Red Algae Issue

[Anthony]

Hey everyone,

I've been dealing with a red algae issue for about a week now, and i'm looking for advice.

my nitrates are high 50, (nitrites 0, Ammonia 0, Alkalinity 8, ph 8.1~8.2, salt 1.023, temp 78)
My nitrates are always, but this issue just started about a week or so ago.

My attempts to deal with it are failing, (every other day, I've been attempting to vacuum out the sand bed, and get as much as possible, in doing so, I've also been doing a 8-10gal water change (90DT 30sump)

today, I've noticed its has moved to my rocks,

Any advice in dealing with it, let me know,

Thanks
Anthony

 

[Pistol]

looks like cyanobacteria not algae, not a huge problem at this point but likely feeding off the nitrates and phosphates which are probably high to. Getting your nutrients under control should help but chemiclean will remove it however high nutrient levels will probably bring it back.

 

[shamous113]

I have the same in my tank it disappeared for a bit and has started coming back, not as bad though. I've been vinegar dosing a small amount to keep my nitrates in check.

 

[Anthony]

how do you vinegar dose? how much do you use?

 

[Joshbrookkate]

Cyano likes low flow areas, too. So upping your flow may help....

 

[TORX]

Your tank is right on schedule. You started cycling it in October last year. So cyano is typical of a new tank. Nutrients rarely affect cyano as it is typically a light hungry algae. The 2 most popular ways to get rid of it is to increase flow over the affected area and reduce lighting. If you are running T5 or mH lights, as they age the bulbs may need to be replaced. Typically bulbs should be replaced by 9 months, although we all suggest 6 months. By doing those 2 things, mixed with manual removal, it should pass on its own.

There are chemicals that work, however they do kill off all bacteria in the tank, including the good bacteria. It is highly recommended not to use chemical warfare for cyano unless it is a last resort.

 

[shamous113]

how do you vinegar dose? how much do you use?

http://reefkeeping.com/joomla/index...ar-dosing-methodology-for-the-marine-aquarium
I'm dose 15ml of 5% vinegar/100gal my system is 240 gal total volume , eventually I'll switch over to pellets and reactor but for now its working well. Use pure distilled white vinegar (5%) with no added ingredients that you buy from the grocery store. Cyano can adapt quickly it can switch from consuming nutrients to using light to feed its self. it prefers light that is closer to the red end of the spectrum, if your using LED lights increase your blues 5% and decrease your whites by the same it should help.

 

[Janice]

Two questions:
1 is Chemiclean no safe as they claim? Does it kill bacteria?
2. how can you increase the flow if you have a peninsula tank with the powerheads only able to attach on one end of the tank in a situation like this? I am thinking of getting the new Red Sea peninsula tank when it is available.

 

[Pistol]

Chemiclean is perfectly safe, I have used it several times over the years without any issues as have thousands of others, just follow the instructions.
It doesn't matter how much flow you have it will always find a place to bloom.

 

[vdubz]

http://reefkeeping.com/joomla/index...ar-dosing-methodology-for-the-marine-aquarium
I'm dose 15ml of 5% vinegar/100gal my system is 240 gal total volume , eventually I'll switch over to pellets and reactor but for now its working well. Use pure distilled white vinegar (5%) with no added ingredients that you buy from the grocery store. Cyano can adapt quickly it can switch from consuming nutrients to using light to feed its self. it prefers light that is closer to the red end of the spectrum, if your using LED lights increase your blues 5% and decrease your whites by the same it should help.

How often are you dosing @shamous113 ?

 

[shamous113]

How often are you dosing @shamous113 ?

I dose every day but spread it out throughout the day, 12ml 3 times. I'd like to set up a drip line to do it thru the day.

 

[AdInfinitum]

I have the same in my tank it disappeared for a bit and has started coming back, not as bad though. I've been vinegar dosing a small amount to keep my nitrates in check.

BTW where carbon dosing is great for nutrient control (I always do it)...it works by feeding bacterial growth....Cyano is also a bacteria and will often bloom in conjunction with carbon dosing. It is truly he main issue that people have when starting or using pellets.

Chemiclean is an antibiotic but will have minimal effect on the nitrogen processing good bacteria and will wipe out Cyano to manageable levels. (There will always be Cyano in the tank but it will bloom when conditions s favour it). Cyano is not like algae where simply treating the root cause will (with patience) take care of it. It has a snowball effect and once it gets rolling it is self sustaining so using a chemical to break the cycle is a valid strategy. However in the case of the OP it looks like a young tank and at this point I would recommend waiting it out as it is part of a young tank establishing balance. If conditions are being maintained properly competing species of bacteria and algae will establish, compete and balance the system so that no one species dominates.

 

[Anthony]

Hi everyone, thanks for the advice, I've moved my power heads to change the water flow, and increased there power levels, I've also added a temp lighting solution (until I can find a more suitable solution, need. To research what is the best option without spending a fortune). Hopefully things will start to improve, if not, a Trip to my lfs is in order for a chemical solution (hopefully before everything turns red)..

Another question about dosing, do I need a protein skimmer or any other hardware before I start down that road, and once I start, is it something I have to continue to do (once my nitrates levels get back to a normal level)

 

[shamous113]

What light are you running? like @AdInfinitum said organic carbon dosing will feed the cyano, mine got way worse before it got better. Like others have said though chemical warfare should be used as a last resort, especially in a system that is still in its infancy.

yes you will need a skimmer If you decide to dose organic carbon you will need it to remove the the bacteria that have consumed the nitrate. If you vinegar dose start out slow with a low dose, it will take a bit of time and patients to see changes.

Edit: sounded better last night after a few beers, sorry

 

[TORX]

Carbon dosing NEEDS a skimmer. It will also feed cyano, especially if you dose too much. Cyano is a bacteria, not an algae. Carbon dosing (aka biopellets/vodka/vinegar/sugar) is used to raise bacteria levels. Those higher bacteria levels eat nitrates and phosphates. The bacteria grows to the point where it is removed by the protein skimmer.

 

[Anthony]

As for lighting, I only have a marineland led bar (white and blue) it was free with the used tank.
I've added two clip lights with some bulbs from Lowe's ( my zoa's already seem to be moving towards the clip lights). So I think it is an improvement from the led bar,
I don't have a skimmer yet, so dosing is out for now,
My nitrates have dropped to around 30, so the water changes are working, (or maybe the cyano enjoying the the nitrates)
I will leave the chemical warfare until thing get a lot worse.

 

[shamous113]

In regards to lighting you could go with the MarsAqua or the Dsuny led's off of ebay. their both reasonably priced and work well for a reef setup.

my nitrates are high 50, (nitrites 0, Ammonia 0, Alkalinity 8, ph 8.1~8.2, salt 1.023, temp 78)
My nitrates are always, but this issue just started about a week or so ago.

Are you sure that your Salinity level is 1.023?

 

[Josh]

It seems im about 3-4 months ahead in the cycling process than you. I would preach patience like TORX said, I had a massive cyano outbreak and i was doing everything right, not overfeeding, RO/DI water, water changes. Time will definitely help as you start to build your biological filter that will take care of your tank.
The main fix to my algae issue was turning down the ammount of hours on my lights, i went from 14-16 hrs down to 10-12 and lowered my intensity by 50%.

I originally ran a protein skimmer on my BC29 however ive pulled it out since i found it was a total pain to clean in the back chamber of the BC. I run a small closed loop refugium now that keeps my nitrates at 1-3. If you want more info on the CL / Refugium let me know and i can show you how i set mine up. Altogether cost me ~120 to set it up.

I was using a tunze9002 in case you are wondering which protein skimmer works well for BC, If you are going to get it, try to find the extended cannister, it will make cleaning WAY EASIER!

Hope this helps!

 

[Anthony]

In regards to lighting you could go with the MarsAqua or the Dsuny led's off of ebay. their both reasonably priced and work well for a reef setup.

Are you sure that your Salinity level is 1.023?

When I take a sample from the top of the tank i get closer to 1.022, when i take a sample closer to the bottom of the tank I get closer to 1.023,
i'm not sure why i'm getting different results.

 

[shamous113]

What are you using to test the salinity?

If you're keeping a fish only tank the level is good but if you plan on keeping corals you should be shooting for 1.025-1.026. If you're going to raise the salinity don't do it too fast. For example, don't raise it more then .001/hour. You could use water mixed at 1.025 for top offs until you get it to the proper level; this will help slow down the change.