green/black algea?

[FloridaNewbie]

hey guys, i had mention a couple of weeks back that my girlfriend also has a small 10gal sw fish tank, she had it for about 2 months now and just got over a diaton problem. Now she said that on a small are of her sand, there is like a darkgreen/black slime. it is very small area, wonder what it could be. Also one of her 2 snails died, could that be a problem?

I don't think its cyano.

Thanks again
Leo

[melosu58]

Whatever it is, next time you do a PWC draw it up with the water to be thrown out. Smaller tanks like this need more careful dilligence to keep parameters in check. Get her to post here water test results and read this

http://www.fantasyreef.com/showthread.php?t=478

[Devilishturtles]

Ahh, the wonders of Cyanobacteria. It can be every color of the rainbow and take on many forms. A green/black slime on your sandbed is definitley a cyanobacteria problem. Therefore, it could be many things fueling it.

How much/often does she feed? Light cycle? Skim? RO/DI, or tap water? How much flow is in the tank?

Cyano loves high nutrient, low flow areas (aka: most of our sandbeds). Increasing flow, manual removal, and more frequent water changes/reduced feeding will help your cause.

HTH

[melosu58]

If it is cyano then read this

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/articl...q=2&fldAuto=48

[roka64]

In my experience, pointing a ph at the spot doesn't work. I had a maxi-jet 1200 pointing directly at a spot on a rock and it didn't do much. The siphon will work wonders. I DO believe adding phs for more water movement, along with the article mel posted, will help tremendously.