Attack of the bubbles!

[Degonese]

Just recently I notice that my tank is starting to look like a champagne glass. Also there is a blanket of bubbles on the bottum of the tank covering everything. I don't know why this is happening, and google was no help. Any thoughts on this?
Oh, ya! The bubbles are getting trapped in the diatoms too, I'm that this might start to form some type of bubble algea.

 

[SparKy697]

Air bubbles? Are you sure that your diatoms are not cyano or some kind of algae? Pics?

 

[thincat]

If it's not coming from your skimmer we will need a pic.

 

[Degonese]

Ok, here are some pictures. I read a little on cyano, and I tried to some things that worked for other people to get rid of it. So I tried giving it less light, and it started to go down. My worry is... if that's really what it is, does that mean I wont be able to have a good light cycle again? How do prevent this from happening again?

 

[roka64]

That's the start of cyano.

 

[ChrisAre]

Cyano can be neutralized by frequent water changes. I believe it's caused by an abundance of nutrients in the water. As a last resort you can use Red Slime control by blue bet. It works very well, but natural is always better. I used it a couple months ago after 10% water changes every other day for THREE WEEKS didn't work, and I haven't had a problem since.

 

[thincat]

The lights is just until you can get your nutirents under control. I read that if you use the red slime control your cyano can get to a point that it gets immune to it and you end up with a bigger problem. Cut down on your feeding, check your po4 and do PWc's and you should get a handle on it. I had some cyano until my tank made 1yr. Macro in your sump is another good thing.

 

[melosu58]

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/articles/articles/20/1/Cyanobacteria-AKA-Red-Slime-Algae-/Page1.html

 

[MaiNpHRaMe]

the bottom 3 look like cyno and the top one looks like you have some babies. Do you have any snails? I suggest you buy yourself a magnifying glass. This is the best hobby ever! Wait until you see things on your glass up close and personal.

 

[MaiNpHRaMe]

You do have Cyno, the best method I ever came across was to cut the dose in half with whatever you use. Watch your skimmer though. Buy a Crest sonic tooth brush and use it to remove the red and green algaes underwater - they are totally amazing.

 

[Degonese]

Ok I think I'm getting the cyno under control. I no longer have such a broad carpet of it on my sand bed. I still have a little on my LR, and a very small bit sand. I completly turn the lights off except for the moon light for about a week. I also added a second return spot for more flow. With my sump, I got rid of the bio balls I had and added 2 plain filter pads in both sides of my bubble trap. One after the skimmer, and one before the return pump.
I have also done water changes every other day, along with cleaning the filter pads. I also started to feed only once a day.

My question to prevent this from happening again is...
What is the proper lighting cycle with the white/blue/and moon lights? Do I ever turn the white and blue ones on at the same time?

If for some reason the cyno comes back when I turn the lights on, will I have to wait another week before I can use them again?

This last question is kinda off the subject...
Why would I suddenly start getting small amonia levels in my water? Now that the cyno is going away??? All my other readings were Zero.

Thanks for all the help so far!!!!

 

[GhostKnife]

I have my lights on as follows (with timers so its the same everyday)
2:00pm actinic blues come on
4:30pm 10,000 k daylights come on
10:30pm 10,000 k daylights shut off
11:30pm actinic blues shut off
11:29pm Moon lights come on
2:30am Moon lights shut off
6 hours for day light lights.
I keep my actinic blues on while the daylights are on and keep the moon lights on for only a few hours. Keeping them on can lead to algae build up in certain spots over a period of time.
As far as your algae problem I would say use some sort of phosphate reducer but first test your waters phosphate levels. I would also do a water change every 1-3 weeks to keep nitrates down. It depends really on the skimmer and or how many trace elements you lose during the amount of time in between.

 

[roka64]

I would say feed every other day. I feed that way and sometime even skip an extra day (this could be part of where your ammonia is coming from). How are you cleaning the pads? In SW or FW? If you are using FW, you are killing off the bacteria and that might be another source of ammonia, beside the extra rotting food. Have you tested your source water for ammonia too?

 

[thincat]

+1 on what roka said.
What you are looking for is a balance in your system. Lights, feeding, macro algae, fish and corals. Also, your system is trying to reach this balance with it's Ph, Alk, SG, and temp. I have reached this balance and have not had to clean my glass in over 3 months,