bubble alge and some small red threads

[p_capel]

I am starting to develop green bubble alge in my tank. is this good or bad? If so how d I get rid of it. I also recently added sand back into my tank. I started with sand then slowly took most of it out over time. Well now I decided to returf to the sand floor but now I see some very thin red string that i did not see before. Does anyone have any idea what this might be .

 

[bigarn]

Bubble algae is a nuisance algae..If left unchecked it could over run a tank. Emerald crabs will get rid of it.
Not sure about the red threads without a pic. Could be the start of red hair algae.

 

[p_capel]

ok thanks i will try the emeral crabs. although i dont how many i would need. I am afraid that my fish might eat them my tank is a 215gl reef, I have a few tangs and a pair of yellow striped clowns. i tried sally lightfoot they did not last long uless their are just hiding. i wiil try to get a good pic of the red stuff and the bubbles they are getting big. this is an old pic of the bubble alge i wii post a new one.

 

[stuckinfla]

The bubbles can get huge. If popped, they can release spores that will grow new ones. (so Ive read, not from experience) The read stringy stuff is probably cyno.

 

[tuningvis]

my crabs wont touch the stuff

 

[organism]

yeah, some emerald crabs will eat it and some won't, then some might eat your fish and some won't...
I just keep removing my bubble algae by hand til I can find something safer

 

[p_capel]

what is cyno?

 

[organism]

probably cyanobacteria

 

[ags]

cyanobacteria is also referred to as red slime algae or red hair algae. Usually means there is excess nutrients in your tank typically from overfeeding, overdosing phytoplankton or water changes with water with high phosphate levels. There are other reasons for it too but these three are pretty common culprits.
What type of water do you use for water changes? If you are using tap, or anything other than reverse osmosis/deionized water, that is a good place to make a change. You can buy RO/DI water at your LFS.