3-4 month old 75 gallon GHA problem

[Lgara1303]

Hello everyone, I have a 75 gallon tank that has been set up for three going on four months now and I am currently battling some pretty nasty green hair algae. I completely understand. There is the ugly stage however it seems like the ugly stage has not given up once on my tank I constantly almost every day I have to scrape the diatoms off. The glass and the sand has them like crazy too. I would say recently within the last week or two I have had crazy green hair algae that has been growing like 3 to 4 inches and even grow off turbo snails like two times a day, usually frozen mysis and frozen brine shrimp sometimes I will make some pellets in there. My nitrates are always under five and phosphates are usually around .1 .15 a hang on the back filter as well as a external canister filter with a plumbed in media reactor that I run biomed in my filtration is pretty good and my parameters are usually pretty low when it comes to nitrates and phosphates. I do know I need more turbo snails and I have been thinking about getting a tuxedo urgent but looking to see what your guises advices and if there’s anything I can do to help green algae I also run my nicrew lights about 20 white 50 blue when it tops out. So maybe less white ? I only have two Zoes and a Duncan coral I have added a frog spawn and two hammers but they died within a week so that’s another problem because my parameters are pretty stable what are you guys recommend to combat green hair algae like I said I’m gonna get some more turbo snails and possibly a tuxedo urgent. Give me fish recommendations as well. However, it will have to go through quarantine so would probably not be affective for a while.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

It is dissolved organics that fuel the algae, the 2 filters do nothing to remove doc's. A skimmer would help a lot more for a tank that size.

Feed smaller amounts more often, rotting food is what fuels the algae. Increase the flow in the tank to push more uneaten food into the filters.

The filters themselves are what we call "nitrate factories", unless you clean them very often, they are just holding food that is rotting into the water. The should be cleaned weekly at most.

More water changes will help, more clean up crew. And understand that the first year of a reef tank is fighting with and controlling algae, so patience will see you through it.

 

[Lgara1303]

It is dissolved organics that fuel the algae, the 2 filters do nothing to remove doc's. A skimmer would help a lot more for a tank that size.

Feed smaller amounts more often, rotting food is what fuels the algae. Increase the flow in the tank to push more uneaten food into the filters.

The filters themselves are what we call "nitrate factories", unless you clean them very often, they are just holding food that is rotting into the water. The should be cleaned weekly at most.

More water changes will help, more clean up crew. And understand that the first year of a reef tank is fighting with and controlling algae, so patience will see you through it.

.

OK, I have a hang on the back protein skimmer that I have been saving just haven’t used it yet because I didn’t think it was the right time
As far as The food goes, I really don’t have much food that doesn’t get eaten. I have three pajama cardinals, two clown fish, and Anthea and a yellow wrasse two cleaner shrimp and a fire shrimp so needless to say when I feed the tank, everything gets some and goes crazy, especially my anthias I could still try and feed smaller one or two more times a day and see if that helps. I have been pretty good on my weekly or at least every other week water changes however not been that great on cleaning the canister filter as it is a pain so I could try and be better at that…

Do you think I should try and decrease the white light in my tank?

 

[Reign1]

OK, I have a hang on the back protein skimmer that I have been saving just haven’t used it yet because I didn’t think it was the right time
As far as The food goes, I really don’t have much food that doesn’t get eaten. I have three pajama cardinals, two clown fish, and Anthea and a yellow wrasse two cleaner shrimp and a fire shrimp so needless to say when I feed the tank, everything gets some and goes crazy, especially my anthias I could still try and feed smaller one or two more times a day and see if that helps. I have been pretty good on my weekly or at least every other week water changes however not been that great on cleaning the canister filter as it is a pain so I could try and be better at that…

Do you think I should try and decrease the white light in my tank?

Decreasing the light may not do a whole lot unless you do a blackout. I think your nutrients are building up. Adding cleanup crew can help , turning on skimmer also. This is a normal part of process but yes a urchin tears the algae up. I had same issue and he has been in there a few weeks besides adding some more snails and it is improving gradully.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

OK, I have a hang on the back protein skimmer that I have been saving just haven’t used it yet because I didn’t think it was the right time
As far as The food goes, I really don’t have much food that doesn’t get eaten. I have three pajama cardinals, two clown fish, and Anthea and a yellow wrasse two cleaner shrimp and a fire shrimp so needless to say when I feed the tank, everything gets some and goes crazy, especially my anthias I could still try and feed smaller one or two more times a day and see if that helps. I have been pretty good on my weekly or at least every other week water changes however not been that great on cleaning the canister filter as it is a pain so I could try and be better at that…

Do you think I should try and decrease the white light in my tank?

oh if you have anthias then forget my comment about uneaten food lol, they are pigs lol.

Yes I agree the skimmer will do better for you than the filter.

I use metal hallides which are very white lighting compared to led tanks, so I doubt your white lights at only 20% is causing any harm.

Sounds like your on the right track, now it comes down to your tank building enough biodiversity to fight off algae and bad bacteria. Thats something that just takes time.

 

[Lgara1303]

oh if you have anthias then forget my comment about uneaten food lol, they are pigs lol.

Yes I agree the skimmer will do better for you than the filter.

I use metal hallides which are very white lighting compared to led tanks, so I doubt your white lights at only 20% is causing any harm.

Sounds like your on the right track, now it comes down to your tank building enough biodiversity to fight off algae and bad bacteria. Thats something that just takes time.

Pigs is literally not the word for what that dude is. I love him, but if I would’ve known how much she eats, I probably would’ve skipped out on him. I have one of the innovative, marine, frozen fish, food feeders that slowly release the frozen food and he waits under it, anything crab pellets anything but sounds good. Looks like I will set up the protein skimmer and see what that does as well as add some more cleanup crew and hopefully let it run its course.

 

[Lgara1303]

Decreasing the light may not do a whole lot unless you do a blackout. I think your nutrients are building up. Adding cleanup crew can help , turning on skimmer also. This is a normal part of process but yes an urchin tears the algae up. I had same issue and he has been in there a few weeks besides adding some more snails and it is improving gradully.

That’s good to hear. Do you have any corals and if so, do you have any problems? That’s the main reason I have held off on one and due to their size I just don’t want them to knock anything over once I do start to add more coral I went to a Petco two weeks ago and they had aqua cultured tuxedo urchins that were the size of a dime, and I was going to get one however all of their tanks appeared to have it what kind of urgent do you have? Also, I personally like the tuxedo do you think that would be fine

 

[Lavey29]

Hello everyone, I have a 75 gallon tank that has been set up for three going on four months now and I am currently battling some pretty nasty green hair algae. I completely understand. There is the ugly stage however it seems like the ugly stage has not given up once on my tank I constantly almost every day I have to scrape the diatoms off. The glass and the sand has them like crazy too. I would say recently within the last week or two I have had crazy green hair algae that has been growing like 3 to 4 inches and even grow off turbo snails like two times a day, usually frozen mysis and frozen brine shrimp sometimes I will make some pellets in there. My nitrates are always under five and phosphates are usually around .1 .15 a hang on the back filter as well as a external canister filter with a plumbed in media reactor that I run biomed in my filtration is pretty good and my parameters are usually pretty low when it comes to nitrates and phosphates. I do know I need more turbo snails and I have been thinking about getting a tuxedo urgent but looking to see what your guises advices and if there’s anything I can do to help green algae I also run my nicrew lights about 20 white 50 blue when it tops out. So maybe less white ? I only have two Zoes and a Duncan coral I have added a frog spawn and two hammers but they died within a week so that’s another problem because my parameters are pretty stable what are you guys recommend to combat green hair algae like I said I’m gonna get some more turbo snails and possibly a tuxedo urgent. Give me fish recommendations as well. However, it will have to go through quarantine so would probably not be affective for a while.

Common for the GHA stage to start around 4th month and last for another 3 or 4 months.

 

[Reign1]

That’s good to hear. Do you have any corals and if so, do you have any problems? That’s the main reason I have held off on one and due to their size I just don’t want them to knock anything over once I do start to add more coral I went to a Petco two weeks ago and they had aqua cultured tuxedo urchins that were the size of a dime, and I was going to get one however all of their tanks appeared to have it what kind of urgent do you have? Also, I personally like the tuxedo do you think that would be fine

Yeah, my problem looked like Dinos but less bubly and more short brown stringy . I didnt put them under microscope. Yes I have a fair amount of corals: pavona, favia, like 7 types of montis, birds nest, anacro , some acros, chalices etc. like 20 frags or so . Yes the urchin totally doing heavy lifting also knocking down my frags when trying to get the edges of them. He hits the miyagi acro off like daily lol..

 

[Lgara1303]

Pic to show what I’m dealing with

 

[Lgara1303]

Yeah, my problem looked like Dinos but less bubly and more short brown stringy . I didnt put them under microscope. Yes I have a fair amount of corals: pavona, favia, like 7 types of montis, birds nest, anacro , some acros, chalices etc. like 20 frags or so . Yes the urchin totally doing heavy lifting also knocking down my frags when trying to get the edges of them. He hits the miyagi acro off like daily lol..

Maybe now would be a good time to get one then since I only have two Zola’s and a Dunkin in there and really don’t want to add coral until I take care of my algae problem or get it a lot more controlled

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

Do you have any flow besides the canister filter? Seeing algae grow on the sand and corners makes me think low flow. You should have a pair of good powerheads or gyres.

 

[Lgara1303]

Do you have any flow besides the canister filter? Seeing algae grow on the sand and corners makes me think low flow. You should have a pair of good powerheads or gyres.

Yes I have a Jena I scp 150 gyre set in a corner vertical so it goes in a circle pattern I feel like flow is really good because the dunkin the complete other side is flowing all the way toward the left like it’s being pushed. Also have another jebao not set up because seems like gyre has been a lot and the way I have it set up vertically. It will build up sand piles in certain spots so I feel like my sand is getting good flow unless the piles are blocking it that much from the other sand.

Picture of dunkin pushed to left and of rock work from a few months ago

 

[Idech]

My tuxedo urchin completely got rid of the GHA growing in my refugium. I mean there was tons of it. It eats it faster than it can grow, to the point where I’m starting to think about feeding it.

I could tell the difference in one day.

 

[Reign1]

My tuxedo urchin completely got rid of the GHA growing in my refugium. I mean there was tons of it. It eats it faster than it can grow, to the point where I’m starting to think about feeding it.

I could tell the difference in one day.

totally agree they are workhorses.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

My tuxedo urchin completely got rid of the GHA growing in my refugium. I mean there was tons of it. It eats it faster than it can grow, to the point where I’m starting to think about feeding it.

I could tell the difference in one day.

I really should get a tuxedo for my tank; it would combat my algae issues.

 

[Rappa]

I currently have 9 medium size urchins in my 220G. I've been fighting the GHA battle since last September... exactly 4 months after setup... and I feel your pain! I have several Tuxedo Urchins, some Pink Urchins, and some Purple Urchins. I think the pink and purples do a better job at mowing through the rocks quickly. They don't harm my corals at all. They will knock over a frag that's not glued in, or buried well into the sand. The Tuxedos love to pick up anything they come across, and I have saved hermits and small snails that were stuck to Tuxedo's. The Pink and Purple's don't seem to pick up anything to carry it around on their backs. I know that my GHA isn't caused by lack of flow, because it grows on the power-heads and the return outlets. It even grows on the rocks getting hit by the hardest flow. My first tank that was built using real live-rock never had this issue. My theory is that the Marco Rock and Real Reef Rock have something to do with nutrient swings during the first 6-12 months of my tank.

I have just been doing manual GHA removal sessions every few weeks using a dc pump with a suction tube to suck up the Hair Algae, then it dumps out into my overflow and goes right down into the filter socks in my sump. I change the socks out after I'm done. It's like a home-made vacuum system that I made out of necessity. My tank is way too big to do manual removal sessions via siphon into a 5 gallon bucket. At first, I was doing 4+ hour removal sessions at a time. The Urchins helped tremendously! After 10 months of fighting the GHA with manual removal and urchins, I have gone from approx 90% rocks covered in GHA, to about 15% covered. The Urchins do not like to eat the long hair algae though... but once you rip it off the rocks they will go crazy eating what's remaining, and if a new section is starting to grow, they go nuts for that. My GHA removal sessions only take me an hour or so ever few weeks now, and get smaller each time.

 

[Lgara1303]

I currently have 9 medium size urchins in my 220G. I've been fighting the GHA battle since last September... exactly 4 months after setup... and I feel your pain! I have several Tuxedo Urchins, some Pink Urchins, and some Purple Urchins. I think the pink and purples do a better job at mowing through the rocks quickly. They don't harm my corals at all. They will knock over a frag that's not glued in, or buried well into the sand. The Tuxedos love to pick up anything they come across, and I have saved hermits and small snails that were stuck to Tuxedo's. The Pink and Purple's don't seem to pick up anything to carry it around on their backs. I know that my GHA isn't caused by lack of flow, because it grows on the power-heads and the return outlets. It even grows on the rocks getting hit by the hardest flow. My first tank that was built using real live-rock never had this issue. My theory is that the Marco Rock and Real Reef Rock have something to do with nutrient swings during the first 6-12 months of my tank.

I have just been doing manual GHA removal sessions every few weeks using a dc pump with a suction tube to suck up the Hair Algae, then it dumps out into my overflow and goes right down into the filter socks in my sump. I change the socks out after I'm done. It's like a home-made vacuum system that I made out of necessity. My tank is way too big to do manual removal sessions via siphon into a 5 gallon bucket. At first, I was doing 4+ hour removal sessions at a time. The Urchins helped tremendously! After 10 months of fighting the GHA with manual removal and urchins, I have gone from approx 90% rocks covered in GHA, to about 15% covered. The Urchins do not like to eat the long hair algae though... but once you rip it off the rocks they will go crazy eating what's remaining, and if a new section is starting to grow, they go nuts for that. My GHA removal sessions only take me an hour or so ever few weeks now, and get smaller each time.

OK, thank you for sharing your experience. I’m going to my local fish store today so I will see what urchins they have. I mainly like the tuxedo because of their shorter spikes or tentacles but if you’re saying the other ones have done well. I may try that.

 

[Rappa]

OK, thank you for sharing your experience. I’m going to my local fish store today so I will see what urchins they have. I mainly like the tuxedo because of their shorter spikes or tentacles but if you’re saying the other ones have done well. I may try that.

If I could have found all Tuxedo's originally, I would have all Tuxedo's. Luckily for me, the LFS's around didn't have any, but had purple and pinks. I hesitantly grabbed a few, and now I definitely look for those over the tuxedos. I have a beautiful tuxedo that hasn't moved far from his general feeding area in three days, while the other's have done laps around tank. Good luck and let us know what you think of them! Urchins are definitely "underrated" when it comes to the clean-up crew I think...

 

[Lgara1303]

If I could have found all Tuxedo's originally, I would have all Tuxedo's. Luckily for me, the LFS's around didn't have any, but had purple and pinks. I hesitantly grabbed a few, and now I definitely look for those over the tuxedos. I have a beautiful tuxedo that hasn't moved far from his general feeding area in three days, while the other's have done laps around tank. Good luck and let us know what you think of them! Urchins are definitely "underrated" when it comes to the clean-up crew I think...

So if it was today, what would you go with the tuxedo or purple or pink? My main concern is going to be coral down the road and then picking up things other than that I just want something that eats the algae pretty good.