Another GHA post - suggestions?

We have a moderate GHA problem. I've been reading some of the posts & I'm still not sure what to do. It seems like every little bit we can pull out by hand, twice as much comes back.

I really don't want to have to nuke the rocks - we have corals growing on some of them. Does that mean we'd have to kill the corals?

If we nuked the rocks, would we have to start all over again - with new sand & water?

TIA,
julie

 

Turning off the lights for a couple days would be a good start. How much and how often are you feeding?

 

I feed every two to three days.

 

i'm almost done my battle with GHA..
turn off the lights for 2 days once every week for now, that's a good start, i have a full reef tank full of corals and they did just fine did not lose anything..
cut down your life cycle, normally your light cycle should be 8 hours a day, reduce it to 7 or 6 hours a day till the problems is gone..
do a few 15% water changes, once every week if you don't already do that..
i hope you are running some kind of phosphate and nitrate remover.. perhaps chaeto in your refugium? some hermits or a sea hare would also be of great help..

 

This is a copy and paste from another post I was on.....

I know that I am going to take a serious flaming for what I am about to say but here goes....I personally think that most of the theories on algae growth are a bunch of B.S. You either get it or you don't. I believe it is luck of the draw on what is in the rock you bought. I know people are trying to help, but you hear the same old stuff...Your feeding too much frozen....your algae is eating your phosphates....the list goes on and on. The reason I say this is I spent hours and hours reading and reading. I have damn near starved my animals to death to try to combat GHA, Bubble, Cyano...Not to mention the money spent!! I believe that if you just keep your tank healthy, these things run their course on their own. Ther is too many remedy's that dont work. And NOTHING that proves it does. Spend the money on all that stuff if you want to, and let me know how it works out (This includes Emerald Crabs, which I tried too) My tank is now algae free. All you can do is scrub the rocks, so it doesn't look horrible, until it passes. Once again, JMO! But go read all the horror stories, and failed attempts to erradicate it. Not to mention the hundreds and hundreds of dollars people spend. Patience will pay off....Good Luck!! I mean that. If you want any tips you are welcome to ask anytime. Ok Bring on the flames!!!


I also did a thread--BTW I am completely algae free now..This stuff is just my opinions.
http://www.3reef.com/forums/algae/algaefix-marine-68631.html

 

Thanks for your suggestions, I appreciate it! I'll let you all know when I've gotten rid of all of it

 

No one has asked what filtration you have i.e. canister, HOB, wet/dry, sump ect. and how old and what type lights do you have? I would add a phosphate reactor to the set up, it is a wise investment.

 

Thanks Unclejed,

We have a wet/dry & our bulbs were replaced about a month ago (at the 1 year mark). We did start getting the algae prior to the new bulbs. We have a phosphate reactor, but I'm not sure how well it is working.

julie

 

do u top off with ro/di water? how often do u do water changes? what fish do you have? what do you feed?
its always better fixing the CAUSE rather than the Consequences. because once the cause is diagnosed and fixed u wont get algae growth again. i have NEVER had algae issues, feed everyday, have two tangs and actually add GHA for them.
i also have a fuge with about 7 mangroves and some chaeto. use ro/di and change about 15-20% h20 every 2 weeks.

 

O.k. the bulbs could have lost some of their spectrum leaning toward the algae loving light. I, as a matter of fact, just got back from the LFS where I purchased 4 new bulbs. Mine were coming up on a year the 1st of January but I am the paranoid type so I am changing them now.
Not sure what you mean; "I'm not sure how well it is working". If you see a slight tumbling of the media and change as directed (usually once a month) it should be "working". What type of media are you using?