Help? Algae and scrubbing live rock

lines_michael · 01/24/2007, 03:46 PM

I have two large piece's of live rock that have a green and dark red burgandy algae covering them. I thought that it was a corraline algae because it they appeared moss-like and not slimy like the info I have read said cyano algae is. It is spreading fairly fast and growing on the sides of my tank over the corraline algae. I am convinced now that it isn't corraline and I need to get rid of it.

75 Gallon Reef Tank
Nitrite and Ammonia: 0
Ph: 8.2
Nitrate: between 30-40 (I am battling this and presume this is the cause)
Phosphate: 0.25-0.50 (also trying to get this down)
Protein Skimmer, adequate waterflow, canister filter.
Took tank over and moved to my house 3 weeks ago.
One 20% water change 10 days ago.
Scheduled to do a 25% today and clean filters, replace carbon,etc..

Here are my questions:

1. There are mushrooms and polyps on less than 5% of the two rocks that are green and red covered. Can I scrub the algae off safely and put them back in the tank?

2. I used a dose of Prime to help with the high Nitrates and a dose of Red Slime Remover about four days ago. It turned some red algae green overnight and it seems to have gone away but it was only a fraction of 1% of the algae. Over the last 36 hours the pH dropped to 7.8-7.9. I also bought some 8.2 pH powder in expectation of this, since the labels said it may affect pH. Should I put this in?

3. I have a UV filter that I haven't turned on because I read that it also kills good bacteria. Should I use this?

4. Last question: Any suggestions anything extra I can incorporate in my water change to help?

TekCat · 01/24/2007, 03:55 PM

Definatelly do lots of water changes, maybe 10% daily for a week to remove leftover junk from Red Slime Remover application.
Remove visible / accessable algae without harming shrooms. Replace carbon and add some phosban to it, in the canister.

Do not nuke tank with RSR or anything like that. Find source of nutrients. Are you using RO/DI water? Are you overfeeding?

---edit ---

AFAIK, Prime is useless in battleing nitrates. So, unless you have ammonia emegency, I wouldn't use it.

lines_michael · 01/24/2007, 05:31 PM

I have been feeding one cube of frozen food every 2 days. Yesterday I bought some dry and will substitute that every other feeding.

LFS RO water for water changes and top offs.

What is Phosban?

TekCat · 01/24/2007, 05:51 PM

Phosban is a granullar ferric oxide phosphate remover. Similarly another product you could use is Rowaphos.

lines_michael · 01/24/2007, 08:52 PM

What is a good way to manually remove the excess algae? The two rocks are easily removable from my tank, possibly during a water change.

bertoni · 01/24/2007, 08:56 PM

That's a fair amount of food, especially for a new tank. What animals are in the tank? Has the tank been up for one month, or is that part of the signature out of date?

You could try scrubbing the rock with a new, unused scrub brush of about any type. That might work. If the rocks are small enough, an old tooth brush is fine. In the end, you might need to kill the film with a lye solution, but I wouldn't try that just yet.

01/24/2007, 03:46 PM	#1
lines_michael Premium Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Clarksville, TN Posts: 95	Help? Algae and scrubbing live rock I have two large piece's of live rock that have a green and dark red burgandy algae covering them. I thought that it was a corraline algae because it they appeared moss-like and not slimy like the info I have read said cyano algae is. It is spreading fairly fast and growing on the sides of my tank over the corraline algae. I am convinced now that it isn't corraline and I need to get rid of it. 75 Gallon Reef Tank Nitrite and Ammonia: 0 Ph: 8.2 Nitrate: between 30-40 (I am battling this and presume this is the cause) Phosphate: 0.25-0.50 (also trying to get this down) Protein Skimmer, adequate waterflow, canister filter. Took tank over and moved to my house 3 weeks ago. One 20% water change 10 days ago. Scheduled to do a 25% today and clean filters, replace carbon,etc.. Here are my questions: 1. There are mushrooms and polyps on less than 5% of the two rocks that are green and red covered. Can I scrub the algae off safely and put them back in the tank? 2. I used a dose of Prime to help with the high Nitrates and a dose of Red Slime Remover about four days ago. It turned some red algae green overnight and it seems to have gone away but it was only a fraction of 1% of the algae. Over the last 36 hours the pH dropped to 7.8-7.9. I also bought some 8.2 pH powder in expectation of this, since the labels said it may affect pH. Should I put this in? 3. I have a UV filter that I haven't turned on because I read that it also kills good bacteria. Should I use this? 4. Last question: Any suggestions anything extra I can incorporate in my water change to help?

01/24/2007, 08:56 PM	#6
bertoni RC Mod Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Mountain View, CA, USA Posts: 88,616	That's a fair amount of food, especially for a new tank. What animals are in the tank? Has the tank been up for one month, or is that part of the signature out of date? You could try scrubbing the rock with a new, unused scrub brush of about any type. That might work. If the rocks are small enough, an old tooth brush is fine. In the end, you might need to kill the film with a lye solution, but I wouldn't try that just yet. __________________ Jonathan Bertoni

01/24/2007, 03:55 PM	#2
TekCat Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: MN Posts: 3,130	Definatelly do lots of water changes, maybe 10% daily for a week to remove leftover junk from Red Slime Remover application. Remove visible / accessable algae without harming shrooms. Replace carbon and add some phosban to it, in the canister. Do not nuke tank with RSR or anything like that. Find source of nutrients. Are you using RO/DI water? Are you overfeeding? ---edit --- AFAIK, Prime is useless in battleing nitrates. So, unless you have ammonia emegency, I wouldn't use it.

01/24/2007, 05:31 PM	#3
lines_michael Premium Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Clarksville, TN Posts: 95	I have been feeding one cube of frozen food every 2 days. Yesterday I bought some dry and will substitute that every other feeding. LFS RO water for water changes and top offs. What is Phosban?

01/24/2007, 05:51 PM	#4
TekCat Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: MN Posts: 3,130	Phosban is a granullar ferric oxide phosphate remover. Similarly another product you could use is Rowaphos.

01/24/2007, 08:52 PM	#5
lines_michael Premium Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Clarksville, TN Posts: 95	What is a good way to manually remove the excess algae? The two rocks are easily removable from my tank, possibly during a water change.