WaterssretaW,

Thanks for sharing your experiences with AlgaeFix Marine. We will look forward to your results. :)

Bruno,

Your topic regarding the effects of UV on spores is also being discussed in this current thread, in case you did not catch it:

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...readid=1627322

Well today i decided to help algaefix a little and remove the clumped up algae, instead of waiting for it to come loose, i manually removed as much as i can, the area where it was the worst now looks a lot better, so dont be affraid and pick away, i must say this, since adding this chemical my hair algae has not grown, unlike before when i used to pick it and in a couple of days it was back again with a vengance, lol

sana

Ok Sana, I give up, what does "HWCTSTNQFEFFC" stand for? It took me a while. I guess I am slow at times. :lol:

Update for me; the 40g tank that i continued the dosing in (5th dose so far) has shown a great improvement there is only one small spot that still has to go but so far so good, guess now i can go ahead and resume the dosing in my dt, it needs allot of help, lol, the ha in their has gotten out of hand for sure.

Chris,

I am happy the AlgaeFix Marine has worked so far for you. ;)

I would mechanically remove as much of the pest as possible (siphoning will help considerably in conjunction with hand removing).

Keep us posted on your results. :)

Hardly any Water Changes, Temp Swinging, T5ing, No Qtining, Frag Exchanging for Fish Food Club=HWCTSTNQFEFFC, LOL

Well guys did my 5th dose wendnesday, everything is fine and algae is whitering, i have removed a lot and is looking better day by day, this weekend i am going to scrub the rock and try to get as much out as possible, wish me luck

Sana

Reporting my results:

3rd dose tomorrow and about 75% of the algae is gone. I noticed changes on the first dose because the algae started withering and looked more gray than green.

I also have a sea hare that been cleaning up the left overs. This Algae fix really does work. It has my sand sparkling !! :)

sana,

Here's wishing you luck in getting rid of that nasty pest. ;)

Keep us posted.


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Retzius,

Just two doses and you are getting control. That's great. I am wondering if you have a lot of algae in your tank to start with? If so, I would assume you removed quite a bit to see results that quickly.

The sea hare is great at eating up algae. The only problem I have read is that they do not survive very long in an aquarium (maybe less than a month). Perhaps they need a lot of algae to survive and once the food source is gone, they don't make it?

No chance of getting a picture of your sea hare and the algae pest?

Hey HighlandReefer,

I had quite a bit of algae. I think maybe about 60% of my rock was covered with green hair algae. When I started Algaefix, some of it was already withering away and by the second dose I really did see it going away. My sea hare did have an impact but now that you mentioned my sea hare, I am sad to report that it died this morning :( . I bought a sea hare in the past and it also died. I never really liked them for that reason. However, I did not know they had a poor survival rate in the aquarium. I thought I just had no luck with them. I would not have bought them had I known their poor survival rate.

Now my tank looks much better and cleaner. Its still not all gone there are a few patches but I am sure I will get a hold of it in time. :)

Retzius,

We had another hobbyist in this thread that lost his sea hare also. Sorry to hear of its demise, but it did serve it purpose. :(

It sounds like you are on your way to a pest free system. I hope everything else goes well for you. Keep us posted. Your input about information such as the sea hare, helps to prevent other hobbyists from making the same mistake. ;)

I have talked to API at a trade show and asked this question and yes they are the same.

reznor252,

Thanks for the information. I have heard this from other sources as well. In the urban pest control industry (exterminating industry), re-labeling the exact same product for other uses has become common practice. They gotta make a buck any way they can.

One good example would be some products labeled for flea control on animals, which are identical to the same product labeled for spraying homes with. In some cases the manufacturer has labeled the exact same product in separate containers for cats and another for dogs. For me, it is illegal to apply a pest control product in any manor that is not on the product label. :D

FWIW, I still take the opinion as stated above, where I do not recommend using the AlgaeFix for Fresh Water in Marine tanks. EPA has drummed the law into me in my profession for too many years. The personal choices that hobbyists make, is up to them. :D

The worse case example of contaminates left in a pesticide product due to short-cuts taken by some manufacturers to meet war demands was Agent Orange. The Agent Orange active ingredients were (2,4-D and 2,4,5-T), which are safe. Unfortunately, some so called inactive ingredients not listed on the label (MSDS Sheet) were left behind by short cuts in the processing known as dioxins, which are very nasty. We all know the rest of the story. :(

well sixth dose on saturday and algae is almost gone, i will scrub the rock today and post photos as soon as i can...btw everything is still alive, lol

sana

algae is dying like the plague.

i can see my zoos again! no longer are they covered, coated and constricted by hair algae.

bu t i still have some, and it is leaving.

btw.

i added codmium (looks good, no adverse effects)

i also added red stghorn algae, caulerpa prolifera, and a bunch of chaetomorpha, everything is good.

everything except my amazing mangroves that were growing realy well.

they are droping leaves at an alrming rate!

any ideas?

I don't see why the AlgaeFix would cause problems for a true vascular plant. From some articles I have read, Mangroves are heavy users of magnesium. You might check your level for this. They recommend frequently misting the leaves with clean fresh water also.

Is this a Red Mangrove?

Sana,

Sounds great. Look forward to the pictures. ;)

Well here are the photos as promised:

Before, believe me it was worse than this
http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z...t/DSC01070.jpg

Now, after 6 doses of algaefix, a little hand removal and scrubbing the withered algae without the danger of spreading
http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z...t/DSC01197.jpg
http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z...t/DSC01198.jpg

So what do you guys think, does it work or does it work?

sana

I'm sold. I'm on my third dose of AlgaeFix & three weeks with Vodka dosing. Definitely feel that I've got it on the ropes. I just returned my sea hare yesterday as I think he may run out of food shortly.

I truly feel it has to be combination of better habits to keep this stuff at bay.

I have done:
-New Bulbs
-New Skimmer
-Rinse Frozen Food
-Feed Less
-Dose Vodka
-Dose AlgeaFix

I feel that aging bulbs, crappy skimmer & not rinsing food caused my issues.

Rook,

I agree with your recommendations. ;)

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Sana,

Great pictures. Thanks a lot. Well documented. :thumbsup:

Rook just hang in there, it will wither away and you only need to scrub it off or just let it fall off, anyways i am really happy now, BTW i am running carbon, GFO, skimmer, 2-3 month old lights (T5), no water changes, dosing algaefix marine, that is it, lol

FWIW, i havent notice any nitrates since this pest started growing, now that it's dying, i have nitrate back, altough it is in the range of ~2-5ppm...

sana

I am glad this stuff seems to be working. I personally have no experience with it but I have plenty of experience with algae.
Many people will be afraid to use it because there seems to be a lot of resistance to using any chemical in reef tanks, usually with good reason but a reef tank is not the sea and sometimes a chemical is needed as a tool to help out a bit.
When we get a headache we take an aspirin, if we get cancer we take stronger drugs which make us sicker before they (hopefully) cure us. If termites are eating up our home we poison them.
Chemicals are used in every part of our lives and although many of them are used too often, we can't live without them.
I have some algae in my reef but I want it there. If it were to start covering my corals for some reason I may want to try a chemical. I have used Chemi Clean many times with success.
I am happy you guys are testing this product. I would like to see long term effects on the symbiotic algae in coral.
Good luck.
Paul

Paul,

It's nice to get input from our hobbyists with 30 years and over of experience. :thumbsup:

Cliff, unfortunately I have no experience with this product.
I do know that many people have a problem with algae and obviousely the common advice of changing the water does not usually help. Sometimes algae will grow and there is nothing we can do about it. It is a normal occurance and it grows on every healthy reef on earth. We need to keep it off our corals because our tank is not the sea and sometimes needs some help.
The product is a tool like carbon, ozone, and skimmers.
A little algae is actually healthy so as long as people don't use stuff like this at the slightest sign of an outbreak, it may be a benefit to the hobby just as I sometimes use weed killer on my lawn.

The symbiotic algae in coral are a major concern when using any additive, particularly with a product like AlgaeFix. I have called the manufacturer to try and get more information about the active ingredient in AlgaeFix and its mode of action. Needless to say, I struck out. I was told by their rep. that I was taking too much of his time. I have searched the Internet and have not found answers.

I can only make assumptions and I am not a toxicologist. I have tracked down one of my old toxicology professors at the University of Maryland and he does not know anything about it. His research is in the realm of Agricultural concerns. He did not know where to refer me either, because it is not of much interest to the universities. :D

Well guys i consider myself a guinea pig, i have tried just about everything else to get rid of this pest, i really did not like this algae in my tank and it was spreading really fast so i had to nip it in the butt before it got out of hand, i undesrtand about using chemicals and really hope that my corals wont suffer in the long run, when i no longer see or get this pest in control i will stop dosing it every 3 days and make it a weekly thing, and when its gone i will probably do it every 2 weeks maybe until bottle is empty, a bottle might last me a year, lol.

sana

Sana,

With the results that we have seen so far, it does not appear to me that when the AlgaeFix is used there are no more risks than many other things we use in our reef system. There are very few products used in reef systems that do not have some risk. For example, I have read where hobbyists have caused problems for their systems and occupants using GFO; the aluminum phosphate binders; all your carbon sources have been overdosed by some; Running GAC and I think kalk has killed more tanks off than any other product used (I still love it though). :D

FWIW, I am happy that the AlgaeFix Marine is working for you. :)

I really hate to see hobbyists (I have known more than I like to see) that quite the hobby because they had exhausted all other means they were able to find to get rid of algae type pests. Hopefully AlgaeFix Marine will cut back on this number of disgruntled hobbyists. At that point, I don't see what they have to loose. ;)

Well said....BTW, come on guys show me some pics of your progress, is it working for you?

sana

I am not sure what I last posted about this topic and there are at least three different threads about algaefix marine.

The conclusion for my tank is that it needed a lot less of a photoperiod. I went from 10 hours to 5 - I believe in quality not quantity now when it come to light esp in smaller tanks and nanos. The algae fix worked BUT it is only a tool and not a FIX. I am now able to stay ahead of the HA by weekly harvesting. When the HA is trimmed back the clean up crew is better able to take care it. As for dosing, I did a 8 round doing then went to weekly and now I am back to every three days but today I am doing a large water change and will stop dosing and see what happens. I am expecting that the HA will grow back though as it did when I went to weekly dosing. I still don't have a fix for the source of the HA. I went from getting ready to break down the tank and get out of the hobby to sticking with it by using the aglaefix. But I can't keep using the algaefix for ever.

First treatment today. Here's a pic of my tank taken today.

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

The rear wall of the tank is a rock/foam wall that I intended to pretty much cover with corals and mushrooms. After the algae started to grow like weed, I scaled down my aspirations to a FOWLR tank with some ricordea and mushrooms glued the rear wall.

I'll update the progress regularly.

rhunter513,

There are many types of algae pests out there. They are difficult to ID. There are many blue-green cyanobacteria that resemble true algae in many respects. I am most concerned with the blue-green algae, because the cyano are much more difficult to control and I am not sure how well the AlgaeFix works on them. A good quality microscope will help when trying to ID these pests.

Check out this link:

Plant Management in Florida Waters:

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgu...3D198%26um%3D1

Bruno,

Thanks for sharing your experience with AlgaeFix Marine. Look forward to your results. ;)

HighlandReefer - thanks for the insight. I am pretty sure its typical hair algae or at least the stuff that algaefix kills. Take a look at the pics I posted on this thread to see what I have and how bad I had it.

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showth...&pagenumber=15

Algaefix does work in my tank - i doesn't dissolve it like some have posted - it mostly thins it and lossens its grip making it easy to harvest. Again it is only a tool for me not a fix. I just did a 10 gallon water change this evening (in 24g nanocube) and harvested a lot more HA. I will go back to weekly dosing as the bottle say given its mostly under control and will see what happens. Last time I did this it came back. I can't keep dosing every three days - my leather coral is starting to show some real signs of stress.

Just wondering if anyone is seeing a spike in phosphate or nitrate levels after their algae is gone.

I am seeing more nitrates all of the sudden since my hair algae started dying/whitering, so i believe its a normal transition and i am not going to worry about it, tomorrow is my 7th dose and i still havent seen any stress signs on any animals, plants, inverts.. i really cant comment what will happen in the long run, but i can comment in the present and it looks GOOOOOOOD....

Sana

Bruno,

I agree with Sana. As the AlgaeFix kills the algae, the algae will start to brake down and release nitrate and phosphate back into the water. The best thing you can do to reduce this effect is to physically remove as much of the algae as possible. Hand extraction and siphoning work well. ;)

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RHunter,

That is some infestation you have. :eek1:

I don't know where you are at in physical extraction of this pest, but I would remove as much by hand and siphoning as possible. This will increase the effect of AlgaeFix tremendously.

I had to post your pic in this thread also:

http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/i...pic3031309.jpg

RHunter,

With an infestation like yours, I would expect that it will take a while to get this infestation under control. If it is still heavily infested, I would concentrate on part of your tank at one time. Physical removal can be a lot of work and frustrating. :(

I would be interested in a current pic of your tank, to see where you are at now. ;)

RHunter,

Here is an example of what I was referring to. This is a picture of a cyanobacteria which resembles your pest. The blue-green coloring of this pest is not depicted well in the scan I made. Cyanobacteria are commonly referred to as the "blue-green algae" because of this color trait. Algae tend to be a true green color. I am not an expert in IDing these pests, but I am learning. Boomer has much more experience in IDing these pests, but microscopic images may be necessary to properly ID it. ;)

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/...---Cyanoba.jpg

HighlandReefer - the tank looks much better now. The algaefix allowed me to get ahead of the HA with harvesting. Now I remove more than what grows back in a week. Its a frustrating story for me. Although this tank is my first salt/reef tank, I have been keeping fish for many years and I did a lot of reseach and reading before starting this tank - I had impecable husbandry practices and still the huge infestation you see in those pics. I believe it has mostly to do with the high nutirent live rock in my tank. After trying all the conventional methods I resorted to algaefix. My snails and hermits are now suffering and well as my leather coral from the algaefix so I did that large water change and will run activated carbon now for a week or so and see what happens. I will try and post and updated pic tonight. Thanks again for the input and advice.

When the HA in my tank is healthy and growing its bright green, when its dying it turns darker and then grey esp at the roots.

RHunter,

If per chance your pest is indeed a cyanobacteria, then reducing your nitrate and phosphate to zero, or as close to possible, will not have much effect on it. The cyano can derive their food source directly from foods and other organic material in the water column. It would be impossible to eradicate it in this manor.

If it is a cyanobacteria and the AlgaeFix does not give the results you like, then perhaps trying Chemi-Clean by Boyd may be another option. :)

I guess I need to better ID the algae then. How do i go about doing that. Or just treat the tank with the chemi-clean anyways? What are the side effects to chemi-clean?

I would not treat your tank with both at one time. They are both oxidizers from my understanding.

At least we know what is in AlgaeFix for the most part. I have no idea what is in Chemi-Clean. When I have no idea what is in a product I rank it with the old-time concoctions that the exterminators used to mix-up themselves which were referred to as "Snake Oils". ;)

I have read threads where they claim that it has worked on cyanobacteria. Many also claim that it comes back similar to the claims made about Erythromycin.

On second thought, I am going to stick with it being hair algae and continue with my plan. In the past the HA has responded to decreasing the phos and nitrate levels. When I was doing huge 100% bi-weekly water changes the HA started to die but quickly grew back when I quit with the huge water changes...that got expensive and was way too much work.

I'm also thinking that with the algae, which is a voracious consumer of nitrates and phosphates, now gone for the most part, I would expect nitrates and phosphates to accumulate at a more rapid pace than previously.

In order to keep accumulation of these compounds from becoming problematic, an alternate plan for the export of NO3 and PO4 should be considered.

Just some random thoughts.

RHunter,

I would stick with the AlgaeFix myself. I have what I believe is a blue-green cyano and the algafix is controlling it well, as long as I physically remove as much as possible. :)

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Bruno,

Good point. I agree. ;)

I'm looking into picking some AlgaeFix up tonight to help my GHA problem. Will keep everyone posted. Any tips? How does it effect pods?

bright green = HA



Cliff in your book look up Cladophora pg 324. But Lyngbya is a good example of how one can confuse them.

Lyngbya

http://images.google.com/images?q=Ly...N&hl=en&tab=wi

Cladophora

http://images.google.com/images?hl=e...q=f&oq=Lyngbya

Boomer,

I am still confused, but I will continue working on it. I see from the description and color what you are talking about. The worst part is all the distinguishing characteristics of these pests are at a very close magnification, if not a microscopic level. :lol:

This is a Cladophora (A True Green Algae):
http://guitarfish.org/images/posts/algae/cladophora.jpg

Thanks. :)

Yes, but there are 25 speices of marine cladophora :) And often, like other marine plants of the same Genus, they do not look the same. And yes one really needs a mico to be sure :)