What is this...

[Jer6599]

I have a red and green algae growing on my dry rock and on the live sand. The tank has been set up since June.

 

[mauler]

I'm thinking cyanobacteria but I'd wait for someone else to confirm that.

 

[bang guy]

I agree the red algae resembles Cyanobacter. The green could also be but it also looks like coralline.

 

[Jer6599]

Ok thanks. But now what. Confused. Is it good or bad. Mixed results when I researched it. I have a clearer crew ordered that will be here on thurs. Will that help clear it up some?

 

[mauler]

Cyanobacteria isn't good it can be cause by over feeding, not enough flow and poor water quality. What I would do is try to siphon out as much as possible and add extra flow and checkall your levels.

 

[Jer6599]

ok. I was going to do a water change this weekend anyway. I will clean up as much as possible and test.

 

[trigger40]

i had the same stuff in my tank a while back. just do more water changes and feed less, it will go away.

 

[Jer6599]

Thanks! Should I try and take the rock out and clean it?

 

[beaslbob]

Before you get carried away with things like water changes that will not prevent cyano and algae, the first thing you should do is to simply kill the lights and suspend all feeding.
It should die off in less than a week.

then resume with less lighting and feeding and adjust so things thrive but not the algae and cyano.

The real long term solution is to add plant life like macros in a refugium or an algae turf scrubber so the "extra" nutrients are consumed by those instead of having cyano/algae blooms.

my .02

 

[flower]

If the green comes off like a slime, it is the beginning of hair algae and it is not Coraline, Coraline is hard like the rocks themselves, and it won't scrape off with your fingernail. The red on the sand is Cyanobacteria. Coraline algae is desired, the other two mentioned are not.

Do a phosphate and nitrate test, the presence of these are what makes bad water quality and feeds nuisance algae. The answer is one good water change, don't overfeed, and use good RO water for your salt mix, no tap water. Ripping apart the tank to scrub the rock (in saltwater only) is not how to take care of the problem.

 

[Jer6599]

Thank you everyone for the information.

 

[qfish]

I don't suggest removing the rock and cleanings it. Follow the good advice posted above and let the cyano... die off naturally. In the process of removing and cleaning the rock you will be removing (good) bacteria and eco-support needed to keep your tank healthy. You don't want that.