thanks, Keaton...



I was up to my 10th dose and only saw minimal results..I don't know if i want to try dosing it anymore...but I am seeing the small patches of HA beginning to grow larger again...I dose sugar to keep my nitrates at "0", but I am now looking into dosing vodka...I know I just want this stuff GONE!

On a side note, my 10 year old son's name is KEATON too!!!!!! I have only known 1 other Keaton since naming ours 10 years ago...how old is yours?

keatons momma too :)

Pictures of the tank? Are you dosing with GFO/carbon at the same time?

No, I am not dosing with GFO/carbon but I do dose with sugar a few times a week to keep nitrates at 0...

I don't have a picture of this algae currently, but will try to take one.

There have been hobbyists who have reached around the 10th dose mark report problems to start to occur in some coral.

For this reason, I would not recommend dosing much more than 10 doses on the every three day basis, without watching your tank inhabitants closely. Once you start to see any negative signs with your coral I would stop dosing. Make sure you have a good estimate on your total water volume in your tank. One way to check this would be to use the Reef Chemistry calculator and add what you think will raise it given what you believe is the proper water volume, using baking soda. After you add the appropriate amount to raise the alk up a bit, re-check what your true increase is. You can then make changes in the total tank volume water to reflect what your true increase was.

Reef chemicals calculator
http://home.comcast.net/~jdieck1/chem_calc3.html

IMHO, if the AF is going to work on your particular algal pest it should be appearant by the 5th or so dose. AF does not work on all algae unfortunately, particularly the siphoning algae which includes algae like Derbesia. :(

Cliff, even though I've been around since about half way through here (first one to use/report on the "FW" version), is there "another" product out there designed to rid unwanted algae? For instance we know the API stuff works here and there, what I'm really asking, is if there's another product or any competition to this stuff? Another avenue for those that use this product and are unsuccessful, want to get a leg up on their unwanted algae, and try and find the source.

Am I making any sense? lol

Yes, I have asked this same question. I have been looking for other products that would be reef safe to use to get rid of algal type pests.

Unfortunately my search has not been successful in finding something even as safe as AlgaeFix, which anyone who has read through this thread realizes it is not completely reef safe according to statements made by some of the hobbyists.

It's all Boomer's fault. Every time I come up with a possible product, he keeps shooting me down. :p

I have read through countless scientific books and articles. The best killing agents for algal type pests are copper compounds, which are not reef safe.

Do to the facts given above, I have become a firm believer in not using live rock or live sand. Using dead rock and soaking it in bleach is a much better way to go IMHO. Many hobbyists are fortunate enough to not bring in these problem algae into their system. Quarantining anything to be put into your tank, including fish, coral or anything else will help from bringing these pests into your system. Quarantining should include proper lighting and a long enough time to see if these type pests are growing in your Quarantine tank first. A little prevention can go a long way to prevent many headaches later on.

In some of the articles I have recently read, it has been found that many of the algae can derive their P needs directly from organic phosphate, like fish foods. Consequently, it is my belief and I am open to any criticism, that lowering your inorganic phospates level (PO4) will not prevent these type of algal pests from growing in your system. It will slow their growth considerably. This is one reason to watch the P being introduced as fish food, properly skim and do water changes and anything else you can do to remove this organic phosphate from your system. This will include mechanical removal using siphoning and hand removal and possibly a good filter to collect it out of the water (this filter would need to be changed frequently).

Cliff, I have read from PaulB, that if one has an algae problem, it's possible your making the algae worse by doing WC's, since the problem may be feeding on iron, or trace elements as well. I don't remember all if it, but he is "soft" to recommend just letting it run it's course. But often, as I see pictures here, that some people need something to rid the problem, quickly.

Aside from nuking the tank and starting over.

Of course he is very successful, the most successful reefkeeper I know, but run's an extremely low tech tank. While I respect his opinions often, sometimes I wonder why no one has said anything about some of his practices - with the new technology, practices and husbandry we do now.

What's your view on this? I'm sure Boomer will have something to say about this - since he has an abundance of knowledge of reef chemistry.

PaulB's success for so many years speaks for itself and deserves worthy attention. ;)

I have found in my own experience, that many algae will run their course and hobbyists can get control of them by using proper husbandry.

The scientific facts are everywhere on the Internet relating to other type of algae pests which take over natural reef systems with pristine water conditions, including very low phosphate, iron, nitrate and other Micronutrient levels. This is something to be considered IMHO. Scientists are continuing to work on finding natural control measures like sea slugs, fish....etc that will help control these algae pests and keep them from overrunning natural reefs.

It is true that the salt mixes that we use provide a far cry from natural marine water as far as the micro-nutrients and toxins. Our artificial salt mixes have extremely higher levels of all the chemicals. To complicate the matter, our tanks contain much higher TOM (total organic matter) then do natural reefs. The studies relating to TOM and its effects are a hot topic in the scientific world now and I expect a lot to come out about its negative effects in the future.

When talking about TOM in our reef tanks, it is important to point out that the best skimmers out there do a poor job in reducing it. Water changes help reduce it as does GAC. But the articles I have read, when testing good skimmers show that the TOM is still a big problem, even with the best technology out there. Something to be said about the importance of not over feeding our tanks. ;)

Is GAC + WC's, more effective than a skimmer, at removing TOM? Is there anything - tests/theories/etc. that talks about this?

TOM is a very complicated subject. Skimmers work well in reducing certain types of TOM, while GAC works better on other types. Water changes remove all TOM in what you replace, but it is not recommended to do larger water changes than 30%. So, to answer your question, using all three methods is the best choice.

These are a few articles relating to the subject that you may find interesting:

Feature Article: Total Organic Carbon (TOC) and the Reef Aquarium: an Initial Survey, Part I
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2008/8/aafeature3

Organic Compounds in the Reef Aquarium
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-10/rhf/index.htm


Nutrient control of algal growth in estuarine
waters. Nutrient limitation and the importance of
nitrogen requirements and nitrogen storage among
phytoplankton and species of macroalgae
http://www.int-res.com/articles/meps/142/m142p261.pdf

Excess carbon in aquatic organisms and ecosystems: Physiological, ecological, and
evolutionary implications
Dag O. Hessen1
University of Oslo, Department of Biology, CEES, P.O. Box 1066 Blindern, 0316 Oslo, Norway
http://www.aslo.org/lo/toc/vol_53/issue_4/1685.pdf

Plant Management in Florida Waters:
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgu...3D198%26um%3D1

Thanks Cliff. :)

Do you have all this stuff bookmarked on your computer? I thought mine was bad when Firefox told me my bookmarks were full, and I had to create another folder.. Yours and Boomer's computers got to be full of links. :D

My lists are to the point now where it may be less time consuming to run a search to find the article I want to post the link for. :D

Unfortunately, I can not post easily from the text books I have acquired. Boomer has me beat by far, he has a library out of this world on all the different aspects of our hobby and he continues to add to it on a regular basis. :lol:

iFisch,

Since you are a student you probably have free access to a lot of articles on the Internet. I would take advantage of this and down load as many as you can for future reference. ;)

Well I have access to tons of books. The internet at school is no different than what it is here at home.

And unless I am taking "that" class, they usually don't give out certain "packages" of links. For instance if I was in the Marine Biology class, there's a package they give, with all sorts of books, and links for reference.

However I am not currently taking Marine Biology/Chemistry, so I'm learning on the fly.



Also sent you a PM.

The books I have purchased may not interest you other than a few basic Reefing books when I first started. Mostly books relating to algae and micro-organisms.

Your specific interests regarding this hobby will lead to subjects that can't be easily found on the Internet as far as books go. Usually these books will be sited as references in the latest Scientific Articles found on the Internet.

One book I have enjoyed regarding coral is this book:

Corals of the World, Vol. 1, 2, 3 (in Slip Cover) (Hardcover)
http://www.amazon.com/Corals-World-V...5740480&sr=8-1

FWIW, the articles that Randy has written are all a must read as far as I am concerned and you will find many references in these articles that you may find interesting:

http://archive.reefcentral.com/forum...hreadid=102605

I see. So you're the "agae guy" when I, or anyone has a question then.

Thanks for the link.

I'm actually looking for "basic" books to a lot of subjects, including biology, chemistry (Boomer), algae, corals, and fish. I just want to broaden my knowledge of this beautiful hobby - that we call it.

I've heard it (reefs) called the most complex "things" in the world. And it's pretty cool that a lot of us have the knowledge and are fortunate for members like you.



:beer:

Our hobby covers many subjects of interest. Keep on reading and go where your interests take you and most of all have fun with it. :thumbsup:

i almost bought some of this today, but I talked myself out of it...

i'm going to try every available solution beforehand, including "the waiting game"

TheBanker,

You have a good quality pic of your pest? :)

I didn't see this as being an active thread anymore...
 

I will be making my 4th dose tomorrow of the algae fix, right now everything seems status quo, still there and does seem to be growing. I have been dosing 5 ml to be conservative with rock displacement. Anyway here are the pics... I may go to a Phosban reacter her pretty soon. They didn't test too high but with algae present I guess they wouldn't...

Main Shot
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i1...6/DSC00694.jpg

Left Side
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i1...6/DSC00700.jpg

Center
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i1...6/DSC00701.jpg

And the Right Side
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i1...6/DSC00702.jpg

Will it be safe to dose marine algaefix while vodka dosing? I have some algae that will simply not budge. In the past the algaefix helped a lot but did not knock it out completely.

My tank has always tested zero nitrates, even before vodka dosing. I have run plenty of GFO and I feed my tank extremely lightly.

I think this combo could potentially knock it out but will it be safe?

Logzor,

There have been hobbyists in this thread who have dosed the AF while dosing vodka and achieved good results.



64Texan,

I would try to remove as much of your pest as possible before each dose of AF. Keep us posted. ;)

I haven't read all of this thread but I used Algae fix marine as per the dosage label religiously but had basically zero response. It turned it white for a while but it never really died. Tried removing it by hand but that became a real mission. Then I added my Yellow Tang. It cleaned it up in about 1 week and now the tank is spotless. After 4 bottles of algae fix (@ $35 a bottle) I decided a yellow tang for $150 was a great addition and the green hair algae has been gone ever since. I doubt I would use it again.

Wow. $35/bottle and $150 for a yellow tang... :(