Ahhh!! Sooo Much Algae on LiveRock!!

[borrowedthemoon]

So overwhelmed. Crying is not fixing my problem.. humph..
vibrant 1x per week
Chemipure
Phosguard
Turbo snail,several blue leg crabs,emerald crab
Some manual removal with toothbrush ended up overstressing my birdsnest and killing it (was peffrctly healthy and growing up until the manual removal attempt)

I have 14 corals and 1 anemone attached to the main rock. Oh also 2 benggai cardinals.

People have suggested removing the rock entirely and cleaning it.
How do I go about this process with all of my corals attached to the rock and not end up killing them like the birdsnests fate…
Coral friends please help!!!

 

[JoJosReef]

What size tank? My rocks looked like that. Had corals and nems attached. I drained all of the water in the tank, moved the fish/inverts to tuppers, let the corals/nems shrink up a bit after being exposed to air (note: if you have sponges, DO NOT do this)...

Then I took paper towels and ripped up all of the GHA that I could until I could see the entire surface of the rocks. Then took spray hydrogen peroxide bottle and sprayed the entire surface of the rocks, avoiding any spray directly on corals/nems. Zoas don't care so much as long as you spray around and between polyps and not right on them (a dropper works better between them). Don't saturate the rocks, just get the surface. Let it sit a couple of minutes. Return water to tank. Let it run for a bit with flow on. Then add back fish/inverts. In a day or two, all that was left will turn white and go away, and any new growth is for the CUC.

If you have 1-2 turbos, other snails, and an urchin, they will keep anything that grows back in check (assuming your nutrients aren't completely out of whack). Great time to add a bunch of extra snails like Trochus, dwarf trochus, a ceriths, TONS of dwarf ceriths (They get in the cracks) and a conch for the sand bed/lower rocks.

 

[borrowedthemoon]

What size tank? My rocks looked like that. Had corals and nems attached. I drained all of the water in the tank, moved the fish/inverts to tuppers, let the corals/nems shrink up a bit after being exposed to air (note: if you have sponges, DO NOT do this)...

Then I took paper towels and ripped up all of the GHA that I could until I could see the entire surface of the rocks. Then took spray hydrogen peroxide bottle and sprayed the entire surface of the rocks, avoiding any spray directly on corals/nems. Zoas don't care so much as long as you spray around and between polyps and not right on them (a dropper works better between them). Don't saturate the rocks, just get the surface. Let it sit a couple of minutes. Return water to tank. Let it run for a bit with flow on. Then add back fish/inverts. In a day or two, all that was left will turn white and go away, and any new growth is for the CUC.

If you have 1-2 turbos, other snails, and an urchin, they will keep anything that grows back in check (assuming your nutrients aren't completely out of whack). Great time to add a bunch of extra snails like Trochus, dwarf trochus, a ceriths, TONS of dwarf ceriths (They get in the cracks) and a conch for the sand bed/lower rocks.

Thanks. Was going to go to LFS and get a conch, and a few more snails. I appreciate the list of the types/kinds I will use the recommended list today @ the store.

Tank is 13.5 no nitrates no phos. pH runs low on this tank, alkalinity runs high. Runs low calcium needs dosed every couple days.

I am just so worried to not have my corals in the water for 20/30 minutes! I don’t worry about the zoas theyre super hardy, but I have some chalices I really like, some acans and microlords, and blue disco shroom I really like too. Should I remove them and then glue back on when finished with the scrubbing?

 

[feresadas]

Get some astrea snails! I slowly increased the amount in my 15 gallon tank till I had 8-9 and now all my rockwork is very clean. Keep up with manual removal with a toothbrush and over time it will stabilize.

 

[cpschult]

So overwhelmed. Crying is not fixing my problem.. humph..
vibrant 1x per week
Chemiclean
Phosguard
Turbo snail,several blue leg crabs,emerald crab
Some manual removal with toothbrush ended up overstressing my birdsnest and killing it (was peffrctly healthy and growing up until the manual removal attempt)

I have 14 corals and 1 anemone attached to the main rock. Oh also 2 benggai cardinals.

People have suggested removing the rock entirely and cleaning it.
How do I go about this process with all of my corals attached to the rock and not end up killing them like the birdsnests fate…
Coral friends please help!!!
View attachment 3097315

How big is tank? Are you using RODI water with 0 tds? If it's a smaller tank I'd recommend doing water changes with manual removal of algae. Just pull it off where you can. Also get a turbo snail or two and an urchin, a few astreas as well. Continue to do weekly water changes and manually remove as much algae as you can. In my all in one 25 gallon I siphoned the detritus in the back chambers as well. It seemed to work in a few weeks for me.

 

[cpschult]

Thanks. Was going to go to LFS and get a conch, and a few more snails. I appreciate the list of the types/kinds I will use the recommended list today @ the store.

Tank is 13.5 no nitrates no phos. pH runs low on this tank, alkalinity runs high. Runs low calcium needs dosed every couple days.

I am just so worried to not have my corals in the water for 20/30 minutes! I don’t worry about the zoas theyre super hardy, but I have some chalices I really like, some acans and microlords, and blue disco shroom I really like too. Should I remove them and then glue back on when finished with the scrubbing?

Cancel what I said about the urchin. Maybe one turbo. You don't have 0phos/0nitrate, it's just being consumed by the algae.

How often do you feed?

 

[Tamberav]

The corals will not be harmed by being out of the water. Pull the algae out so it is short so the cuc can eat it.

I would stop using crap like chemi clean and vibrant. Vibrant is an algaecide and chemi clean is an antibiotic. They are just bandaids to a larger problem anyways.

 

[Floyd-]

I use a 1/4" hose, start a siphon and then use my thumb or pointer finger and pinch the algae to the tube and rip it off the rocks and suck it up with the hose. Do this every other day for a few days and it will help greatly. My live rock looked like yours after a few weeks, after I pulled the stuff off the rocks and got a good CUC it was all clean from there.

 

[borrowedthemoon]

The corals will not be harmed by being out of the water. Pull the algae out so it is short so the cuc can eat it.

I would stop using crap like chemi clean and vibrant. Vibrant is an algaecide and chemi clean is an antibiotic. They are just bandaids to a larger problem anyways.

The corals will not be harmed by being out of the water. Pull the algae out so it is short so the cuc can eat it.

I would stop using crap like chemi clean and vibrant. Vibrant is an algaecide and chemi clean is an antibiotic. They are just bandaids to a larger problem anyways.

Sorry sorry. I meant chemipure not chemiclean!

 

[borrowedthemoon]

Cancel what I said about the urchin. Maybe one turbo. You don't have 0phos/0nitrate, it's just being consumed by the algae.

How often do you feed?

You’re right my numbers are skewed from the algae consumption.

 

[borrowedthemoon]

You’re right my numbers are skewed from the algae consumption.

I feed frozen brine shrimp daily. I broad feed 1,2 x a week zooplankton, and target feed 1,2 x a week reef roids

 

[JoJosReef]

Thanks. Was going to go to LFS and get a conch, and a few more snails. I appreciate the list of the types/kinds I will use the recommended list today @ the store.

Tank is 13.5 no nitrates no phos. pH runs low on this tank, alkalinity runs high. Runs low calcium needs dosed every couple days.

I am just so worried to not have my corals in the water for 20/30 minutes! I don’t worry about the zoas theyre super hardy, but I have some chalices I really like, some acans and microlords, and blue disco shroom I really like too. Should I remove them and then glue back on when finished with the scrubbing?

I have a 13.5. That was my GHA tank. The process I used is the only thing that has worked and stuck.

Echoing what @Tamberav says, using vibrant/algaecides is not super helpful and actually just puts your tank in a higher risk of getting dinos. My experience at least.

RE: corals out of water, I used a pipette to occasionally wet them so they wouldn't dry out. I don't think it's a real problem for the amount of time you are keeping them out. Sponges and coraline will not like it, but the coraline grows back and it's being smothered by GHA in any case.

NO3/PO4 are likely there but just being consumed by the GHA, feeding its growth. I added macroalgae to my tank to help with the nutrients. Codium is a great one for an Evo. Botrycladia is also great, but it won't last long with turbos and an urchin. BTW, I added 2 turbos and a tuxedo urchin. I now have to feed the turbos and tux every other day with nori and algae tab bits, respectively

 

[JoJosReef]

Dwarf ceriths. Can't recommend them enough. Buy 20 of them. Buy 50 of them. They are cheap and you can see them always working in those crevices!

 

[borrowedthemoon]

Oh my gosh thank you all of you for the great advice! Here’s what I’ve decided to do.

1) Remove the liverock, w all the corals still attached.
2) Place the rock in a bucket of tank water, as I need to waterchange today anyway.
3) Scrub the rock as much as I can in a 20/30m timeframe. Spray rock w hydrogen peroxide and sit for 2 mins. Return rock to tank.
4) Add additional CUC inverts

Question. What about my anemone that lives on the rock?

Side note: I do not intend on removing my 2 benggai cardinal fish from the tank, as I plan to remove the rock instead.

Last question: Yellow tang juvenile until rehome?

Thanks all my coral friends!

 

[mjw011689]

Haven’t seen anyone mention an emerald crab, which is going to eat a lot more hair algae than any snail. I’d manually remove as much as possible and retest nitrate and phos a day later to see if your numbers rise once you remove a large amount of what’s consuming it.

obviously this tank is too small for a tang or foxface, but my LFS regularly gets dime to quarter size desjardini tangs, and they’re constantly grazing. It will outgrow that tank very quickly, but it is an option.

 

[JoJosReef]

Oh my gosh thank you all of you for the great advice! Here’s what I’ve decided to do.

1) Remove the liverock, w all the corals still attached.
2) Place the rock in a bucket of tank water, as I need to waterchange today anyway.
3) Scrub the rock as much as I can in a 20/30m timeframe. Spray rock w hydrogen peroxide and sit for 2 mins. Return rock to tank.
4) Add additional CUC inverts

Question. What about my anemone that lives on the rock?

Side note: I do not intend on removing my 2 benggai cardinal fish from the tank, as I plan to remove the rock instead.

Last question: Yellow tang juvenile until rehome?

Thanks all my coral friends!

Nem will be fine, just try to steer the H2O2 spray away from it.

Tang in an Evo is considered by some members of this forum as an unwise choice.

 

[borrowedthemoon]

What size tank? My rocks looked like that. Had corals and nems attached. I drained all of the water in the tank, moved the fish/inverts to tuppers, let the corals/nems shrink up a bit after being exposed to air (note: if you have sponges, DO NOT do this)...

Then I took paper towels and ripped up all of the GHA that I could until I could see the entire surface of the rocks. Then took spray hydrogen peroxide bottle and sprayed the entire surface of the rocks, avoiding any spray directly on corals/nems. Zoas don't care so much as long as you spray around and between polyps and not right on them (a dropper works better between them). Don't saturate the rocks, just get the surface. Let it sit a couple of minutes. Return water to tank. Let it run for a bit with flow on. Then add back fish/inverts. In a day or two, all that was left will turn white and go away, and any new growth is for the CUC.

If you have 1-2 turbos, other snails, and an urchin, they will keep anything that grows back in check (assuming your nutrients aren't completely out of whack). Great time to add a bunch of extra snails like Trochus, dwarf trochus, a ceriths, TONS of dwarf ceriths (They get in the cracks) and a conch for the sand bed/lower rocks.

Haven’t seen anyone mention an emerald crab, which is going to eat a lot more hair algae than any snail. I’d manually remove as much as possible and retest nitrate and phos a day later to see if your numbers rise once you remove a large amount of what’s consuming it.

obviously this tank is too small for a tang or foxface, but my LFS regularly gets dime to quarter size desjardini tangs, and they’re constantly grazing. It will outgrow that tank very quickly, but it is an option.

I have an emerald crab he constantly is eating! Thanks for the input.

 

[mjw011689]

Oh my gosh thank you all of you for the great advice! Here’s what I’ve decided to do.

1) Remove the liverock, w all the corals still attached.
2) Place the rock in a bucket of tank water, as I need to waterchange today anyway.
3) Scrub the rock as much as I can in a 20/30m timeframe. Spray rock w hydrogen peroxide and sit for 2 mins. Return rock to tank.
4) Add additional CUC inverts

Question. What about my anemone that lives on the rock?

Side note: I do not intend on removing my 2 benggai cardinal fish from the tank, as I plan to remove the rock instead.

Last question: Yellow tang juvenile until rehome?

Thanks all my coral friends!

Good luck finding a juvi yellow tang. Can’t get them right now. Not for less than a couple hundred anyways.

Also just remembered. I just read a thread on here from someone that tested the hydrogen peroxide with hair algae and found it had no affect. The write up had a bunch of info about what controls were used and I believe microscope visuals as well. I’ll try to find it

 

[Rick's Reviews]

It's not an excessive amount in my opinion for manual removal, you could work each section (picture/screenshot) before each water change, just 1 HR to pull off/haircut the longest strands will be a good start, a toothbrush is great to twirl up hair algae like spaghetti without scrubbing rocks. then work on each section before each water change/remove as much as possible in each section then repeat/ move onto next section before next water change/filter clean
I would not advise adding a tuxedo urchin as they will not eat long hair, also they eat alot ( I have 45g).
Just my opinion but I'm sure you can get on top of this by manual removal and without chemicals

 

[SDReefer77]

That stock EVO light really likes to grow hair algae if you haven't upgraded it. Get an aftermarket submersible type strip and retrofit it to your hood. Run blue on that for 12ish hours, set the stock light on a timer for about 4 or so hours to start (since of course it will only turn on full spectrum without you manually turning it to blue). Or upgrade to something like the small fluval marine 3.0 (15-24 inch) it will fit where the stock one does no problem, you just can't run the filter cover side unless you want to shave some plastic off the light mount.

Hopefully you have some aftermarket trays or at least pulled the stock fluval sponge media from chamber 2, that thing is hot trash. Drop the chemicals, reduce feeding. I honestly feel like chemi-blue is too aggressive for this tank, I stopped a month in and went to just some pad, floss, and GAC. I do run Poly-filter occasionally but chemi-blue really strips your phos a little too much compared to poly-filter.

Have you considered UV additionally for prevention? The little green machine will fit...