Brown Algea????

[zacdl]

All of a sudden I get this outbreak of Brown Algea.

I don think its Diatoms, I got them when I cycled, and they are lighter in color than this.


Here is a pic.

 

[melosu58]

I `ve never seen diatoms that thick. Are you doing anything different. How often are you feeding tank

 

[Devilishturtles]

Looks like Cyano. When is the last time you did a water change?

 

[zacdl]

Today I lessened the light cycle like 30 mins to see if that would help cut back on it.

All thats happened is that anemonae thing... Which now all that im doing differant is feeding less (should help get rid of it)

I was thining could it be because of all the water changes I did?

 

[zacdl]

Devilish...

If you read the thread about my anemonae you would know about water changes.

I had to do several water changes to get the tank back in good shape.

It appears the ammonia is starting to fall so I think I will ease up on them and see how it goes.

 

[zacdl]

Will it go away eventually?

 

[adacaro]

looks like cyano to me. have to do water changes every 15 days lower the cycle of your lights

 

[zacdl]

Cycle of lights lowered...

Water changes weekly as always...

Still there. Will it go away?

 

[RocketSeason]

I had that too.

You will need to manually remove the VAST majority of it if you want it to go away. Cut down the numbers and eventually it will be gone.

is this a relitively new tank? I had two cyano outbreaks in my tank. both lasted about 2 months. the only way I was able to get rid of them was by manually removing the stuff.

 

[zacdl]

I dunno 5-6 months old now.


Its kindof hairy in places, stringy.

There isnt that much to remove. Its basically colored EVERYTHING in the tank redish. I see a few thick spots, but unless I just scrape the top layer of sand off I cant just "Get the majority out".

Its covering the rocks too, and of course I cant remove that stuff...

Do they make a chemical of anykind to get rid of it?

What gets me is I have LITTLE Phosphates. Just a trace amount, can hardley tell a color differance.

Will it go away eventualy? Or stop growing?

 

[MT79]

What gets me is I have LITTLE Phosphates. Just a trace amount, can hardley tell a color differance.

.03 meg/l is considered high. It does not take much PO4 at all to cause problems. What test are you using? My suggestion to you would be to eliminate the source of the PO4 first. Secondly do searches on this forum and others for cyano. Read as much as you possibly can. Cyano will not go away on it's own, it will only get worse if actions are not taken. Good luck.

 

[zacdl]

They arent even to .01 meg/l

Its a TRACE amount.

This shouldnt cause problems should it?

 

[zacdl]

Would a UV help with Cyano?

From what I read I am doing everything right. I have carbon going, water circulation, cut down on light, etc.

Should I get more snails and hermits?
And would a UV kill cyano?

 

[MT79]

What brand test kit? Yes, trace amounts of PO4 can cause problems when combined w/ other issues. UV will not help at this point.

 

[zacdl]

From what I understood carbon is supposed to keep full outbreaks away. Ive had carbon in here from before I even had this outbreak.


Its a Red Sea one.

 

[MT79]

2 Turbo Snails

So right now you only have 2 snails in a 30? You definitely need to step up your clean up crew. Getting more snails and hermits could only help, but they won't cure the cyano.

 

[zacdl]

So what additional measures should I take to get rid of the cyano other than the cleanup crew?

How many snails/hermits do you think I could have in here? Right now I bet 100 would work, but after it goes away that will be too many

 

[MT79]

Its a Red Sea one

I would ditch that for a seachem or salifert test kit. When dealing w/ PO4 the amounts are so small you want a very good quality test kit. Carbon will not help w/ PO4 or the cyano at this point. Some quick advice from me would be to get about 15lbs more LR, up your flow a bit-maybe add another MJ 900, and step up your clean up crew. Adding a small serpent star is a good addition to any clean up crew, and get a better PO4 test kit. FWIW, snails generally don't eat cyano. A few hermits may but it won't amount to much.

 

[zacdl]

You said carbon wont help at this point?

Well its been in there from day 1 when I started the aquarium, and fresh each month.

So it SHOULDVE worked?



A serpent star? IS that the same as a brittle star?
Dont they eat snails/hermits?

More LR wont fit in the tank, already tried (Besides it looks way too full with 15 more pounds)

 

[MT79]

So it SHOULDVE worked?

You need to read up on what GAC does and how it works . The circumstances that allow/promote cyano growth are fairly dynamic, so there is no easy cure. Read all the cyano posts you can, education is key here.

A serpent star? IS that the same as a brittle star?

Yes. Just don't get a green brittle star. They are active predators.

More LR wont fit in the tank

You must have very porous rock. I had no problems getting 45lbs fiji rock in my 29gal.