algae algae algae

Dtackett · Jan 6, 2016

step by step.... ready? gets a little complicated here....

move anything alive out of your tank and into a holding tank or container of some sort
drain your tank
pull out the rock
scrub the rock while removing the algae
mist with h2o2
let sit for 5-8 minutes
rinse with clean RODI water
place back in tank
fill tank with clean saltwater

kylepelk · Jan 6, 2016

what about the sand. is that all fine? and im doing a test rock right now. hearing a sizzling noise after spraying. taking its doin its job lol. this is what ill most likely be doing tomorrow.

Dtackett · Jan 6, 2016

kylepelk said:
what about the sand. is that all fine? and im doing a test rock right now. hearing a sizzling noise after spraying. taking its doin its job lol. this is what ill most likely be doing tomorrow.

you can flip the sand, or remove the sand or stir the sand, but I doubt its old enough to have any issues. I don't use sand anymore though so maybe someone else will chime in on that.

kylepelk · Jan 6, 2016

yea the tank has been only running for 3 months. thanks again im starting to feel positive about this tank again. ill keep ya updated!

kylepelk · Jan 7, 2016

well i went threw with it this morning and i think it went well. everything is still alive. tested the water and everything is looking good. took out a piece of rock. still have over the recommended weight in there. ill see what happens as time progresses. thanks again to everyone. i really appreciate it.

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brandon429 · Jan 7, 2016

did you use peroxide in that fix? that's a shocking after set of pics. that's full eutrophication reversal. some of the fine coloring/coralline will lighten due to some burn, but it will be back in 2 mos if this occurs. that's amazing. the sandbed is still totally clean of waste, even through the cross section part we can see in the pic. This is literal age reversing for an aquarium.

kylepelk · Jan 7, 2016

yea i used 3% peroxide on all the rock. there is a little bit still on the wall i forgot to get but it think the snails should get it plus i treated it again with the algaefix just to make sure anything elts left in the tank gets hit.i went over everything with a tooth brush. that was alot of scrubbing.

brandon429 · Jan 7, 2016

Dtacketts step by step is spot on, hence these results.

I would like to link these before and after pics to the perox threads that's really thorough work. ill give it about a week to let any lightening set it, if any, just to show full effect but its basically going to look great.

What you just did is the new way of reefing. Its taken about ten years on the boards if we search to see this process gaining footing, our entire hobby of algae control, all of it, is through the water only and never touching the algae directly. We have been literally told repeatedly that to hand remove the algae is a waste of time, that only actions through the water are justified and theres just no words to explain how weird it feels that the null is the truth. You absolutely can, and just did, will the algae out of your tank.

All the nutrient stuff comes into play, now, after the biomass was removed. Nutrient control is a preventer, not a remover, in the successful mega long term nano aquarium.

its not that using nutrients only to battle algae is bad, it works a lot of the time. The problem was that in making that the only publicly and scientifically-accepted method, about half of all aquariums were left unaddressed, many are not responding to nutrient controls alone and that's how this madness came into demand.

twilliard · Jan 7, 2016

Awesome results!!

kylepelk · Jan 7, 2016

thank you and u can use this thread anytime. iv learned quit a bit in a short amount of time. im actually working on a 75gallon tank thats in my room. my filter system just came in. rock was shipped yesterday. i think one more week it will be cycling. thank you again for all the help. most of the credit of this tank turn around is to you guys.

brandon429 · Jan 7, 2016

have to also touch base about growback. ive seen over time that this uber clean palette above will spoil us upon first view.

When a parrotfish is happening across a tuft of algae in the real reef, he crushes it right off along with some rock, poops out the coral sand and keeps most of the algae digested for his use, and then that spot grows back later because
a. its now a bare white scrape mark, reflective, not colonized by algae competition yet and algae will set in vital space first along with bacteria.
b. excess wastes are not required to produce tons of algae biomass on the reef. tons of research shows how algae grow in natural oligotrophic (ultra clean) conditions. its true we should avoid excess waste as an amplifier of algae problems, we should keep nutrients in control to slow or stop regrowth if possible.

but to remove, that's often a direct physical action in nature and not the results of zero po4 or no3 as many strive for. I think nutrient controls just need to be in balance in our tanks, not the totality of control, then we have the final say. you just pictured before and after the final say above.

You may have to retreat a few times, then it really does lessen or stop if you are evacuating the detritus out of that rock as you clean.

I once used stronger peroxide in my tank on algae, repeated a few times actually. spread out to just once every 4 mos. then no more, I haven't dosed in about 4 years. I cured my algae permanently by only acting on it, and holding course with my params as they were before the invasion. Forced tank control is the new reefing until something better can be shown.

davidc · Jan 7, 2016

brandon429 said:
What you just did is the new way of reefing. Its taken about ten years on the boards if we search to see this process gaining footing, our entire hobby of algae control, all of it, is through the water only and never touching the algae directly. We have been literally told repeatedly that to hand remove the algae is a waste of time, that only actions through the water are justified and theres just no words to explain how weird it feels that the null is the truth. You absolutely can, and just did, will the algae out of your tank.

New way of reefing? This is a lack of proper tank husbandry and anyone that has been told repeatedly that this is a hands off situation has been told wrong . This is and has always been a get your elbows set situation.
I'm not knocking the OP with this post. We all have to start somewhere and learn at some point, proper tank skills.
The above quotes just show how much mis-information is out there.
You might short cut the situation with hydrogen peroxide, but at some point, you have to learn proper tank husbandry.

brandon429 · Jan 20, 2016

David I just saw your post, we should review alt examples real quick, check for recurring themes you may be right.

The small peroxide thread here at R2R in the macros forum
http://reef2reef.com/threads/reef2reef-pest-algae-challenge-thread-hydrogen-peroxide.187042/
and the one stickied above at 40 pages in reef forum are fine starts (tip of the berg)

That peroxide is a bandaid has been the longest standing challenge to its legitimacy, and easy to type for sure. You will have my attention when you post your counter work to see where your testing has been...something with before and after pics hopefully

Kyle left here algae free on the date predicted, I've always failed to see how that's bad. He can use any number of legit options as preventatives now.

Here's one, similar beginning and ending

http://reef2reef.com/threads/saving-a-tank-from-bryopsis-outbreak.221649/