ID please.

[stephen sykes]

whats this? diatoms? cyano?
blurry i know!


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[Illuminati]

I would say diatoms. Cyano is red, hence the name Red Slime Algae. Looks like your snails are getting after it.

How many and what kind of snails do you have?

[stephen sykes]

about 10 in total. 6 are astrea.
if i keep lights to a minimun it goes away, but as soon as i turn them back on for 8 hours, there back?

[sir_dudeguy]

diatoms...how old is the tank? If its only 3 months like your sig says, than its perfectly normal and as long as nitrates/phosphates are kept down it will go away eventually.

But get a few cerith snails too...they're the best with that stuff.

[stephen sykes]

nearly 4 months. is it worth cutting lighting down or anything?

[sir_dudeguy]

imo no its not even worth cutting back on lighting. People keep saying that it works. I've never had that work w/all 4 or 5 of my tanks (or however many it is that i've had lol...stopped counting).

If you turn off the lights, the problem is still there. It may disappear, but its gonna come back once the lights are on again. So i just leave them on now, specially during the cycle. Gets the diatoms there and gone faster.

Just make sure your nitrates and phosphates are down and you've got a good cleanup crew (add ceriths! :) ) and it'll go away in a while.

[stephen sykes]

thanks i'll do that. is it worth siphoning it out when i do water changes? i've been seeing my tank like this for months now and i've got it into my head that it will never go.

[sir_dudeguy]

no dont siphon it out. That will just stir up the sandbed which you dont want. That in itself can cause other problems. Let the cerith snails do it...they'll dig in the sand and get it. I'd add about 5-10

[stephen sykes]

i've got a orange spot goby who's constantly stirring up the sand bed. he cant stop sifting!

[saltycreefer]

If its growing within a few hours it might be dinoflagellates which suck! Are there air bubbles in it?

[saltycreefer]

You can take a small diameter tube and siphon it off the surface of the sand with no ill effects on the tank.

[stephen sykes]

there's air bubbles in it on the rocks but not on the sand. whats dino's, what causes them, and how do you get rid?

[stephen sykes]

i think it might be red tide.:eek2:

[stephen sykes]

it woult take about a week to get to this stage. could it be diatoms?