Can someone please help me??

[criss]

ok I have been having an alge problem for awhile. First it was brown on the sand, then it turned to a redish film over the sand. I have a wet/dry, metal halide, skimmer and my tank is 92gallons. i personally think i do not have enough power heads. i only have one. Also, i have a rock with a beautiful bright green alge on it. (what is this? is it harmful?) All my levels are fine. I also have particles floating that look like lint. it is almost like my filter is not working (which it is). I have checked my bio balls and they all look very clean. i also keep up with cleaning my filter pads. All my corals, fish, cleaner crew, mushrooms and feather dusters are fine. God does anyone have any ideas? i am at my wits end.

 

[notsonoob]

First. What are you feeding your fish?
Feed every other day for a while as you ahve this problem
There is a medication called (Red Ease)...I think..I'm not at home so I can't remember. You can find it at your LFS. There is also one for green algae too.
I added it to mine and in two days the red algae was gone. Nothing hurt. Corals fine, fish fine, inverts fine. Make sure to keep tabs on your PH levels as sometimes this will affect it. This will also might cloud your tank a bit during that time, I don't recall why, but it seemed to over oxiginate the water as it looked like a ton of microbubbles. A couple of days it was gone and I had NO algaes in my tank.
Dump the wet/dry for a fuge if you can. If not clean it regularly. If you don't you should put a sticker on the side...ACME NITRATE FACTORY PLUS...because that is what it is. That is from leftover food and fish waste.
If you don't have a protien skimmer, buy yourself a good one. Maybe even step up a flow rating to the tank you have. So if you have a 55 gallon, buy one good for 100 gallons.
Those increased nitrates is waht feeds nutrients to the algea and helps them bloom. I've been through a few. You can add mangroves or algea to help reduce those pesky nitrates that those bad algeas love so much.
It takes a while the natural way, but Red Ease will nuke it pretty fast. Then vaccum the top of your substrate.
Then make sure to cut down your feedings to once every other day to keep your nitrate levels low. I had algea problems for months, then I realized what my problems were, and it went away.
PS. The red algea will only get worse and worse if you don't combat it.

 

[renogaw]

OK... before you go nuking your tank...
the "red algae" is most likely actually something called cyanobacteria. How new is your tank? if relatively new, it is a common headache with new tanks. it is brought on by too much light, too much feeding, and not enough flow.
You say you may not have enough flow, so that would be the first thing i adjust. make sure you have no dead spots. you should have at least 1800 gallon turnover. you have one powerhead, plus the return pump from your wet/dry (which may or may not produce nitrates, mine never did that i could tell). add one or two more and your whole tank will be happy.
your metal halides are probably helping quite a bit in giving the bacteria somewhere to live off of. if they are old, replace the bulb. if not, what is your light schedule? if you don't have very many high light required corals, turn your lights off for a couple days. that should kill off most of the cyano.
I will say though, i ended up using red slime remover, even after using all the techniques, but as a last resort. i've heard bad results from chemiclean, so try to stay away from it.

 

[renogaw]

also, what are you using for water? ro, ro/di, tap?
test for nitrates and phosphates, they help feed the cyano as well.

 

[notsonoob]

AH Yes,
Red Slime Remover...I couldn't remember the name.
Wet/drys are notorious nitrate factories for those who don't want to maintain them. I would say scrub it monthly if that is the only filtration you have. No different at that point from a canister filter.
Pull out the bio balls and rinse them with R/O water. Within one month (especially if you have been overfeeding) you'll see all kind of buildup all over the place.