a good picture of my problem

[stephen sykes]

this is what i have.

http://<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o100/ddd_099/LeftCornerAfterafewdays.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting"></a>

[crabbejoe]

That's cyanobacteria. Try to syphon out as much as you can.

[stephen sykes]

is it called dinoflagellates?

[jmcmahon66]

Not dinos, but it is cyano. IME, try to find the source of phosphates, such as bad makeup water, overfeeding, no water changes, etc. Also increase po4 removal by increasing skimming, more water changes, adding a po4 remover, and feeding less. Changing out old bulbs, and increasing flow never hurts either. HTH

[stephen sykes]

tank is 4 months old. i've try'd red slime remover. i.ve changed rowa phos 3 times, i've had my ro tested. the only thing that makes a difference is leaving the lights off. i read another forum and it said dinos start off like this then covers everything. it grows quicker than i can siphon it out. if i leave lights on for 12 hours it covers sand, rocks, everything.

[crabbejoe]

I agree with jmcmahon66. And red slime remover is bad to use because it can kill off your good bacteria too, which just makes your problem worse. Try reducing your lighting to 8-10 hours a day, and try to physically remove as much as you can each day. It's going to be a bit of a battle, but you can beat it.

[crabbejoe]

Here's a good article to read that might help:

http://www.aquariumfish.com/aquariumfish/detail.aspx?aid=1263&cid=3791&search=

[stephen sykes]

my water prams are good, i do 20% changes a week, i've tryd anti red, i've changed carbon aand rowa phos 3 times and i've been siphoning it out for 2 months. can diatims be blown off the rocks and do they form strings that point to the surface (there somtimes 4 inches long).?

[Hobster]

How much water flow do you have? Power heads, pumps?
What lights and how old are they?

[stephen sykes]

good flow, t5S and a extra powerhead. like i asked before, can diatoms be blown off the rocks?

[YellowDesmo998]

I was able to blow the diatoms off after a week of them being in the tank from the initial cycle. Their hold on the rock seemed to be weakened as their life cycle ended.

At 4 months some cyno can be expected. Just siphon it out of the tank and continue your water changes.

Also try to identify the dead spots i hte tank and adjust the powerhead as needed. I noticed more diatoms in the low flow areas then the other areas. The cyno could be caused by the same thing.

[stephen sykes]

thanks matey! im going to put my lights on for 8 hours a day from tomorrow, then at the end of the week i'll send you a pic and see what you think. like my avatar? the best album and cover EVER!

[Goodwood]

In my experience a high end skimmer will knock it out. Which is hard to justify spending on a nano tank. Ive been told 10 different things to try to get rid of it and the only thing that has worked for me was polishing the crap out of the water. Like Yellow said get more flow it also will not let it settle and form.

Just my experience though, good luck

[aclos3]

My "low-end" Coralife SS65 did a great job of removing the cyano from my nano!

[stephen sykes]

whats that?

[sullyfish]

Do you have a good clean up crew ? Astrea snails did a good job on my nano. Also I ran into trouble adding phytoplankton for my featherduster. stopped adding phyto and added astreas and no more algea...Your tank is still very young and algea problems will eventually stop after 6 mo or so if good husbandry is continued....