How many people ran there skimmer from the start after adding the algae fix. I would like to run it but will it take away any of it's power
Thanks Rich

I ran my skimmer, carbon and gfo full time during my use of algaefix marine

AlgaeFix will brake down within 24 hrs once introduced into your system. Running your skimmer will help remove organic matter including the dead algae which is important.

I have a question, if this brakes down in 24hrs then why does it say dose again in 3 days?

I can understand a certain time to allow die off but 3 days would allow recovery and maybe that's why so many people need 6 dose before it really works?

Would would happen if you dosed , say every 2 days?

Better effect or worse?

One hobbyist tried just what you are asking. He was dosing AF every other day. Resulted in problems. You can find this buried somewhere within this thread. I would not recommend trying this, with the exception of when there are no fish, coral or invertebrates present in your system. The exact reason for this, I do not know. One possibility would be not to interfere with the symbiotic relationship within your coral. The dinos and other symbiotic organisms within the coral tissues are protected to a degree from AlgaeFix, how much, I am not sure. Doing this may cross that line. Concerns about invertebrates is another factor. ;)

So after reading the thread I decided to buy and dose AF. I must say after the 2nd dose I saw some major improvement. I started doing water changes and plucking as much as I could out and tomorrow will be my forth dose. What I have noticed is that while the areas that had hair algae growing are dying off new areas are springing up in areas that I never had hair algae before. So my question is has anybody else experienced this and if so how did you deal with? It is it related to the pieces that are dying off and unattaching being blown over to another area and starting to grow back?

badewilly,

Most hobbyists report decline in algae after about the 3rd or 4th dose. It is still to early yet to make any statements. My best guess, would be that this algae was already there and is just now starting to grow enough to be seen.

I recommend removing as much of your algae pest as possible using whatever means at your disposal (siponing, had picking......), before you dose the algae fix on the third day. The less algae present, the quicker the control.

well, I finished the whole 8oz bottle last week, nothing happend :( my tank is 75gl, maybe I am running a skimmer rated 10 times my tank??:mad2:

Can you post a focused close-up pic?

Perhaps your pest is not an algae or it is one of the algae that AF is not effective on. :(

i had hair algea and on about my 3rd dose, it just started falling off the rocks, this works pretty good , i have a mixed reef and actually ran my skimmer the whole time, it didnt make it go crazy.

yeah, I did not turn off my skimmer at all when under treatment :(

This is Chieuxuan algae type pest:

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/...-pest1-med.jpg

My guess would be Derbesia. This is a siphoning algae which can be difficult to control.

There are many species of Derbesia. This is an example of but one:

http://www.cavehill.uwi.edu/FPAS/bcs...ia-marinea.jpg


Take a look at this search result:

http://images.google.com/images?gbv=...art=18&ndsp=18


Also, you will find cyanobacteria commonly living in close harmony with Derbesia, which helps feed it when living closely together. This makes it even harder to control.

HR, thanks for posting up my picture. I do not run a refugium and do not have a sump, all my my filtration is through LR and skimmer, maybe I should try running carbon through a canister see if it helps.

Have you tried elevating your magnesium levels to around 1500? Many hobbyists have had success with this when controlling Bryopsis. Derbesia is closely related to Bryopsis.

AlgaeFix does not seem to work well on Bryopsis, Derbesia or any of the siphoning algae.

Instead of posting a new post about my experience with Algaefix I thought I would just add it here. Seems to be the place. I'm about one month into the experiment and have had decent results. I have been fighting off Caulerpa nummularia in my tank for over a year. It has never been a huge problem but I was getting tired of fighting it. like most tanks I have a very small amount of green hair algae and a little bit of bubble algae. so anyways I followed the instructions to a T. I have skimmed and used carbon and some phosphate removing media the hole time. And have also kept up on my water changes. The few bubble algae I have had seem to be getting smaller, and the hair algae is all gone. I can't tell you the last time I cleaned the glass. But as for the Caulerpa nummularia it has not done a thing. The algaefix does not seem to hurt it at all. I think I am done dosing and will go back to the old way of fighting it off with tweezers:) That is my experience with algaefix. On a side note with the die off from the algae that was there it seemed to put more nutrients into the water, and definitely had a positive effect on my coral colors. All my sps colored up and the polyp extension seems noticeably more. I guess it taught me that I had low nutrients in the tank before this. Or at least thats what I'm contributing it to. It was deffently a good side effect. Thanks for letting me share.

Ssamick,

Thanks for posting your results. It's good to hear that the AF helped with the algal problem you had. ;)

Caulerpa is another siphoning algae. Very difficult stuff to control. Many hobbyists have good results with finding animals that will consume it.

This link may help (Note that there are other links for different species of Caulerpa):

Caulerpa prolifera & biological control
http://www.seaslug.info/display.cfm?id=9418


This article may help with controlling your bubble algae:

Bubble Algae: Selected Description, controls and Comments
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-0...ture/index.php

I have not tried elevate Mag. level, read it a long time ago, well, will give it a try!!!

Here we go...
 

No sump and just a standard 75 gallon. I dosed 5 ml about 15 minutes ago and we'll see what happens. Being Friday I will do a 15 gallon WC on Sunday as I usually do every other week. I'll pull what I can and see what happens with the rest as I go along.

These pictures were taken as soon as I turned the daylights on... Sorry for the quality, I don't have a good camera for this.

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i1...6/DSC06977.jpg

Closer on the left.

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i1...6/DSC06978.jpg

Closer on the right.

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i1...6/DSC06979.jpg

Shelf that I want to have some good stuff on eventually.

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i1...6/DSC06981.jpg

Keep us posted on your results. ;)

64Texan,

Interesting pests you have there. I am not sure exactly what you have. I see a purple color mixed in. The purple pest looks like a cyano. AF will not have much effect on it. If the AF gets rid of your green colored pest then you will probably still have the cyano remaining.

Keep us posted on your results. ;)

LOL! Only me I suppose ; )

Actually I think the purple is because of the lighting and the camera. The tank shot is pretty indicative of the overall look of the tank.

Monday I will take a better pic with a different camera.

I am sorry, but I have tried reading all of this thread, and I WILL finish reading it, but I need an answer to a question... sorry if it is somewhere in this book...

I decided to begin dosing Algaefix after fighting some small patches of HA for some time... my tank is 180 gallon, with a 100 gallon stock tank sump.. I figure my total water to be around 200 gallons... I dosed as instructed, every 3 days, I got as far as 10 doses...I saw SOME results, before stopping, the HA receded a small bit, but not totally erradicated... but even more troubling, I saw some negative results on some of my corals. It is mostly on my blue or purple SPS...instead of being very brilliant in color as they have been FOREVER.. they began looking dull, not brown, but as if someone has sprinkled powder over them and dulled their color...I even ended up losing my prized very blue, green polyp valida...:( VERY sad about this

Has anyone else experienced this using algafix? I guess what I really want to know is what NEGATIVE effects has everyone experienced using algaefix??? Also, why did I not have a total erradication of this HA??? I have stopped dosing now because I am not seeing enough positive results and do not want to chance losing any other corals...

I can only attribute this color change and the loss of the one coral to this algaefix, as nothing else has changed in my tank...

my parameters are as follows...

temp 79-80
SG 1.025
PH 8.2
ALK 9 dKh
Cal 500
Nitrates...0
Mag... 1060... getting this higher with tech M

I use home made 2-part..dosing 40 ML about twice a week...

So, can anyone give me some insight to these issues with color of my blue/purple sps and how can I get their vivid color back... and why I may have lost the one and also why it did not totslly get rid of my HA?? I would like to know what negative effects people have seen using this also.

sorry to write so much...:)

reefmamma:

We too, lost an acropora valida and a beautiful pink birdsnest after my first dose of algaefix-completely bleached white. I was really dumb and dosed before going out of town for 2-1/2 days so I can't say FOR CERTAIN nothing else happened while gone, but I believe the algaefix was to blame.

I think our loss was due to overestimating the water volume of our system. I used about 1/3 less algaefix on subsequent doses and have virtually no HA in the system now. I only dosed about 3 times over 2-3 weeks and have dosed a couple more times over the past 4-6 weeks. The only other problem I am noticing is a sarcophyton that is very pale. I don't like using it and it really took a lot of nerve after that first dose but it absolutely did the trick on the HA. I think if I use it again I will use even less.

keatons momma :)