red algae

[ab130570]

How do i get rid of red algae? Its all over the bottom of my tank.
Zero phosphates in water.

[Blown 346]

I would siphon up what you can and increase waterflow in the areas it is growing in. Cyano will grow in low to no flow areas.

[HornetMech242]

Nitrates will also feed cyano not only phosphates. And like previous suggestion, raise the flow rate.

Chris

[Serioussnaps]

-Run alternating carbon and poly filter(no too much carbon and do it short periods it will leach phosphates)
-manual removal(siphoning, scraping)
-weekly 10-20% water changes
-make sure Ph is 8.2or 8.3 cyano doesnt like high ph
-heavy, actually i mean HEAVY skimming
-not too many additives only enough---- people get additive crazy in these "natural" enviornments
-dont overfeed--give ur fish or whatever livestock you have about 3 small feedings a day and i mean small and all of it gets eaten
-astrea snails eat this stuff with vigor, they wont prevent it and wont make it disappear instantly though so dont get ur hopes up or count your eggs on these babies alone
-yes increase your current in your tank somewhat, albeit current isnt the cause of your cyano dont get that confused

[Serioussnaps]

id say for ur tank change 3.5 gallons a week and siphon the top part of substrate too dont stick the vaccum down into the substrate just the top

[Serioussnaps]

How much live rock do you have in this tank?
I would shoot for about 25 lbs.

[Satans Milkman]

What I did was a 50% water change after I sucked up the algea ( I even scooped it out by hand also and waited to see if the algea came back. Keep your feeding to a min.

If it comes back. I would do another water change of about 40%. and keep feeding to a min.

All in all this will take some time. Medications are great but do not always work properly, and dosing is always a problem.

[Serioussnaps]

DONTTTTTTTTTTTT use and FRICKIN Meds you might as well throw your tank in the dumpster if you plan on keeping a reef after doing so

[supernareg]

serious snapps, although i would recommend the natural way like u did, but i had cyano, and in 3 days my cyano covered tank (and i mean THE WHOLE TANK WAS RED) it was gone... with what you make ask? Boyds Chemi-Clean. BEST STUFF ON EARTH. it will NOT HARM ANYTHING! use it, KEEP IT. i've used it once on 2 tanks, and it hasnt been back for months.

[littlemannin]

I had the same prob in my 55.I did 10% water changes every day for 2 weeks (a lot of salt). Still no change. The I tested my water before putting it into my tank. I found very high Phosphates and nitrates. So then I figured I would try a Phoshate sponge yada yada yada..... Then I bought an RO filter. Problems are now gone! I bet I spent more on chemical filters than I did on the RO.

[littlemannin]

I had the same prob in my 55.I did 10% water changes every day for 2 weeks (a lot of salt). Still no change. The I tested my water before putting it into my tank. I found very high Phosphates and nitrates. So then I figured I would try a Phoshate sponge yada yada yada..... Then I bought an RO filter. Problems are now gone! I bet I spent more on chemical filters than I did on the RO.

[aquaman2244]

i had the same problem and still do (its very minor now) ,due to phosphate and low calcium so i used phosguardand B-Ionics,added another powerhead,removed all the live rock then vacuumed all the bacteria from the sand front,middle,and back,did a 10gal. water change and then replaced it all. the tank is alot healthier now, but it was also only a 46gal. bow front.

[teamfocus]

Originally posted by supernareg
serious snapps, although i would recommend the natural way like u did, but i had cyano, and in 3 days my cyano covered tank (and i mean THE WHOLE TANK WAS RED) it was gone... with what you make ask? Boyds Chemi-Clean. BEST STUFF ON EARTH. it will NOT HARM ANYTHING! use it, KEEP IT. I've used it once on 2 tanks, and it hasnt been back for months.

I have used this also. It won't cure it, but it will kill it until you find and solve what's causing it in the first place.

[mash35231]

How new/old are your light bulbs? If the lights change wave length because of age they could be contributing to the problem. Changing bulbs cleared up my problem with red algea.

[aquaman2244]

my lgihts are only like 3 months old i dont think they had anything to do with it, but i have heard from many people that chemi-clean is the way to go i have not used it yet but i might in the future as a last resort but i dont think it will end it that way. i tried to post pics but they are all to big so ill try to make them smaller and post them later.

[Litespeeds]

Might have to use Chemi-Clean for red cyano algae removal. Just try and suck up as much during a water change and that should help too.

[J4Life]

Like suggested by Litespeeds, Chemi-Clean works awesome and it will also clear up your water as well. Doesn't hurt anything in the tank and can be dosed repeatedly.

I love me some Chemi-Clean.

-Bill

[Nanook]

[moved]

[scubabill]

I had it and raised my alk and it was gone in a day.