red algae? copper?

[mmasuda31]

I've had my tank set up for about a month. I had a killer damsel that needed to be removed so I needed to move rock which sifted alot of sand. Since then I've had red algae or copper building up on the sand. I've seen this same growth at petco stores in their marine tanks...I just dont know what it is.

[kau_cinta_ku]

could be canyo or diatems, it is normal for a new tank to go through the alage cycle.

[Avi]

Disrupting the sand substrate could well have released silicates that were in the sand...diatoms thrive on them.

[dileggi]

How long has your tank been set up? It sounds like cyano, which usually starts somewhere around 2-4 mos. It's a normal part of the cycle if that's it.

Try blowing it gently with a turkey baster. If it starts floating around the tank, it's probably cyano...just scoop it out with a net as best you can. Usually, algae will not be disrupted and blown apart from a turkey baster.

[reefhead165]

Its cyno.....petco is not allowed to treat their tanks....how funny is that....

[dileggi]

Originally posted by reefhead165
Its cyno.....petco is not allowed to treat their tanks....how funny is that....

Hahahaha! That is funny!

[mmasuda31]

is there anything besides using the turkey baster to get rid of this? sand sifting snails? goby?

[dileggi]

Originally posted by mmasuda31
is there anything besides using the turkey baster to get rid of this? sand sifting snails? goby?

People have said that seahares eat them and I've read that certain fighting conch's will eat it also. I'm not really sure as I've never had one of these.

There is a product on the market, called red slimer remover which seemed to work very well for me. But, after I had used it, I was told that it wasn't a good idea to use it on a tank that has not aged at least 6 months.

Water changes, turkey baster, cleaning filters and running some phosban should easily do the trick. But again, this is normal and all new tanks go through this cycle. With the water changes, etc. the cylce will run it's course.

[lwaxman]

i had this happen too. i did a water change and i poured the water in too fast therefor moving the ls all around the tank and landing on the lr. a day later a lot of my lr is copper looking. i used a turkey baster to get the sand off but the copper remains, will this copper color go away

[lwaxman]

oh yeah, my tank has been cycling for about 2 weeks

[dileggi]

Are you able to get the "copper" color off the live rock with a baster, or is the "copper" color more like a stain?

[superedge88]

Originally posted by reefhead165
Its cyno.....petco is not allowed to treat their tanks....how funny is that....

Really? Is that a new directive? Back when I worked for them briefly we were allowed to treat with copper.

[lwaxman]

the copper color is more like a stain

[dileggi]

If it's more like a stain, and you are still cycling, I believe there's a good chance that it's just diatoms and I'm thinking that as the water parameters level out, it should subside.

Hopefully, someone else can chime in with a more difinitive answer. Were you by any chance able to lightly scrub any of it off?

[lwaxman]

yes but my dumb *** used a paper sheet of paper towel and it went everywhere. i am learning every day.

it came off a little. but i did't scrub that much or hard.