Are you exposing this algae to fresh water when you scrape? I have had gha die and look like that after a prolonged FW rinse
I actually haven’t rinsed this in the sink since the first month. I only remove the algae with a scraper.
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Are you exposing this algae to fresh water when you scrape? I have had gha die and look like that after a prolonged FW rinse
Not a bad idea to play with that light schedule a bitMine looked like that when I did not have enough light.
Ohh okay so what’s you lighting schedule and how often do you scrape?
Before adding more lights you can try ramping it to 24hr straightI’m using two of the Santa Monica led bars that are found in their Rain 2 ATS. I have two more led bars...I guess I could add one. I’ve been running my lights for 18 hours for the past two months.
Once a week is ideal. I think it’s the lighting or nutrientsAlso forgot to mention, I scrape the screen once a week on Saturdays.
Before adding more lights you can try ramping it to 24hr straight
I agree but until you get gha to grab hold you gotta play with it. What you want is a strong green hair algae to grab hold, then you just keep giving that gha a haircut. Don’t remove the gha all the way so it can keep growing like chaetoI thought that the algae needed some down time as that’s when it actually grows?
This looks to me like photosaturation. If you look around the edges and the bottom edge, you've got GHA.
You should always rinse the screen after a harvest - you need to clear off any loose growth after scraping, and you also want to clear off any slime. Use room temp tap water, just a normal sink flow (not the sprayer). You don't need to be aggressive when cleaning (hence why I use the term "harvest")I actually haven’t rinsed this in the sink since the first month. I only remove the algae with a scraper.
I would let this go a bit longer - harvest when needed, eventually when you get consistent growth, you can adhere to a more rigid schedule. Go 10-14 days instead. Although, with the slime growth, you do want to clear that off more frequently, as often as twice/week. The slime type growth can and will inhibit GHA attachment, so this might be compounding the photosaturation issue. Backing off the lights, reducing the photoperiod to 12 hrs/day max, clearing the slime 2x/week and harvesting every 10-14 days (and only what comes off with a rub/rinse) should get GHA filling into the center.Also forgot to mention, I scrape the screen once a week on Saturdays.
24/7 lighting is really only warranted when you have the bioload to necessitate it and a mature screen with repeatable growth. It can work right off the bat in some instances, but that's greatly dependent on the system and scrubber. I reserve the 24/7 recommendation for a scrubber that is getting consistent growth several months after reaching maturity, so that the tank system itself has re-balanced (something that happens whenever you modify the filtration system in general), and then only when you need to go to that level of aggressiveness (i.e. you still are fighting GHA in the tank, or elevated nutrients). In the specific case of @Okinawa_reefer, I think bumping to 24/7 would make things worse.Before adding more lights you can try ramping it to 24hr straight