Help with algae.

[Beau_123]

I have a piece of live rock in my tank and it has this green algea on it and also has these brown straw like strings coming off of it and on the top of the water in my tank there are these red different sized dots floating around. I can try to get a pic when I get home if that helps.

 

[Beau_123]

What should I do.

 

[Convict2161]

A pic would help. For the algae if you can take the rock out you can scrub it off. How long has the tank been running?

Have you checked your parameters?

Algae is usually a sign of excessive nutrients.

 

[begginersluck]

I wouldn't scrub the rock as it could have some die off.

Find the root of the problem to remove the algae. Removing it manually just means it will keep coming back.

It could be high nitrates or too much light. You wont get a nitrate reading as the algae eats it all up. Make sure you do water changes regularly to ensure your nitrates are as low as possible. This should help.

Otherwise it could be that the sun beams in through a window somewhere at some time of day with out you realizing. The algae will love this. Just a though as its happened to me in the past.

 

[Beau_123]

Tomorrow I will try to get a better pic and I will see if sun light is getting in to the tank.

 

[Convict2161]

Is that bubbles? As in bubble algae or cyno.

 

[Beau_123]

The bubbles are clear not green but I have some red bubbles.

 

[Convict2161]

A better pic in the morning would really help.

 

[Beau_123]

I will get a pic of all the big parts of algea.

 

[Convict2161]

I will get a pic of all the big parts of algea.

Ok cool. Till tomorrow...

 

[Beau_123]

I have just one quick question do I still need to do water changes if I have a protein skimmer.

 

[kjboer7]

YES do your water changes religiously. One of the most important thing to do with saltwater.

 

[Beau_123]

Ok thanks.

 

[Beau_123]

Here it is.

 

[mr_X]

Bryopsis and cyanobacteria. You are overfeeding and /or not doing enough water changes.

 

[Convict2161]

It almost looks like a combination of two. I'm no expert by any means. But it looks like some green hair algae, red slime maybe? And a strand of cyno. I know there are different types. I'm sure more experienced members will chime in with the correct I.D.

Here's a good read.

http://www.reefcleaners.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=54&Itemid=60


In any event I think most will agree that most algae is because of excessive nutrients.

Water changes will be needed. What are your parameters and light schedule?

I mentioned taking the rock out and scrubbing it only because I thought we were talking a small amount on one rock. This is clearly NOT the case.

 

[Convict2161]

Bryopsis and cyanobacteria. You are overfeeding and /or not doing enough water changes.

Well... There's your answer ^^^^^

He knows what he's talking about. Listen to him.

 

[Beau_123]

How much water should I take out for a 55g.

 

[mr_X]

I would start with cutting back feeding to every other day or every 3rd day. This doesn't mean giving them 3 times the amount of food because they haven't eaten yesterday. Your goal is reducing the amount of nutrients in the tank.
I would probably do a 20%-25% water change a week for a while, vacuuming out as much of that cyano I can with each change.