brownish algae???

jba6511

jba6511

Member
I have had the tank up and running since the end of february. It is a 10 gallon and has been cycled for some time. I know have a patch of brownish algae in the Live Sand that has string hairs that are also brown coming from it. I am pretty sure it is not diatoms and it does not seem to be spreading. The cuc seems to leave it alone as well. Should I stir up the sand? Is there anything that can be done about it?
 
rebelprettyboy

rebelprettyboy

Active Member
Do not stir up up the sand that will caouse Nitrites, Nitrates, ammonia and phospahte to rise you dont want to do that. How long are you running your lights???
What is your livestock??
 
jba6511

jba6511

Member
lights are on for 10 hours a day. have corals, 2 clown fish, coral banded shrimp, 2 hermit crabs, 2 turbo snails, 5 astrea snails, 1 margarita snail, 2 nas. snails. The problem is only in a small area on the live sand. no algae problems on the LR.
 
jba6511

jba6511

Member
I will cut back the lighting from 10 hours to 8. Will this hurt my corals. right now I have a gsp, shroom and kenya tree. Will try to get a pic tonight or tomorrow. I feed frozen formula 1 and frozen mysis. Could this cause the outbreak?
 
jba6511

jba6511

Member
here is a pic of the algae. I have posted them as attachments. Let me know if it does not come out as it is the first time posting pics. Also, the algae did not appear until I added a maxi jet powerhead.

 
reefreak29

reefreak29

Active Member
CYANO BACTERIA: red slime algea has to be one of the most frustrating for new reefers.It usually breaks out on the surface of the sand substrate.2 ways that i know to remove the cyano is to first increase your water flow u want to remove any stagnent areas by the substate. Two remove excess nutrient, I prefer to do a 10 percent weekly water change with ro di water or di water. (do not use tap water) while doing a water change syphon out as much red algea as possible,also dont be afraid to cut your light back and your feeding, I leeve my light on for 10 hrs a day in my 90 gal tank its ok to cut back to 5 hrs for a couple of weeks.
 
myrtle beach

myrtle beach

Member
I have a dime size patch of this on one of my powerheads, ideal area for no flow, can I just scrap it off or will that cause it to spread?
 
earlybird

earlybird

Active Member
Originally Posted by Myrtle Beach
I have a dime size patch of this on one of my powerheads, ideal area for no flow, can I just scrap it off or will that cause it to spread?
Siphon it out.
 
jba6511

jba6511

Member
I cut the lighting back from 10 hours to 8 hours, replaced the filter cartridge, syphoned out the cyano the best I could (broke up a little and can see some if it still in the same but 98% is gone). I have a maxi jet 600 in my 10 gallon and 2 whisper filters so I should have adequate water flow. Is there anything else that can be done? I found alot of people use chemiclean but I want to try and get rid of it naturally first.
 
earlybird

earlybird

Active Member
If the tank is cycled continue with small water changes and manually removing it. Good call on going natural.
 
jba6511

jba6511

Member
the cyano has regrouped and is about half of what it was before. Should I continue to siphon the sand again tomorrow and do another small, like 5%, water change?
 
earlybird

earlybird

Active Member
Yeah I'd continue until it is under control. It's always going to be in your tank but you have to control it and you are doing what it takes.
 
jba6511

jba6511

Member
well if its constantly going to be a battle, would it be better to just use chemi-clean and get rid of it once and for all?
also, is vacuming it out of the sand going to cause a spike in other parameters since I will be disturbing the sand?
 
reefreak29

reefreak29

Active Member
Originally Posted by jba6511
well if its constantly going to be a battle, would it be better to just use chemi-clean and get rid of it once and for all?
also, is vacuming it out of the sand going to cause a spike in other parameters since I will be disturbing the sand?
chemiclean is not a cure its a bandaid that can potentally kill all your good bacteria as well
 
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