pagoona
Member
My 20 gallons tank has been set up for about 4 months... 2 false percs, 2 peppermint shrimp, 1 turbo snail, 1 nassarius snail, several snails hitched in w/ the live rock. Recently I have been getting this gross black algae-looking stuff growing on my sandbed and making its way up the glass and the rocks. My levels last tested were:
pH - 8.0
ammonia - 0
nitrite - 0
nitrate - <10
alkalinity - 5 mEq/L
Temp - 81F
Based on the stated flow of my pumps I have a total flow of 454 gallons per hour. I don't have a sump, I use a HOB AquaClear filter (size 50 I believe). No protein skimmer, my previous skimmer wasn't removing anything so I sold it. I have about 12lbs of base rock and 10lbs of live rock. I use bottled RO water from the grocery store. I use a standard 15w florescent bulb (no reef here), on 10 hours a day.
None of my critters seem to eat this stuff. I've manually removed most of it once, but it grew back rather quickly. I recently performed a 50% water change, but that didn't seem to help.
Is this stuff cyanobacteria? It's not slimy. If I put some in a cup and shake it, it pretty much stays together and doesn't break up. Does anybody know what it is, and is there any critter that will eat it? Will it go away with time?
Pics:
pH - 8.0
ammonia - 0
nitrite - 0
nitrate - <10
alkalinity - 5 mEq/L
Temp - 81F
Based on the stated flow of my pumps I have a total flow of 454 gallons per hour. I don't have a sump, I use a HOB AquaClear filter (size 50 I believe). No protein skimmer, my previous skimmer wasn't removing anything so I sold it. I have about 12lbs of base rock and 10lbs of live rock. I use bottled RO water from the grocery store. I use a standard 15w florescent bulb (no reef here), on 10 hours a day.
None of my critters seem to eat this stuff. I've manually removed most of it once, but it grew back rather quickly. I recently performed a 50% water change, but that didn't seem to help.
Is this stuff cyanobacteria? It's not slimy. If I put some in a cup and shake it, it pretty much stays together and doesn't break up. Does anybody know what it is, and is there any critter that will eat it? Will it go away with time?
Pics: