Another algae question.....

[Nick862]

My tank has been up and running for 15 months and this these algae are starting to take over,

First is a red leaf type and the second and third are small balls ranging in colour from red to a brownish red

Any ideas on what fish or cuc would help with the control of these

The balls might be red grape macro algae but they don't always grow in groups and are directly connected to the rock (no stalk) removing all of it by hand is not an option as a lot of it is between rocks,

Cheers

 

[Nick862]

Forgot to post pictures ha

 

[Fish-guy]

Looks like cyano algae

 

[Alkane]

I agree looks like cyano.

Does it come off really easily?

 

[Nick862]

I think it is cyano! I read that tangs help to control Algae but my tank is to small for tangs so I bought a algae/lawnmower blenny today, maybe it will help? I also was thinking about getting some emerald crabs, I heard they might eat bubble and red grape algae, is that true? And how many could I have in a 46g tank?

I have lowered the time the lights are on from 11 to 9 hours and bought new po4 and Si media.

I add red sea No3+Po4-x reducer daily, any one had problems with hair algae using this product? and I use the red sea reef energy daily as well,

Cheers

 

[Alkane]

I've never had any luck using an animal to remove cyano. I would recommend working on water quality and rig up some airline tubing with rigid tubing at the end and suck as much of the cyano out manually. Using ro/di water instead of tap will help, also increasing the flow in your tank can help too.

Here's a list I found on another website:

Protein skimming
Maintenance animals
Increased flow
Feed lightly
Vacuum substrate or bottom
Harvest algae
Stop adding supplements
Regular water changes
Use RO/DI water
Top-off with Kalkwasser
Regular bulb changes