It's all we can see!!!!!! GHA

this is what i did for my outbreak of gha i first got ten turbo snails and they helped by controlling the growth but not so well i took out most of my rock and scrubbed it clean it also took off some cyano that i didn't notice staring to grow then put the rock back in upside down so the opposite side of the rock that had the gha growing was now not showing and started using a product called algaefix i don't like algaecides but i gave it a try and now the remaining gha has turned brown and is dieing i also dose vodka and that made my skimmer work better and i used rowaphos in my phosban reactor and i use cheato in my fuge

 

i also like to use marine tank clarifier after the scrubbing of the rocks to bind any loose stuff for the filter to remove

 

We are using a cascade canister filter like this one http://source-www.petco.com/assets/product_images/3/3017202124C.jpg
When we change our media do we change it all at once?? I mean do we do one whole layer of filter floss as well as the activated carbon?? Then the next 3-5 weeks do the other layer...?

 

Ok, for the RODI unit is it something that has to be plumed into your house?? If so we cant have it because we live in apartments that our university owns and we are not allowed to do stuff like that other wise I would be all over that!!! The RO machine we use is across the street from us and they do maintenance on it once a week, we see the guy out their working on it.. I think me and my husband are the only ones that even use that machine. lol.. I will definitely have to research about the RODI for our apartment because if we can find one that does not have to be plumed you better believe i am on that!!!;D It would be a lot cheaper in the long run..

 

I would rotate, but I would do 1 or the other at lest each week. Depending how dirty your floss gets you may have to do it weekly.

 

Thats a good idea i think i will suggest that to my husband.. He usually takes care of the filter stuff..lol.. ;D

 

We just scrubbed the rock and found lots of little critters we never new were in their... We found some type of star fish, at least we think thats what it was... It was white really thin and had 5 arms.. I thought it may be a brittle star but idk... anyway.. I really hope that this works... after all, when we did this it made a really really big mess in our kitchen...lol... My husband dropped one of the main rocks that weighs about 15lbs into the bucket because something was growling between his fingers.. lol.. At least I got a good laugh out of it... Thank you guys for all your good info and experiences.. I really hope that this will help us beat this battle... Also, I cut my lights to about 5 hrs now and I did not feed the fish today I am switching to every other day... Tomorrow we are changing the carbon and the filter floss... As well as looking into our own RO system...

 

If you're convinced that the RO/DI machine on campus is faithfully maintained, why not spend about 20 bucks on a TDS meter and check that water yourself? If the machine is doing what it's supposed to, the water will measure at 0 or thereabouts. This way, if it checks out, you don't have to spend any money on your own RO/DI unit.

As for the algae, sorry for your problems. I battled algae for about 20 years. Back in the day, heavy algae growth was a sign of a well-established tank. The fish didn't mind it a bit. If you don't have corals, and don't mind the ubiquitious green appearance of your tank; let things go. No biggie.

I've "pulled the plug" on algae lots. Turned off my lights for weeks at a time. Did copious water changes. Used every chemical additive in the market. I was at wit's end. I've tossed in the towel more times than I care to confess.

Some say that turning the lights off will help. Been there. Deprived the tank (and fish) of food. Done that. Removed and scrubbed clean every piece of live rock in the tank. Tried that too. Do those 3 things and it will look like you never had algae in the first place--for about 2 weeks, until algae once again takes hold.

There's so much advice about ridding your tank of algae that it seems redundant, doesn't it? Well, it's redundant because a lot of those tips work. If you take all the good tips, and incorporate them in your setup, you're literally guaranteed to win the algae battle. That's what I did. I decided that I'd try only those tips that I've read more than 50 times. That way, I had a better chance of using only those pieces of advice that were time tested and actually worked.

Truth is, if you take the right steps, you can have your display tank in direct sunlight for an hour or so each day. You can even overfeed once in a while. The thing is, you must treat the cause. You must go in for the kill. Stop treating the symptoms and eradicate the disease!

Here's what I did:

1. I lost the crushed coral substrate and replaced it with sand. Turns out CC harbors all kinds of detritus, leading to nitrates, leading to algae.

2. I built a 10gal refugium, and put in chaetomorpha macroalgae. The fuge is lit when the main tank is not. It has a 55K "daylight" bulb. It's like sunlight overnight for the chaeto. The chaeto competes with tank algae by consuming the very same nutrients.

3. I stopped using tap water. Tap water saturates your tank with phosphates and silicates. Algae thrives on those nutrients.

4. Made sure my protein skimmer was a good one. Dissolved organics are high on the algae menu.

5. I purchased a phosphate reactor and run it 24/7 with the indicated amount of phosphate removal media, and packed the rest of the way with carbon. By the way, it's important to run phosphate removal media in an ACTIVE way, like a chamber of some kind where water is forced through, rather than passively tossing a bag of the stuff in your sump. That doesn't do very much.

6. Took the bioballs out of my wet/dry. I did this because I read that bioballs are "nitrate factories." I think nowadays that clean bioballs are safe, and as long as detritus doesn't collect on them, nitrates won't have a chance.

7. I upgraded my lights, making sure that an old, tired bulb's wavelength ouput wasn't contributing to algal growth.

Over my years of SW tank husbandry, I've done countless searches for "algae problems" and I've tried many of the tips espoused by people in the same boat. They seemed to make sense. It took me a long time to figure out that I needed to do all the above AT THE SAME TIME.

My personal guarantee to you is, if you did an experiment and incorporated the seven points above, you won't see a speck of algae again.

Hit the algae problem hard. Blitz it. Rob them of nutrients. Provide an inhospitable environment for algae. You will win.

Good luck!

 

why don't you take the rock out and scrub it clean with sw? In a 26g tank you it couldn't be that hard. At least that will give you a leg up on treating it. Killing all of the gha/lha with chemicals seems like an extensive job in a smaller tank, only to have the remainder hang around in your system. If your gha/lha is growing out of control then it's feeding heavily on nitrates. Once you kill it off you going to have a major spike for a few weeks. I think the better idea is to remove it by hand and then treat the system. At the same time you could be correcting the oncoming nitrate problem. This way you don't have to cut your photo period and risk hurting your xenia.

edit: adding snails is just going to create a bigger problem...

sorry for restating the method. I didn't see that there was more to the post.

 

Sounds like an asternia star to me, but without pics its hard to tell