red algae

[kown]

I have this red algae and its preading very fast what can i do.
There are long string like sections and smooth sections. should i pull the rock till i can get rid of it? Is there inverts that will eat it or do i need to do something with chems.? The green algae is getting out of hand as well.
KoWN
55 Gal
27 lbs rock so far
some inverts
one fish
2 shrimp

 

[mr_x]

can you vacuum it up easily, and is it in a low flow area?
if so, it might not be algae after all. it's likley that it's cyanobacteria.
Phosphates (PO 4 ), DOCs (Dissolved Organic Compounds), and nitrates (NO 3 ) are primary nutrient food sources for red and other slime algae.
are you using R.O.D.I. water for your waterchanges?
manually vacuum it out and then increase the flow in that area. see if that helps. meanwhile, examine your water source and nutrient export. that's probably the real issue.

 

[kown]

its in a high flow area.
and what do you mean vacuum?
it has totally covered a 6lbs rock in 3 days.

 

[mr_x]

vacuuming in an aquarium would mean starting a siphon with a tube larger than an airline, and using that to suck out things you don't want into a bucket or something.
you've never vacuumed your sand bed?
could you take a picture of the algae?

 

[kown]

yeah hold on

 

[kown]

here you would not believe what i had to go through to get his on here.

 

[mr_x]

that looks like cyanobacteria to me. proper husbandry(waterchanges with R.O.D.I. water, skimming, less feeding) and it will leave as fast as it came.
you can vacuum alot of it out like i mentioned above if you like, but you must correct the cause of it, for it to leave. and the cause is an abundance of nutrients in the water.

 

[kown]

im doing a water change once a week right now because its a fairly new tank i am just using tap water but i am treating it be for use what can i do with out spending money.
I have pulled it all out 4 days ago and its all back what could i do to correct the nutrients?

 

[kown]

there is also alot of green algae poping up and my crabs cant keep up with it

 

[dischirm]

Use Ro (ro/di) water and feed less.
Make sure you have powerheads moving all the water in your tank around. Chances are this is in a "dead spot" and that can cause the cyano to grow.
Move the powerheads around or add more if you dont have enough.
There are other ways like getting a refugium, but those are the simple ways!
Good luck
Cyano can be a plague, I have fought it myself.
worst comes to worst, there is a medication you can put in, but it kills good bacteria as well as bad bacteria and I dont recommend it, nor would many here who have experience.

 

[kown]

should i just toss the rock or is it every where in my tank
and its in a hiflo area.

 

[spanko]

Red Slime (Cyano Bacteria)
Cyano grows on top of nutrient rich areas of low flow. There are a number of things that need to be correct or possibly corrected to combat this without the use of chemical additives. The biggest thing is to get rid of the extra nutrients.
1. Evaluate your feeding. If you are feeding more than can be eaten in about 1-2 minutes it is too much and the remainder of it is falling to the rock and sand and becoming nutrient.
2. Evaluate your flow. If you have areas in the tank where there is little to no flow this can be corrected by adding power heads or repositioning the ones you already have. You don’t need to create sand storms just have water moving over the area to keep detritus suspended in the water column for removal by your filter – skimmer.
3. Evaluate your water changes. The solution to pollution is dilution! You want to continually remove unneeded nutrients as well as replace those things that are used by the system. 10% weekly is a good change schedule. Some do 20% every other week and some vary the schedule from there, but a good start is 10% per week.
4. Evaluate your lighting schedule. About 10 hours of daylight is all that is needed.
5. If you have a cyano outbreak do the above 4 items andh:
a. At water change time siphon off the cyano first. It will come up easily almost like a blanker.
b. After siphoning stir the affected areas a little to suspend any detritus for the water change and filtering - skimming removal.
c. Use a turkey baster now and at every water change in the future to again suspend the detritus for removal by the water change and your filtering – skimming.
Keeping nutrient levels low to non-existent will help to avoid cyano outbreaks and any algae outbreaks as well as keep your tank and you happy happy.
Hope that helps.
Reply With Quote

 

[kown]

can i pull the rock out and wash all the cyano off or is that just wishful thinking?

 

[dischirm]

no, it is everywhere in your tank, tossing the rock is just a waste.
feed less and unfortunately, you need to stop using tap water.
Tap water causes the green algae and the cyano problems you are having.
Either get a ro/di filter ($$) or maybe your LFS sells RO water, or there are the machines outside stores (like Walmart, I have heard) that you can get water from.
I hope you dont have a really big tank though! That is a lot of water to lug around.
RO filters are expensive, but I wouldnt have a saltwater tank without one, due to just the problems you are seeing. It is a big investment, but worth the money IMO. And once you have one, then you dont have to pay for water or lug water around and you wont have that expense.(unless you pay for your water by quantity, I am lucky and we just have a flat charge)
Get an RO filter and a brand new rubbermaid garbage can, and just make water to your hearts content!

 

[spanko]

You sure can, do it with salt water though.Oh yeah and go slowly when removing the rock or the cyano may break apart if you move too fast.

 

[dischirm]

You can try washing it off, but that will be temporary and will kill the bacteria on the rock that you do want.
Cyano is a symptom of a problem, it is not the problem itself

 

[kown]

i have 2 power heads one is 200 gph and the other 250 gph can they be facing each other from each each end of the tank or does there have to be a circle of water current ?
What can i do to siphon it out i only have air line size tube avalible?

 

[kown]

so basicly im screwed untill i get an ro filter cant use tap water w/chems ? for now?

 

[kown]

here is the whole tank set up with pics of how my powerheds are placed

 

[mr_x]

you definitely don't have enough flow in there. i can see it from the airstone you have in there. you need to increase the flow bigtime.