??

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/...42Bryopsis.JPG

2) red algae
http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/...2red_algae.JPG

Thanks much

Ok, so my Toadstool Leather is making a comeback (mentioned on pg 23). I think it maybe was just going thru something and the algaecide had nothing to do with it. On my 5th dose and still have not seen any noticeable reduction in GHA or discoloration to indicate that the algae is dying. However I have noticed that when I blow my rocks with a turkey baster several small chunks of algae detaches from the rocks. So I guess it's doing something - maybe? I will continue to dose and monitor.

i found that it also helps to increase your CUC critters too.

Hey doug, i used algaefix marine with carbon, gfo and a skimmer running, i did 9 doses, by the last dose my HA was dead or receding, i stopped dosing because i saw corals losing some color, but after 3-4 weeks everything is back to normal but no hair algae in sight, so i wish you good luck, and dont give up, keep dosing and manually remove as much as you can.....

sana

dont give up, it took 9 doses for me, just keep removing as much as you can, good luck

sana

[

1st pic looks a lot like bryopsis
2nd pic is cotton candy algae

for bryosis raise your mag to 1600-1800 with tech-m, and for cotton candy algae i heard that mexican turbos eat it...

sana

btt

Guys I am glad I came across this thread. A while back I had nutrient issue with my tank. To make a long story short, I shut down my fuge which was being fed directly from my tank. I got rid of my live sand, bought a sulphur denitrator and a wave maker. I have been using algaefix just as a precaution. As my tank was cycling again I was having to clean the glass a lot. Used AF to get rid of the diatoms. Tank is super clear and sand is white. I vacume it weekly as I am using a large grain sand. JMO...I think if you guys are having nutrient issues it may be your sand or you may have a lot of junk in your rocks that aren't being exported.

Q: Once you get to the point you are dosing once a week can you run your GFO and GAC?

mmotown,

Thanks for sharing your experiences with AF. ;)

Many hobbyists who have used AF in this thread did not stop running GAC & GFO while dosing AF and received good results.

The GAC and GFO can adsorb some of the AF. I would think you can start using them again, especially if you have no signs of algae.

This is my experience with algaefix marine. I have a hair algae issue. My tank is a 72 gallon bow front with 80 lbs of rock and 4 inch sand bed. I run a aqua c pro skimmer, brs dual reactor with gfo and gac, 2 k4 power heads. I have 10 (no more than 1.5inches) fishes, I know high bio load. Softies and a few ls corals and a cuc of snails and a couple of crabs.

At one point the hair algae covered ½ of my live rock. I took out some of the smaller pieces that I could get to and put them in a dark tank with heater and power head after 2 weeks algae was still present. I found this page read it and started dosing in the small tank first. With some results I started dosing in my DT. After 8 doses I stopped. The hair algae had thinned out a bit and turned from a dark green to a dull green/gray. After trying to pull it off with no luck I tried a scrub brush. My method has been to scrub off 1 rock every week, do my water change and the dose my my tank.

This seems to be working have not noticed any new algae growth. All fish, cuc and corals are doing great. I have had some red cyno growing on my sand bed

kwws,

Glad to hear AF worked for your pest. It is not uncommon to experience cyano problems after the algae is gone. In reality, the cyano was there all along and without competition, it now can be grow to where it can be seen.

Staying on top of removing the cyano mechanically will work in many cases along with good skimming and water changes.

At the end of my rope!!!
 

Hi everyone, I'm new here, lots of cool knowledgable peeps on this forum. I'm a new reefer (tee-hee) so I know enough to be dangerous but not nearly as much as many of you.

So I'm also battling GHA since I started my tank in April. The silly newbie I am, I started it with tapwater (since I thought i was going to make a freshwater tank at first, you can't really blame me). Since then, I've done copious water changes with natural sea water from Catalina island, that I buy from my LFS. I'm in Southern CA, and apparently that's where they get it.

Tank Specs:

- 55 gallon acrylic
- DSB mixed with crushed coral substrate (another newb mistake)
- 65 lbs live rock (tucani)
- Aquaclear 110 HOB filter w/ no media (just for flow)
- Hydor Koralia powerhead
- Skimmer rated for up to 100 gallons
- 24" blue, white actinic bulbs (brand new Coralife retrofit)
- Maintain about 79-80 degrees

Bio Load:
- Fish: 2 oscellaris clowns, 2 damsels, 1 royal gramma, 1 clown trigger, 1 twin spot goby
- Inverts: 1 frogspawn, 1 bubble tip anemone, 6 green stripe shrooms, a tiny acro frag, and a softy i haven't ID'd yet. Also 9 astria snails, 1 emerald crab.
- Algae: tons of GHA, I'll sell it to you, $1500 for all of it.

What I've tried:

- Pulling the algae off the rock (forget that)
- Snails and crabs (they're full after 10 minutes)
- Red slime remover (worked for the red cyano, but GHA bloomed like crazy after... can't win)
- Brushing the crap off and letting the skimmer pull it out (sorta works)
- Mechanical/GAC filtering (made it worse somehow)

What I'm trying now:

- Leaving the tank in the dark (moon glow LED's only) for a couple days

Next on the list:

- Lawnmower blenny
- AlgaeFix Marine (last resort)


Anyway, any advice would be appreciated, I'm at wits end with this stuff.

- The Banker

Re: At the end of my rope!!!
 

Before proceeding, I would strongly recommend testing both the tank water and your new seawater for nutrients - definitely for nitrate and phosphate, and probably for ammonia and nitrite as well. Something is definitely feeding the algae growth.

Darkening the tank can knock the algae back somewhat, but won't kill or eradicate it (it will also take at least 4-5 days to even begin to have a noticeable effect). A lawnmower blenny will most probably not be very interested in your GHA. We have found that AlgaeFix is rather specific in the species of algae it will be effective towards, and some users, including myself, have reported negative affects on inverts (mostly snails) and some corals (mostly sps). I'd recommend having your GHA positively identified (I'd think somebody at UCSB, USC, or UCLA can help with that) to see if AlgaeFix is even a worthwhile option.

Among those for whom AlgaeFix has worked, most have seen positive and quite definitive results by the 4th to 6th dose. AlgaeFix is definitely not as reef safe as we might be led to believe, particularly once we get up beyond 10 or so doses.

That might indicate that if you're not seeing very definite results by 6-7 doses, then it would be prudent to halt the treatment.

I'm finally starting to see die off of GHA after what I believe is either the 11 or 12 dose. So far the only negative effects that I've encountered is that I believe this product killed off my halimeda that was in my display. Other than that all fish, soft corals, lps, sps and inverts seem to be doing well.

I will continue with a few more doses. I visually looks like it won't be long until the pest is gone.

Re: Re: At the end of my rope!!!
 

Thanks Phreebyrd... I changed course after writing this post by simply shortening the light cycles on my two bulbs, rather than making a drastic change and leaving it completely dark. I did notice that has knocked the algae down a little bit. I have had my water tested by the owner of my local LFS here, and he hasn't picked up any detectable levels of phosphates or nitrates... At one point, I think there were high levels of phosphates (especially when I started my tank). Also, I've been testing the tank with some 5-in-1 strips, and the nitrate/nitrite readings are zero (though i'm not sure how sensitive the strips really are).

During this algae-removal quest, I've been diligent about cleaning my skimmer regularly, especially so the foam around the venturi doesn't act as an algae-spawning device. I noticed that when I keep foam filter media in the HOB, it has the effect of collecting algae and spreading it all over the place, so I've forgone traditional mechanical filtration and have changed the tank to more of a Berlin style system.

I'll keep you guys posted on the results.

Just curious, I've been told that Lawnmowers DO eat the GHA from multiple sources, including reading many posts on this board... what makes you think one would not help the issue?

Re: Re: Re: At the end of my rope!!!
 

My lawnmorer blenny will eat the film algae off the glass but does not touch the GHA

Re: Re: Re: Re: At the end of my rope!!!
 

That's good to know. I'm getting a little bit of film algae on my glass (acrylic, whatever).

Someone should start a sticky thread about battling the various pest algaes & cyanobacteria, there are many of them scattered through RC's sub-forums.

Re: Re: Re: Re: At the end of my rope!!!
 

That's been my own experience as well, both in my own tanks and in those of friends and acquaintances.

It doesn't mean there aren't blennies that will eat GHA, but I have yet to experience a personal verification of what is typically sold as a "Lawnmower Blenny", Salarias fasciatus, doing so. There are always exceptions... but I've never personally seen any blenny, including "Lawnmower"s, eat the stuff.

Of course, they are still awesome little fish, so even if you get one that doesn't, you still have a wonderful addition to the tank.

I used Algeafix, in combination with raising my mag levels to just over 1500 with great results. I follwed the twice a week schedual but under dosed slightly for my tank volume (80%) of the recomendation and after the 4th dose noticed a bit of browning out on the algea. I pulled what I could and lightly scubbed the rocks and rockwalls to put it into the water column then siphoned out the floaties. After the 5th or 6th dose the die off was pretty impressive, with no noticable effect on any of the corals (sps,lps, and zoo's) or the macro in my sump. I went out of town for two days after my last dose (7th) and came back to a clean GHA free tank...
The majority of the algea in my tank was the feathery looking bryopsis blended in with GHA and it just vanished leaving clean rock work. I am pretty impressed with the results and am not sure if it was the Algeafix or the elevated mag levels that did the trick, but since stopping the algeafix I am keeping my mag up around 1500 and have just a few little spots of GHA that the hermits, snails and Bicolor blenny seem to be keeping in check.

I have put together a few thoughts on a program for algae pest control and at the end is a statement from Boomer regarding control of cyanobacteria. Hopefully it helps. ;)

There are a lot of hobbyists in your same position. Reducing your nitrate and phosphate levels to a zero reading will help in getting rid of many type of algae pests. IME, reducing nitrate and phosphate levels too low can kill or cause problems for many types of coral. Running GAC & GFO will all help in reducing the growth of these type of pests. In many cases they will not eradicate the pest. Vodka dosing will help reduce the nitrate and phosphate levels also, but will not necessarily eradicate the pest either.

A common problem is being able to identify your pest to a catagory correctly: true algae, cyano, dino, bacteria & other assorted pests that look similar. In many cases a micro look at your pest is best to properly ID it to one of these catagories.

IMHO, if you are faced with an algal type pest problem, it is best to implement an algae pest control program strategy:


1) Wet skimming with a good quality skimmer. Clean your skimmer cup at least once per week.

2) Reduce your nitrates and phosphates to a zero reading using the hobby grade test kits. See Randy's articles regarding this:

Phosphate and the Reef Aquarium
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-09/rhf/index.php

Nitrate in the Reef Aquarium
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issu...t2003/chem.htm

3) Proper lighting. I find that the higher wavelength bulbs are less conducive to algae growth. I now run 20,000 K bulbs from using 10,000 K bulbs.

4) Proper day length is a good thing also. I would not run your lights for more than 12 hrs total. Keep in mind that light entering from a window nearby is added to this figure.

5) Running GAC is a good practice in my book. It will help reduce the total dissolved organic carbons in your tank water and this is a food source.

6) Proper 30% per month total water changes will help export the DOC as well as some of the pests in the water column. It will help maintain the micro-nutrients as well.

7) Physical removal of the pest by hand, scrubbing and siphoning is important as well. If the amount of pest in your aquarium is overwhelming, perhaps dealing with one section at a time is a better idea.

8) Proper water circulation in your tank to prevent dead zones. When dealing with cyanobacteria pests increasing the flow where it grows seems to help.

9) Use RODI water for all top-off, salt mixing, additive mixes... etc.

10) Dosing iron may have benefits for macro-algae, but if you are experiencing algae pest problems than I would stop dosing it as it can add to the problem in many cases.

11) If you are dosing other supplements such as vitamins, amino acids, or others that contain a mix of supplements other than the basic alk., calcium and magnesium, I would stop these until you gain control of your pest. This includes many of the store bought products with unknown ingredients. Dosing Vodka or sugar to reduce your nitrates and phosphates would be an exception in my opinion.

12) Proper feeding habits. This can be the number one problem when trying to reduce your nitrate and phosphate levels. Use low phosphate fish foods.

13) IMHO, lighted refugiums may be a problem when trying to deal with an algae type pest problem. They are wonderful when it comes to reducing nitrates and phosphates. However, the light over most refugiums is conducive to the microalgae type pests. If the refugium becomes infested with a microalgae pest, I would clean it throughly of all pests as best as possible, remove the macro and turn off the lights until you gain control of your pest. Re-using the same macroalgae later may serve as a source for re-infestation of your pest.

14) Adding fish and other creatures that will eat your algae pest will help.

15) There are other items that can be added to this list if others care too share and some of the items listed may be disputed. ;)

_______________________________________________________________________________

If after you have tried all these procedures and you are still loosing the battle, I would recommend that you initiate the use of AlgaeFix Marine based on the reports I have seen in this thread:

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...readid=1595003

I hate to see anyone give up on this hobby due to algae type pest problems. ;)


=============================================
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This a quote from Boomer regarding Cyanobacteria control:

"Some added thoughts from over the years from many

The only known fish to eat Cyano is Amblygobius stethophthalmus and it needs to be the real one not its close relative that is often Mis-ID with it.

A 2- 3 month scheme

1. Water changes. 25% weekly.

2. Bare bottom refugium only for cheato nutrient export and not for critters.

3. Siphon, sump, refugium, etc. every week during water change and clean all filter you have.

4. Blow off all the Cyano and settled stuff you can so it can be siphoned off.

5. Clean out skimmer and cup every week.

6. Carbon, 1 cup per 50 gallons / 2 wks. Try to use ROX

7. GFO -HC , change every month.

8. Purigen, every month

9. Soak frozen food in RO/DI and discard water before use. This is especially true for brine shrimp. Matter of fact I use to pour off the water, and then fill it back up, to repeat it until there was only whole brine shrimp in the container.

10. Read what is in the food and look for things low in phosphates.

11. Keep the pH in the very low 8's or very high 7's, as Cyano will out compete other algae's in higher pH water.

12. The # 1 limiting nutrient for Cyano is N, not P based on studies in various microbiology texts.

13. During these water changes and blowing stuff off and siphoning it up run a Diatom filter with a second cake of PAC (Powdered activated carbon)."

14. Increase water flow where Cyano are growing, as they do not like high currents.

15. Shutting of all lights, almost total darkness for 48 hr. every few days.

Last resort is Chemi-Clean by Boyd.

99.9 % of the time if nothing eats it and it looks like yours it is Cyano.