reddish algae

jellygirl · #1 01/08/2008, 12:52 PM

What shoudl i do about this reddish algae this all over my tank? Its covered the sand and it started covering my corals i have been cleaning it off daily but its still going crazy. I heard it comes from nitrates/ phos and i should do a big water change to get it down. Is there anything else i should do?

an411 · #2 01/08/2008, 01:06 PM

I have the same thing going on in my tank mine is due to high nitrates cause my phosphates are low according to my test reults. I have been feeding a little less and doing more water changes then normal and it seems to be working because I have not gotten anymore and it looks like what I have is starting to die off. I also try to remove as much as possible by hand. I believe what you have is cyano at least that is what I have and sounds exactly like what you are describing here. hope this helps

mrSnoid · #3 01/08/2008, 01:11 PM

This is probably cyno which is a bacteria not an algae. Usually caused by excessive nutrients in the water. You can use antibiotics like red slime remover but I don,t recommend that cause it can also kill the good bacteria in the tank. You can remove it by syphoning it out and cut down on feedingm

mrSnoid · #4 01/08/2008, 01:15 PM

This is probably cyno which is a bacteria not an algae. Usually caused by excessive nutrients in the water. You can use antibiotics like red slime remover but I don,t recommend that cause it can also kill the good bacteria in the tank. You can remove it by syphoning it out and cut down on feeding.

dileggi · #5 01/08/2008, 01:29 PM

I've went though this as well and am at the tail end of it. The red algae is most likely cyano, which definitely is a bacteria and not an algae.

You can use red slime remover, but not suggested as mrSnoid pointed out. You really don't want to use it in a tank that's less than 6 months old becuase the red slime remover will kill a lot of the beneficial bacteria in your tank as well.

Also, this is a normal cycle in new tanks. This is what I did:

First and foremost, I stopped using tap water and switched to ro/di water.
I then added a phosban bag to remove any excess phosphates from the tank...even though my tests were still reading 0 levels. With the size of your tank, you could easily add a phosban reactor,which will make the phosban media work even better. I only dropped my bag of media into my sump and let the water flow through it.
I did weekly water changes and cut down slightly on my feedings. When doing the water changes, I would siphon as much out as I could, but very gently as not to disturb the sand bed too mcuh. I did this by using a turkey baster and gently blowing the cyano off the sand and rock and then scooping it out with a net.
After I had the red cyano gone, I started getting brown patches, mostly on my sand. Again, part of the diatom or cyano cycle. So, don't get paranoid as I did when you see this after thinking you've got it under control.
I also added a skimmer and an extra power head to increase flow and continue to clean your filter, daily if possible.

I believe the entire cycle, which is nearing the end now on my tank, lasted somewhere between 3-4 weeks.

Hope this helps and good luck.

jellygirl · #6 01/08/2008, 01:33 PM

its reddish and gets air bubbles under it and spreads like crazy i have been getting as much out as i can by hand but still its everywhere. I just never thought it was a good idea to mess all in my tank so i try not to tanke alot out.My corals are starting to cover and it completely cacooned one frag of zoos. I only feed a pinch once a day, and my fish usually eat what i put in there. But i guess i can cut back a little extra.

jellygirl · #7 01/08/2008, 01:35 PM

* my tank is mabye 2-3 months old it was just starting to get green algae when this new red popped up a few days ago and took over. but thanks for all the comments i guess i need a water change and wait it out.

Brandon Cassidy · #8 01/08/2008, 01:38 PM

Chemi-Clean maybe.

dileggi · #9 01/08/2008, 01:53 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by jellygirl
its reddish and gets air bubbles under it and spreads like crazy i have been getting as much out as i can by hand but still its everywhere. I just never thought it was a good idea to mess all in my tank so i try not to tanke alot out.My corals are starting to cover and it completely cacooned one frag of zoos. I only feed a pinch once a day, and my fish usually eat what i put in there. But i guess i can cut back a little extra.

I wouldn't disturb it too much. Just phhsshh if off gently with a turkey baster and scoop out with a net. That's probably the easiest way to remove it. It'll come off quite easily.

seapug · #10 01/08/2008, 02:09 PM

Take steps to raise your pH and improve water quality and it will disappear-- increase water changes, decrease feeding, etc. Dripping Kalkwasser at night helps, too.

uscharalph · #11 01/08/2008, 02:14 PM

Suck it out with a turkey baster and take steps to reduce phosphates and nitrates. It's a step all tanks go thru I think.

dileggi · #12 01/08/2008, 02:18 PM

"I have the same thing going on in my tank mine is due to high nitrates cause my phosphates are low..." - ann411

I'm definitely not an expert here..pretty much still a newbie, but I believe that it's a good thing that your phosphates are low. I believe the lower the better.

an411 · #13 01/08/2008, 02:23 PM

ya after reading that dileggi what I meant to say is I think that the cyano is from my high nitrates and not phosphates since according to my test my phosphates are 0

an411 · #14 01/08/2008, 02:25 PM

seapug how does raising your PH help? The reason that I am asking is I noticed that my PH was a little low yesterday I wonder if that has anything to do with this cyano happening in my tank. I also know as I stated in my last post that my nitrates are high and I am trying to lower them through less feeding and more water changes

seapug · #15 01/08/2008, 02:46 PM

Acids are the end result of most biological activity and nutrients tend to acidify your water. Acid = low pH. Low pH can be a sign that you have too much food, accumulated detritus, or ineffective filtration. Nuisance algae and cyanobacteria thrive in low pH environments where the nutrients they need are in abundance. That's where importance of maintaining a steady high pH in your tank comes from. It's also one of the beneficial side effects of Kalkwasser additions.

an411 · #16 01/08/2008, 03:01 PM

alright gotcha well said. No you tempted me to start adding kalkwasswer to my tank.

seapug · #17 01/08/2008, 03:27 PM

I highly recommend doing at least periodic Kalkwasser drips at night. It's cheap, easy and benefits your tank in many ways.

jellygirl · #18 01/09/2008, 10:29 AM

The reddish isnt so reddish anymore when i checked yesterday everything is turning more a dark green idk if that means it is dying off or just that next step in cycling. B/c i think that in the beginning the tank covers in brown algea then in green so maybe this is a good normal process. I will cut back on feeding and do a water change and keep and update.