Almost ready to throw the towel in - HELP!

[GoReef165]

This is one thread I'm not proud to post but it is what it is. I have this brownish green soft flowing hairy algae and I can't seem to ever get rid of it. I've fought this stuff for years but it's just now getting to overwhelming. So do you think I can rid this from my tank once and for all? I have a 165 gallon and it's spread across my entire tank. All over the rock work, any frag plugs that don't have coral growing over and around them, on the back glass and sand bed. I'm at the point of starting over and removing all my rock, selling my fish and coral and either buying new rock or drying out my old and cooking it. What would you guy do or suggest at this point?

Here's a grainy photo of what it looks like. I use a turkey baster to blow it off the rocks and then the loose pieces just get caught on my SPS and start growing on it too! UGH.

BTW,,, even if I don't go as radical as tearing it all down and starting over I will be atleast be doing a small remodel. That means removing some rocks, buying new rock and a few more powerheads and selling some of my larger LE SPS colonies to help fund it all. New thread to come as I get serious

I'd appreciate your feedback. I need al the help I can get. Thx

 

[BeanMachine]

Your tangs won't eat it? If I put a frag with any hair algae at all my Yellow Tang will eat it right up. Have you tried a Sea Hare?

 

[LAreefguy]

Honestly I had the same thing, i say start over. It sucks but it's the only way.


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[Six2seven]

Awwww sorry to hear rob. Definitely one of the nicer tanks on here. Do you run biopellets, GFO or chaeto? Just wondering what you have to battle it so far

 

[Confuse]

It's hard to tell from the pictures, but is it bryopsis? If it is, you can try dosing TechM at high doses and it'll melt away with time.

 

[newtothis]

Does the algae look stringy with air bubbles on the tips? I'm pretty sure you've checked your param, so I won't ask. How what lighting do you have? Maybe time for replacement....running a UV might help, along with a seahare...

 

[BeanMachine]

It's hard to tell from the pictures, but is it bryopsis? If it is, you can try dosing TechM at high doses and it'll melt away with time.

It looks like hair algae to me but that still may be worth a shot.

 

[will21xl]

Get some turbos and a tang or flame angel

 

[Number8]

If that was my tank this is what I will do. I will have an excellent protein skimmer running with micron socks. Keep carbon in the sump and replace it every three weeks. With a protein skimmer you can run nopox ( a product from redsea ). Nopox will quickly reduce your nitrates and phosphates. It costs about 18 bucks and will last you for your size tank three months. Phosphates and nitrates and possible silicates are the problem. It wouldn't hurt to put a phosban reactor in the sump either. Now when doing this you are really "cleaning" the tank which will affect your sps and might cause them to bleach bc of the stress. To combat that lower your alk. I say either 7 or 8 range. Dirty water high alk. Clean water lower alk. Then it wouldn't hurt to get clean up crew. Emerald crabs, tuxedo urchins and sea hares for sure. Also hermit crabs and turbo snails will be nice. Now that's what I will do. I strongly recommend to try it.

 

[lurking]

50% water changes once a week. Change your gfo every three days for a few weeks. Get lawn mower Blenny, 50 turbo snails, sea hare manually remove all you can, shorten photo period for a week or two use algae fix double the recommended amount and then win


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[SchnitzelReef]

It's the vodka! I had a similar problem from over carbon dosing vodka. Stop dosing vodka immediately and start doing smaller more frequent water changes. It's easy to go to the extremes, but start simple. Once I stopped dosing vodka and started dosing vinegar all my HA went away. That does NOT look like the bryopsis I had.

Another thing to think of, is how packed your tank is with corals and fish, and look at your skimmer. U may be overloaded for that size skimmer, and trying to fix it with excess carbon dosing isn't working.

-test for nitrates and phosphates (something is feeding the algae)
-stop dosing vodka
-look into a skimmer upgrade. (A packed tank like yours needs a massive sized skimmer)
-start dosing vinegar.
- run gfo and change it out once a week until hair algae is gone
-start doing smaller 20g water changes every week/every other week.

PS- I have 50g of fresh instant ocean with 0tds water made if u wanna do something tonight. Let me know buddy!!!

 

[bvysochin]

Try that first ^^

But we've been battling this same issue in one of our tanks for a long time. After trying almost everything to try to correct it we finally resorted to a medication. Algae fix marine. I've been using it for 2 1/2 weeks and almost all the nasty is finally gone with no ill affects to coral, fish, inverts or other macro algae. After the first dose most of the stuff just crumbled off and was easy to remove. I recommend a manual removal session after the first or second dose which seemed to help rid the algae faster. Ive used this stuff with red slime a long time ago with great success so I wasn't too afraid to use it this time. Use at your own risk and make sure to follow the directions. I don't want to be the cause of something bad happening to your tank. Just wanted to give you an option that seems to be working for me. Good Luck!

 

[Xaznkewlguyx]

I've had great luck with GFO reactor + Algaefix Marine in the past. I would recommend trying it.

 

[zigginit]

a lot of good advise so far, but we need more info. test you water, and what are you topping off with? you gotta use RODI water and in your area need to run a chloramine carbon block in the RODI or else your burning through your RO membrane thus defeating the point of using RODI in the first place. also hair algae is not that hard to get rid of if you know what to do. first comes clean water, then comes sump with chaeto, then comes tangs and lawnmower blenny and snails. alo run GFO and you should get this fixed up in no time. I don't know you but from what others have said it seems you are a knowledgeable reefer and this is all within your reach. I just did all this to my sump (ya my sump had an outbreak with a new light over it) and it cleared up in about a week and it was bad. I have a lawnmower blenny that may need a new home soon due to lack of food now in the sump. maybe a trade? also have free chaeto if you need it.

 

[Six2seven]

I agree although it's a bunch of shots in the dark it's all still good advice. It comes to show you what we've learned in this great hobby.

 

[janiners305]

Use the dr Tim's waste away it will get rid of it


Chris

 

[GoReef165]

I really appreciate everyone that gave me feedback.

Here's some answers to your questions on equipment, maint., water params, etc.

* Alk: 8 / Cal: 450 / Mag: 1300 / Ph 8.1 / Nitrate: 5 / Phosphate: 0.02
* 20-30gal water changes every 2 weeks NOW (never did before which might have started this).
* Running GFO in a nice reactor in the sump. I try to keep it fairly fresh but I might have to start switching it out more frequent now.
* I do Vodka dose. Been dosing for years no issues. Maybe Nick has a good point. I'm going to look into vinegar, Red Sea NO3O4-X Nitrate & Phosphate Reducer, etc. (thoughts on this?)
* Tank is pretty packed with coral and fish. I do have a starry blenny that munches on the algae, 2 yellow tangs and 1 blue tang....plus other misc. guys.
* I've been running my own RODI unit in the garage and I keep it at 0 TDS... at least that's what the meter is telling me. I need to test it manually though. This could be an issue?
* 40 gallon sump where I use a BM220a skimmer (to me it's a beast rated at 400 gallon). GFO reactor. Running socks. Nothing else in the sump. No chaeto or anything else. No room with the skimmer and sock.
* Running (6) 80w T5s. ON at 2pm / OFF at 10pm. 2 bulbs come on at a time and turn off at a time so all 6 bulbs are on together for 7 hours. Maybe to long?

So what do you guys think about trying Dr. Tims Waste Away, Algae Fix Marine and/or adding a Sea hare? Do you think any of these would really make a big difference? Honestly if i can't get this resolved soon I'm doing something drastic like starting over. The tanks been running pretty good (never perfect) for 5 years plus but now I'm stressing over it everyday lately and it's not much fun anymore.

 

[jesuses]

If you go the chemical route make sure a buddy has a frag of all your favorite pieces, just in case your tank crashes. I did chemi clean pretty recently and I think it's what wiped out most of my fish.

If you want fast, then try scrubbing it off with a toothbrush along with whatever you decide to do. It's a pain but will make it easier to fix if there's less

 

[Mr. Plant]

Try Algeafix, Rob, Its cheap and easy to use. I have used it in the past with good results.

 

[ep3n3wp]

How old are your T5 bulbs?

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