Hooked Posted November 12, 2014 Report Share Posted November 12, 2014 When it browns, manual removal should be easier. Pulling off the long stuff will make it easier for the inverts to clean off the short stuff left on the rocks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tprize Posted November 12, 2014 Author Report Share Posted November 12, 2014 I will try that as well as another 3-4 days of darkness. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waldend Posted November 12, 2014 Report Share Posted November 12, 2014 Have you tried doing any type of vac on the sand? I used that same black sand and it didn't work out well for me (long story but lost a stunning Picasso pair). It's so coarse that it's a huge detritus collector. Looks beautiful but danger lies hidden amongst it! The way that bigger rock is covered also make me think there is something up with it. Are the two larger pieces from different sources? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tprize Posted November 15, 2014 Author Report Share Posted November 15, 2014 Can I remove my sand and replace with new? And that rock is the closest to the light. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waldend Posted November 15, 2014 Report Share Posted November 15, 2014 Yes you can theoretically. That stuff will be hard though as the big chunks kept getting stuck and plugging my siphon. A larger diameter hose would drain your water fast. If there is a bunch of crap in it, you would stir it all up scooping it out. Best bet is probably a large diameter hose and do small sections at a time. If you want to remove it all that is. You may be able to vac it like gravel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hooked Posted November 15, 2014 Report Share Posted November 15, 2014 For a 20 gallon tank, I would move all the rock & livestock into a tub with the tank water, scoop out the sand, clean the tank and put everything back in. Or, you can use a wet/dry shop vac. I removed a dsb from a 90 gallon that way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waldend Posted November 15, 2014 Report Share Posted November 15, 2014 Been thinking. Maybe try stirring a little section of the sand and see if it seems to be holding lots of crud. I hate to recommend removing all your sand unless you know it's excessively dirty. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tprize Posted November 18, 2014 Author Report Share Posted November 18, 2014 We are house hunting, so when I move, it will be the perfect time to swap anyway. I added an emerald crab, and he instantly started mowing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tprize Posted December 10, 2014 Author Report Share Posted December 10, 2014 Here is an updated photo. I feel like it's taking forever, does anyone have a bottle of Kent Patience? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Indymann99 Posted December 10, 2014 Report Share Posted December 10, 2014 Yes Patience comes bottled under the name of Woodford Reserve. Dosage is full strength over frozen H2O. Repeat as needed. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PopEyeTim Posted December 10, 2014 Report Share Posted December 10, 2014 Here is an updated photo. I feel like it's taking forever, does anyone have a bottle of Kent Patience? The speed up the process what I did is hand removed all the GHA I could. Then I bought a very tough brush to scrub it underwater. After I did siphon or net any algae I saw. Another option would be remove one rock at a time when you do water changes and use the old water to dip the rock in, then scrub it. My GHA didn't go away until I pulled it off. Now I have had no issues for 3-4 months Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PopEyeTim Posted December 10, 2014 Report Share Posted December 10, 2014 How fine is your substrate? I used some pretty big reef flakes in my 50 cube and never got rid of GHA until I changed the sand to something finer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tprize Posted December 11, 2014 Author Report Share Posted December 11, 2014 I plan on changing the substrate after our move. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaltCritters Posted December 12, 2014 Report Share Posted December 12, 2014 Try Phoshate RX. or peroxide that works. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tprize Posted December 12, 2014 Author Report Share Posted December 12, 2014 If I do swap the substrate, will I have to worry about a dangerous cycle again, or will the established rock help with this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PopEyeTim Posted December 12, 2014 Report Share Posted December 12, 2014 If I do swap the substrate, will I have to worry about a dangerous cycle again, or will the established rock help with this? It depends on how much you add I think. I did all live rock and 50% live sand and never had an algae bloom when upgrading from a 50 cube to a 75 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tprize Posted December 13, 2014 Author Report Share Posted December 13, 2014 I bought the phosphate rx, if it does make the algea easy to remove, it will be worth it, if not it was expensive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tprize Posted January 2, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 2, 2015 Thought I would give an update. I changed the sand, and hand removed as much as possible. Fingers crossed it won't bloom again, and will start to finally die off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PopEyeTim Posted January 2, 2015 Report Share Posted January 2, 2015 Keep picking the algae off by hand weekly. If you continue to do that and regular water changes it will slowly get better Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tprize Posted February 5, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 5, 2015 A true thank you to everyone who gave advice! The tank is finally back to perfection. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReefNewby82 Posted February 5, 2015 Report Share Posted February 5, 2015 Heck yeah! Great job being persistent, looks like it all paid off! Do you mind giving an update on what all you did please for future reference? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tprize Posted February 6, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 6, 2015 I'm going to make a full write later this week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReefNewby82 Posted February 6, 2015 Report Share Posted February 6, 2015 Sounds like a plan! Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roush2000 Posted February 6, 2015 Report Share Posted February 6, 2015 Looks great! I bet lots of water changes aee in the write up! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tprize Posted February 7, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 7, 2015 So about 6 months ago, I started my battle with Hair Algae. I beat it, and wanted to share my story. The first sign of the algae was pretty minimal, I figured that my cleanup crew would take care of it. Truth be told, I was moving soon, and had cut down on maintenance. So about a month after the move, the tank looked like this. I was a little frustrated, so I tried the method everyone had talked about, raising my MAG with tech M. After about another month, it looked like this. I was incredibly frustrated. Everyone talked about how it just melts off, and mine was growing!. I kept up the MAG level thinking maybe, it just takes time… nope. After reaching out to RC, and my local forum INDMAS, I decided to do a shotgun approach of all the advice. Here is the list of things I did to fix the tank, it took about 2 months to win. 1. I purchased a new cleanup crew including hermits, and a emerald crab. 2. I used Phophate Rx. 3. I manually removed as much as I could. 4. I got a much better media reactor, and started running 50% more Phosguard. 5. I did weekly water changes. 6. I used prodibio bioclean 7. I changed my sandbed. (The old sand trapped to much food.) This gave me multiple tools to remove the algea. 1. Physical: Hand removing, cleanup crew, lack of stagnant food. 2. Chemical: Phosphate Rx, Phosguard. 3. Biological: Prodibio, Water changes. Here it is today, and I am glad I did not quit reefing because of this, because the tank is beautiful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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