Red Hairy Looking Algae

ekreppel · 11/17/2010, 12:47 PM

Hi,
I have a 14g biocube with 2 clownfish, 5 turbo snails, 5 Narcissus snails and 5blue leg hermits. The tank has been up and running since July with fish added in August. About a month (maybe 6 weeks ago) I noticed a rapidly growing patch of algae that is a very dark, deep red and I would also say looks hairy (not so much slimy). My first reaction was to turn the lights off for a few days and slow the feeding to every other day to see if it helped. It did, but as soon as the lights come back on, the algae perks right back up. I had been managing it's growth this way until Sunday when I noticed that the algae had begun to crawl off the live rock and onto the sand which freaked me right out. I do 4 gallon water changes every 2 weeks using distilled water. There are bioballs still in my tank and I do not have a protein skimmer. Does anyone have any suggestions as to what this might be and how to get rid of it?

Tuscaquatics · 11/17/2010, 01:32 PM

Probably cyano. It's pretty common in newer tanks. Like pretty much any other nuisance algae it's feeding on surplus nutrients in your water.

The first thing people will say is that you are lacking flow in your tank. Cyano loves areas of low flow where detritus can build up and accumulate puddles of nutrients for it to feed on. Could that be an issue?

Also, distilled water might be fueling it. Most distiled water is pretty clean, but it's possible that it has phosphates or something else in it that helps the algae grow. Ultimately, you're really going to want an RO/DI unit to get your water perfectly clean.

Overall, cyano is something you kind of have to just wait out. It's a pretty common stage in the tanks maturity. I'm not saying you have to have it in order for the tank to mature - many will never see it - but without a protein skimmer or refugium, it's likely that that's what you're dealing with.

One more thing that, in my experience, leads to growth of stuff like cyano is having too much sand in the tank. Unless you have specific needs for a particular species you want to keep that might need extra sand, I recommend only about an inch. This prevents those "puddles" from forming in your sand bed to feed the cyano. How much do you have?

And a note on turning lights out to battle algae: most of the time, it will cause the algae to die. But if you're not also doing something in parallel to battle the excess nutrients, then the algae will usually just grow back.

11/17/2010, 12:47 PM	#1
ekreppel Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2010 Posts: 15	Red Hairy Looking Algae Hi, I have a 14g biocube with 2 clownfish, 5 turbo snails, 5 Narcissus snails and 5blue leg hermits. The tank has been up and running since July with fish added in August. About a month (maybe 6 weeks ago) I noticed a rapidly growing patch of algae that is a very dark, deep red and I would also say looks hairy (not so much slimy). My first reaction was to turn the lights off for a few days and slow the feeding to every other day to see if it helped. It did, but as soon as the lights come back on, the algae perks right back up. I had been managing it's growth this way until Sunday when I noticed that the algae had begun to crawl off the live rock and onto the sand which freaked me right out. I do 4 gallon water changes every 2 weeks using distilled water. There are bioballs still in my tank and I do not have a protein skimmer. Does anyone have any suggestions as to what this might be and how to get rid of it?

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11/17/2010, 01:32 PM	#2
Tuscaquatics Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Tuscaloosa, AL Posts: 1,324	Probably cyano. It's pretty common in newer tanks. Like pretty much any other nuisance algae it's feeding on surplus nutrients in your water. The first thing people will say is that you are lacking flow in your tank. Cyano loves areas of low flow where detritus can build up and accumulate puddles of nutrients for it to feed on. Could that be an issue? Also, distilled water might be fueling it. Most distiled water is pretty clean, but it's possible that it has phosphates or something else in it that helps the algae grow. Ultimately, you're really going to want an RO/DI unit to get your water perfectly clean. Overall, cyano is something you kind of have to just wait out. It's a pretty common stage in the tanks maturity. I'm not saying you have to have it in order for the tank to mature - many will never see it - but without a protein skimmer or refugium, it's likely that that's what you're dealing with. One more thing that, in my experience, leads to growth of stuff like cyano is having too much sand in the tank. Unless you have specific needs for a particular species you want to keep that might need extra sand, I recommend only about an inch. This prevents those "puddles" from forming in your sand bed to feed the cyano. How much do you have? And a note on turning lights out to battle algae: most of the time, it will cause the algae to die. But if you're not also doing something in parallel to battle the excess nutrients, then the algae will usually just grow back.