Hair Algae War

[Eric45]

In my year long battle to defeat gha, I have found that nothing eats it, it needs very little light and it grows incredibly fast. I have also found that bringing PO to .03 and often less, has not significantly reduced its growth. Over much of this time my Nitrates have been 10-15. A couple of weeks ago I decided to thoroughly vacuum my DSB and it had the effect of dropping nitrate significantly -- to around 5.

I've noticed that the GHA has not been coming back much at all from its last hair cut and my question is: could gha be more limiited by nitrate than phosphate? Thanks

[ryancw01]

refugium and starry blenny were a game changer for me. Hair algae completely gone within a few weeks.

[brandon429]

Cure: nanos forum, page 1 or 2, pico reef pest algae problem challenge. Post in that thread on page 29ish a full tank shot of your setup and some closeups of the algae. What you've fought endlessly will be cured permanently in a week or two.

[CoralReeferGal]

We took all our rocks out, put them in a bin with power heads and heater and kept them in the dark for about 3 months. All the LR survived, and the bacteria was still fine. We had to do this twice, but worked like a charm, and havent seen a hair algae problem since. Before putting the rock back in the tank, we used a toothbrush to scrub all the dead algae off them.

[CoralReeferGal]

Have you tried any lawnmower blennies? Several of them in the tank may help if you're not able to take the LR out like we did. Also, if the tank is big enough, a tang will help too. They LOVE to eat algae, and could help clean it up somewhat. They will pick at anything!

[jasonrstewart79]

Emerald crabs will eat the stuff too... one or two will clear it out relatively fast.

[goldenfiji]

NO3 & PO4 can certainly promote algae growth. I used to have a DSB. It was cool at first, but when it was saturated, it released nutrients back to the water. Now I am going BB and is much easier to maintain good water quality. My PO4, NH3, NO2, & NO3 are all undetectable

[freezetyle]

three day lights out period, gfo, and strong skimming
or
The peroxide method.


Im using the gfo, vinegar, a two bar rabbit fish (if you have a bigger tank), turbo snails, and aggressive brushing with a tooth brush before water changes.

[hollister]

Phosphate big contribitor.Also GHA doesnt do well with higher water flow. Pherhaps its flow and phosphate.

[Eric45]

Wow, lots of interesting info. Thanks! I woke up this morning to barely a trace of the stuff, less than I've seen since the war began. I'm certain it is the dramatic reduction in Nitrate that made the difference. It measures less than 5. PO is always low as I change gfo every two weeks. DSB's are out for me.

Never have tried a blenny, but if i'm wrong about the Nitrate, it will be the next step. --After that its Sarah's solution -- Bleach!

[sponger0]

Manual removal, rock scrubbing with a toothbrush, and phosphate reactor are the key IME.

Any of this lights out crap doesnt seem to do a thing. Your phosphates\nitrates will still be there.

[Buzz1329]

Originally Posted by brandon429

Cure: nanos forum, page 1 or 2, pico reef pest algae problem challenge. Post in that thread on page 29ish a full tank shot of your setup and some closeups of the algae. What you've fought endlessly will be cured permanently in a week or two.

Hi Brandon,

Not to highjack the thread but I thought I'd share my experience with what I understand to be your method.

I bought some live rock and some of it had hair algae and bryopsis on it. After reading your thread, I put the rock in my refugium and over the next week, I removed the rock from the refugium daily, dripping increasing amounts of hydrogen peroxide directly on the offending algae while the rock was out of water and then rinsed it with fresh SW before returning it to the fuge. No discernible effect on the algae.

The next week, I mixed up fresh SW with RO/DI water and daily soaked the rock in solutions of up to one pint of fresh HP per 5 gals of SW for up to an hour. With no discernible effect on the algae.

Concluding that GHA and bryopsis can survive a nuclear holocaust, I then used the claw end of a hammer to knock off the algae-coated portions of the rock and put the remaining portions back in the fuge. I still have some GHA in the fuge, but it seems manageable.

In any event, I'm thinking I could have reached the same result with a few hammer blows and spared myself the daily ablutions of HP. But maybe I did not follow the proper protocol?

[bambam918]

Originally Posted by Eric45

Wow, lots of interesting info. Thanks! I woke up this morning to barely a trace of the stuff, less than I've seen since the war began. I'm certain it is the dramatic reduction in Nitrate that made the difference. It measures less than 5. PO is always low as I change gfo every two weeks. DSB's are out for me.

Never have tried a blenny, but if i'm wrong about the Nitrate, it will be the next step. --After that its Sarah's solution -- Bleach!

Try the starry blenny, get the nitrates down, increase the water flow and possibly decrease the amount of food your adding to the system. This could be a factor as well.

I am going through a little out break of GHA as well and I just purchased a Tribal blenny, diamond goby and have been feeding my fish only twice a week with pellets (my normal regiment) but decreased the total amount for each feeding. If this does not work fast enough for me, I will purchase a GFO

[Steve175]

Originally Posted by brandon429

Cure: nanos forum, page 1 or 2, pico reef pest algae problem challenge. Post in that thread on page 29ish a full tank shot of your setup and some closeups of the algae. What you've fought endlessly will be cured permanently in a week or two.

Your sixth sense for a hair algae thread is more sensitive than a shark's for blood: simply incredible!