My Params are:
Temp 75-79
PH 8.10-8.25
CA 390
MG 1230
Alk 7.7-8.1
Potassium PO4 untested
PO3 untested

I have dosed last night 5.5ml vinegar and 1 ml vodka, slowly i will withdraw vodka and increase vinegar.

Last night was bad for me, my green chromis got eaten by Green Carpet Anemone (S.Haddoni) in front of my eyes. I tried to help very hard with a plastic stick but the anemone grip was so tight that i failed to do it.:(

Now i have removed the green carpet anemone in QT and will sell it to someone else soon.

Holy crap, this really works. had a bit of a green water issues, not anymore.

Well I first must say thank to all those who have contributed to this thread. It has in fact been a big help to me after so much pain and just a feeling of being defeted
I have a 210 mixed reef and have been battling gha for some time now. My friend or at least who I think is my friend and a valid resource I must say has not been able to help me or even shed any light as to a resolution. Even after countless failed solutions

I tried AF and am going to the 3rd dose now and “ALL” of my algae is almost gone now. I have been scrubbing rocks(a no-no before the AF dosing and when I knew better) and removing and everything else under the sun in hopes of trying to irradiate this beast of a problem.

Within the first day I saw within 12 hours the sand get whiter. Then on the second dose I scrubbed the rocks again (in the tank) and saw it just fall apart to nothing. The stuff that was left in the water column was eaten by the fish.
Now my nuisance has almost gone completely away. I have nobody to thank but everyone here before me posting their success.
Now I am going to continue with the process to keep on top of it. Please understand that my issue was not “dire” but was bad enough to cause some soft corals to start having issues

Here is my Rig.

My feeding regiment is about once a day either Dianichi pellets or frozen food alternating
I dose Brightwell Aquatics Vitamin-c and Liquid Reef about every 2 weeks

*****Dosing AF has been as follows: 30ml day 1, 10ml day two, Day 3 no dosing, day 4 starts cycle over

My current setup is a follows:
• 210g main display
• Apex controller
• 4-48” VHO’s running on the sun/daylight cycle
• PM R30 sump modified to hold micron filter socks from overflow water(changed daily for now and every 3-4 day normal)
• 2 media reactors 1- GAC 1- Phosban on 24 hrs day
• PM 1 Bullet running 16hrs a day / off on night cycle
• A very large Emperor Aquatics 40w UV filter on main sump return
• I am dosing Kalk through controller 24hrs day
• A very large ro/di system with auto top-off
• Water change:55 gallon (black) drum keep full all the time and water changes 25% every 3-4 weeks
• I have 2- mangroves and a little bit of Cheato in the sump

Water perimeters are as follows:
• Temp -79-80
• pH 8.17-8.21
• nitrates 0
• phosphates 0
• CA 450
• SAL 1.0248 -1.0259 (using Aquavitro Salt(Seachem))


Fish:
• Clown Trigger
• Niger Trigger
• Blue Jaw Trigger
• 2- Saddleback clowns
• 2 – Percula clowns
• Yellow Tang
• Blue Hippo Tang
• Palani Tang
• Scopas Tang
• Naso Tang
• Morish Idol
• Kole Tang

I have posted as much info as I could think of in an effort to help anyone else who may have a tank of setup like mine.

Thanks again

Reeflander :

I have increased my dose after 4 days from 5.5ml vinegar to 7ml.

I bought a local made siphon pipe. I tried to siphon my sand for dust but failed to do so as the sand was also getting pulled out from the pipe. How can i take out only the brown dirty/muddy algae dust and not the sand?

You either have to reduce the flow through the pipe by holding your thumb on the end of the tube where you let the water flow into the collecting bucket or use a larger diameter pipe. You could install a cut-off valve to reduce flow as well in the tubing off the pipe.

Okay. Thanks.

But the brown algae is entangled with the sand and it wont come out seperately. I will be replacing by my sand bed(crushed coral) very soon with argonite sand. Hope it will be algae free.

Getting rid of the crushed coral is the best thing. A crushed coral bed is a nitrate and phosphate producing machine.

i will try for sure.

Here's an interview (teleseminar recording) on bryopsis algae control with two other owners of high-end custom aquarium install/service companies, where we went into depth on control methods that have actually worked. We also covered causes of such outbreaks and how to prevent them. I thought this might be of help.

http://saltwateraquariumsecrets.com/...arium-experts/

My water parameters are :

Calcium : 350 ppm (added purple up)
Alkalinity : 6 dkh (added Randy 2 part alkalinty solution)
nitrates : 8 ppm (need to increase vinegar dosing)
Phosphates : 0.05mg/l (Thanks reeflander this is happening due to weekly rowa phos replacement. Earlier it was 0.5mg/l.

Purple-up is basically calcium carbonate which will not provide much benefit for increasing your calcium level at normal reef pH. It is like adding fine reef sand. You would be better to use calcium chloride to raise your calcium level and the Reef Calculator. ;)

Reeflander

Thanks for suggestion but i was dosing calcium chloride from last 7 months without any corraline algae. But since i have started giving PurpleUp, i am seeing lots of corraline algae coming up and also some feather type mini plants on my rocks, and some red thread type plants also in one of the rocks. Those are looking good. What should i do, should i use both?

But i am scared brown thread hair type algae will take over my new plants:(

It takes time for coralline & many organisms to develop in a reef tank. Your good good growth is likely coincidental.

Reeflander

What should i do, should i use both?

But i am scared brown thread hair type algae will take over my new plants

I would use calcium chloride & it should not cause algae problems. Randy has dissuced the use of Purpleup many times and has responded that it does not serve much purpose in a reef tank. ;)

Of course you should be using food grade calcium chloride. There are contaminates that can be a concern if you use industrial grade products. Having high contaminate levels possibly found in industrial grade calcium chloride could cause algae problems, especially if the iron levels are high.

Reeflander,

I am using Merck(Brand) Calcium Chloride. Is it okay?

What about Algaefix ? Should i keep dosing every 3 days or should i get back to weekly dosing? Brown algae is still growing on rocks trying to cover up coralline algae:(

The Merk food grade calcium chloride is fine. ;)

From your prior posts, it does not sound like AlgaeFix is working your algae problem. I would stop dosing the AF and concentrate on cleaning your tank water, rock and sand bed at this point. It will take some time to get them squared away. ;)

Hey everyone - question:

Would Algaefix take out the beginning of a HA outbreak from the sand bed? Sand bed is only 1-1/2" to 2" deep but it looks like I'll need a lawnmower soon.

Before anyone trips out over sand bed nutrient issues, this is a very new set-up and the cycle is just complete about a week ago. The sand was live sand from a LFS which I killed and let dry out. The live rock is all dead base rock from an old set-up. Think of something similar to uncured Marco rock.

I've used this in the past with excellent results so I know it will do the job on the rock, but I can't ever recall dealing with it in a sandbed.

I realize new tanks will go through their issues, but I want this one nipped in the bud before it even gets out of hand.

sneeyatch,

Trying AF in your situation is the perfect time IMHO. The AF will kill your pest provided it is a specie of algae that it will control. Unfortunetly AF does not control all kinds of algae. ;)

Thanks Cliff. I didn't know if it would really be counter productive since it's still a new tank. God knows I hate the typical algae blooms in a new tank, but this is obviously different. I started with my dosing yesterday, so I'll keep everyone in the loop as to how it goes.

Your welcome.

Good luck. ;)

My vinegar dose is now 16ml daily and i have stopped dosing vodka. Though i am seeing more cyano type deep maroon algae on my rocks.

Anyways my question is that what happens when soneone allows to grow algae on the rocks and keeps on cleaning the glass? Will bad algae on the rocks pollute the tank water or they clean rocks just for aesthetics?

I'm not sure where you nitrate & phosphate level is at now? You will need to continue increasing the amount of vinegar you dose until your nitrate is gone. If your phosphate is high, you will need to use GFO to reduce it. Once your nitrate & phosphate hit zero is when I would expect to see a decrease in algae. Until then you will need to run GAC, do proper water changes, remove the algae.

After reading through this thread many times and battling algae for almost a year, I have decided to try AlgaeFix Marine. Thanks for the time everybody has spent posting in this thread, because I wouldn't have tried without it.

I have a 90 gallon tank with approximately 100 gallons total. It has been setup for almost 6 years now and it's been pretty successful over that time. I currently have mostly softies (Xenia, Misc. Mushroom, Riccordea, Leather, Kenya, GSP, Misc. Zoas, Clove Polps, Yellow Polyps) a Green Bubble Coral, Favia Frag and a Blue Maxima Clam. There are also misc. Hermit Crabs, Turbo Snails, Tiger Conch and a CBS. In my refuge, I have Chaeto and 8 Mangroves.

I had an algae outbreak a few years ago that GFO was able to remove. But, it had come back about a year later, even with GFO. A added 500 ml of WM pellets along with 1/3 lb of GFO (swapped regularly). Using a turkey baster, I have been able to blast alot of the algae off the rocks and some areas of the glass. But, it just doesn't seam to have taken care of all of it. There is some GHA that just doesn't seam to want to go away. I have been checking my NO3 and PO4 and the NO3 has gone down from around 5 to now undetectable, while the PO4 has read 0.00 on a Hanna Checker. I beleive that there is PO4 leaching from the rocks and being used by the algae before it can be detected. So, I'm leaving both the GFO and Pellets online. Hopefully as the algae dies off, the PO4 will leach out and get pulled from the water with either the GFO or Pellets.

I started my first dose of 10 ml last night and will keep everybody posted on my results.

Reeflander

Nitrate : 5ppm
Phosphate : 0.05 mg/l

Thanks for sharing your results with us. ;)

Hopefully AF kills your specie of algae.

Your getting there. ;)

YOur goal IMHO, is to have undectable readings for phosphate and nitate using hobby grade test equipment.

Would AF be worth a try for bryopsis? I've been battling it for about a year now. I have a ULNS so it doesn't look like green acres or anything; it's just no matter how hard I try there are always babies coming. I've kept select frags in complete darkness for 2+ months and it still re-grows. Raising Mg from 1350 to 1800 for weeks doesn't touch it (tech M.) What I've had the best success with is just superglueing over any and all that I find. Would a UV sterilizer help? I'm just looking for something to slow it down enough to make progress with the superglue instead of an algal quagmire.

I guess my bigger question is, can it ever truly be eradicated?- or just kept at bay?~



~Logan

Bryopsis is very tough to eradicate from a reef aquarium full of rock and coral. Unfortunately, AF does not seem to work well on bryopsis with the posts we have had in this thread. Increasing mag levels seems to work best with the Tech M product from the reports I have seen, though some hobbyists achieved control using other mag supplements.

The only other thing that may work that I have read in one thread, is where the hobbyist achieved control of bryopsis raising his salinity level up to 1.030, which the hobbyist reported worked on his particular specie of bryopsis. This was reported by one hobbyist only. I have read where the scientists have found that some species of byropsis don't do as well at higher salinity levels. This may be worth a try. If you decide to try this, I would appreciate hearing about your results. ;)

Reeflander

Test Results :

Nitrates : 8ppm (due to change in progress from vodka to vinegar). Vinegar dose :18ml daily.

Phosphates: <0.01 (almost undetectable)
Should i still replace rowaphos or wait till next week.

Should i still scrub rocks to clean but my new plants like red thread and micro tube worms will die:(. What do u suggest bro?

Hey reeflander, i want add some hardy corals who dont need much light? Can u suggest some? How abt. Mushroom Leather Coral.

I would prefer to see an undetectable reading for nitrate and phosphate when fighting an algae problem before you stop the GFO.

Scrubbing and removing the algae is the most important thing you can do when fighting an algae problem. The other life should make it even with scrubbing.

Many of your soft corals can get by with less light.

Good, i will start with some Brown Mushroom Leather Corals.

I finally broke down and joined this thread by trying AF. I've posted a few threads on RC regarding an ongoing brown hair algae problem. I've tried everything I can to get rid of the stuff.

So today was the 4th dose and so far so good as far as the algae goes. The brown stuff is 80% gone and that nasty film that I had to clean off the glass every other day is only every 4 or 5 days now (and that might actually be due to VSV dosing)

Seemingly negative impacts are:

* A mild to moderate case of Cyano on the sand bed
* Polyp extension on almost all of my SPS is crud...


I've read through this post and see that cyano is common with the breakdown of algae, plus the VSV can feed it as well? I vacuumed the sand bed 3 days ago and run filter socks 24/7. I'm still running GFO & GAC. I was wondering if it might be a good idea to quit dosing the VSV until I get the cyano under control??

Also, have there been any other reports of SPS being negatively affected or poor polyp extension?

Thanks so much and will definitely post my progress.

Temp: 78
pH: 8.3
PO4: 0 (Salifert)
NO3: 0 (API)
Ca: 420
dKh: 8.5
sg: 1.025

Thanks again!

There have been few reports of negative impact on coral. Overdosing VSV can have negative inpact on coral, especially the sugar part. It does not take much sugar to cause problems. Personally, I would remove the sugar from the mix you dose. Many hobbyists have reported less cyano problems when dosing vinegar only, including myself and Randy. ;)

Are you saying to change my mix to vodka and vinegar, or only vinegar? And in either case, how would I determine the new dosage amount?

I've been dosing 1.1mL of VSV on a 90-95g system

Thanks!

Personally I like the vinear better when you have cyano problems. To use vinegar you will need to figure 8X as much vinegar for the vodka part you are using. I would not bother to figure the sugar into the equation.

I use the glassbox recipe...200ml Vodka, 50ml Vinegar, 1.5tbps sugar.

So you're saying 200ml x8 = 1600ml + the original 50ml = 1650ml total?

And then my current dosage of 1.1ml daily would equate to how much of the new mix?

With your current mix, you are using 0.275 ml of vinegar and 0.825 ml of vodka per day approx. Therefor you will want to use 6.875 ml of vinegar per day to be equivalent to your current 1.1 ml daily dose, not counting the sugar part. So I would use about 7 ml of vinegar daily & work from there. ;)

FWIW, I have used 45 ml of vinegar in the 100 gallon total water equivalent per day without problems. Randy has dosed at least twice the amount I have without problems. Each tank is different and the nitrate production in your tank can make a big difference (total amount of fish & fish food added). ;)

Should u stop running GFO and carbon while dosing AFM? If so what about the once weekly maintenance dose? Stop GFO and carbon for one day a week?

Thanks for any info.

From the results we have seen from hobbyists using AF in this thread, it is not necessary to stop GFO and GAC. The benefits of running both GAC and GFO while using AF to fight algae are very good IMHO.

will run everything as normal then.
Thanks.

It always seemed like I use a small maintenance dose of VSV...do you happened to know of a "common" daily dosage for a 100g system on VSV??

I'll switch to the vinegar tomorrow. I have considered the NP pellets, but I don't wanna be another beta tester on something else.

My chalices all seem to have halted growth and look unhealthy. Could this too be attributed to the sugar? My dKh creeped up to 9 recently and I'm letting it fall closer to 7.5-8 as with NSW conditions...

You dose carbon sources like vodka & vinegar to maintain your nitrate level. Whatever minimal amount works for you. Each tank is different. The only reason I was using more vinegar is that I was using vinegar to increase alk and calcium production in my saturated kalk water with the carbon source as a side benefit.

I'm not sure what is causing your problems with your coral, it could be many things or their combinations. Check water parameters first and make sure your phosphate is below 0.03 ppm.

Your welcome. ;)

I have come to realize that I'm dealing with bryopsis instead of regular old hair algae. When I first noticed the growth, it was still very small and it resembled regular HA. Now that it's had a chance to grow a lot it's actually individual fronds and feathery in appearance.

Anyway, since I've used AFX in the past and am still using it, I decided to do an experiment and increase the dosage. I usually don't do this at all even outside of the aquarium hobby but since I've never really noticed a negative effect on my inhabitants, I figured I'd give it a shot and if there were signs of stress, I'd stop. So this past week, I've kept up with my standard dosage amount, but increased the time frame from every 3 days to every other day. It appears that a lot of the bryopsis has turned either a sickly yellow-ish green, white or is browning out. There definitely is no "green" bryopsis in the tank.

Part of my reasoning behind this was I read somewhere (it may have even been here) that the active ingredient in AFX dissipates after around 24 hrs. Increasing the dosage allows the algaecide to be more active and maybe that's what's needed to combat this algae with this product.

Now - my tank is new and it's going through it's stages as well. I expect to see lots of weird blooms come around but so far there's no negative impact on any inhabitants - although - again, I don't have a lot. Just a few small Euphyllia frags, and a couple of small open brains.

In addition to running AFX, I've added a bag of Seachem's Seagel to the sump and am running my socks to catch any particulate. My skimmer is set about right in the middle - not too wet, not to dry.

I'll keep you all informed as time progresses.

sneeyatch,

Thanks for sharing your experiment. ;)

You have treaded into possibly dangerous territory with your experiment. That said, experimentation is how we learn to use the tools we have available to us more efficiently. The kind of experiment you are running is usually done with inhabitants you can afford to loose. Personally I would not hesitate to use AF at higher than recommended doses if I did not have fish, coral or other occupants in my tank, like when first starting out. The AF does brake down quickly, within 24 hrs.

In my field of study, Universities experiment with herbicides to try and control stubborn weed pests, like poison ivy for example. They found that much higher doses of Round-up worked well to control it. As a result the manufacturer put more money out to get the new label for Round-up at twice the strength to control poison ivy. Comparing land herbicides to reef herbicides is completely different, since you can't apply the product directly on the target without getting it on the non-target organisms. ;)

With what I have read about AF, you don't want to increase the strength of it. Increasing the strength of AF has caused problems for some hobbyists in this thread. Increasing the frequency as you have done, may be helpful, but only time will tell. ;)

Remember, any hobbyists who decides to experiment with AF are taking a chance of loosing valuable inhabitants. :)

If you are willing to take this chance, I am interested in following along and knowing exactly what doses, frequencies, tank inhabbitants, pests.....ect, you have in your tank.

Pictures would be nice as well. :)

I was going to take some pics the other day, but since I didn't really notice anything different, I didn't. I will pick out a couple of spots and start taking progress pics now that I believe I'm getting the upper hand.

I did realize that I would be taking a huge chance but since my tank is still very, very young and my inhabitants are few, I would take the chance. My only inhabitants as of now are a single red leg hermit that I acquired by chance, a pair of true perc clowns, a tomini tang that was just introduced about 36 hrs ago, small frags of frogspawn, hammer and torch corals and 2 small open brain corals. I can very easily remove the livestock and place them into my QT (which is up and running) if necessary.

My tank is a 150 DD cube with a small sump. I'm not sure on the gallons but I guess it's holding somewhere around 20 gallons. The rock in the display is only around 75 - 80lbs and I have approx. 2" sand bed. I went ahead and assumed on the safe side that I would dose for a total of 150 gallons. I should be in the green on that by a decent margin.

My dosage as of this time is 15ml every other day and I dosed this morning before I left for work.