I need your help with this battle!! Please Suggest Something that WILL WORK!! lol

kyle1284 · 01/25/2010, 12:31 PM

ok so i have been battling a red algae that apears durring the day and goes almost completely away at night. I think it is red cynao but im not sure. its a dark red algae sometimes holding air bubbles and at times not...pictures to come by lunch.

i have 6 t-5's over my 40 gallon breeder it has a 20 gallon long sump... here is a link to my build: http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh....php?t=1601421

Here is what happens:
9am Small traces on rocks and sand
10am more evident on rocks and sand
12 Noon atinics on and more red algae showing
2pm daylights on more dark red algae showing up
it gets progressivly worse at the day goes on then the daylights go off at 9:30 pm
10 pm there are small signs of "algae" receding
12 midnight atinics off, algae is 1/4 the way gone than from when the daylights were on
3AM getting a glass of water outta the fridge algae almost completely gone and most of it barely clinging to rocks and sand.

i feed the tank 1/2 a cube of mysis every other day 4 fish and a asm g1x skimmer...

bulbs are about 6-7 months old on the 4 overdrivin t-5's and about 3 months old on the other 2 atinics

it obviously has something to do with the photo cycle but i have not had this problem until recently... can yall offer advise?

LobsterOfJustice · 01/25/2010, 12:35 PM

Sounds like cyanobacteria. Common treatment for this is leave the lights out for three days and them perform a larger water change. What this does is kill off all the cyano causing it to release its nutrients in to the water, then you change a lot of the water to remove them. Alternatively, you can wait till the end of your light cycle when it is worst and siphon it out. When you remove it, you are removing the nutrients that created it. To keep it gone, keep nutrients low. Try running some GFO to remove phosphates.

Jurgs · 01/25/2010, 12:47 PM

Hi, what i did was leave lights off for a day, and then siphone in off the rocks and the sand while doing the water change - it comes off real easy. I did this for two days,also reduced the photo period and reduced my feeding. Gone like the wind.

kyle1284 · 01/25/2010, 01:41 PM

i am running ROWA phos through a phosban reactor... 3 times the reccommended amount.

i will try the lights out and reduce the feedings to every 3 days.
i will do some massive waterchanges... should i clean up my fuge also?

anyone else with any more advise?

all levels:
phos: 0
trate: 0
mag: 1275
cal 420ish
alk dont know yet

jb61264 · 01/25/2010, 01:42 PM

i would be careful with using 3x the recommended amount...i have always heard that you need to "ease" your tank into using any sort of GFO product.

kyle1284 · 01/25/2010, 02:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jb61264

i would be careful with using 3x the recommended amount...i have always heard that you need to "ease" your tank into using any sort of GFO product.

yeah i know she ( the tank) has been runnin off of 2 the recommended amount for the past 6 months and when this started happening i bumped it up

luther1200 · 01/25/2010, 02:37 PM

I would try Bulk Reef Supply HC GFO. Its much better than ROWA, and its several times cheaper. You just have to by a lot at once.

kyle1284 · 01/25/2010, 03:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by luther1200

I would try Bulk Reef Supply HC GFO. Its much better than ROWA, and its several times cheaper. You just have to by a lot at once.

what makes u say their stuff is better than ROWA? just curious...

01/25/2010, 12:31 PM	#1
kyle1284 Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Houston. Cypress area Posts: 260	I need your help with this battle!! Please Suggest Something that WILL WORK!! lol ok so i have been battling a red algae that apears durring the day and goes almost completely away at night. I think it is red cynao but im not sure. its a dark red algae sometimes holding air bubbles and at times not...pictures to come by lunch. i have 6 t-5's over my 40 gallon breeder it has a 20 gallon long sump... here is a link to my build: http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh....php?t=1601421 Here is what happens: 9am Small traces on rocks and sand 10am more evident on rocks and sand 12 Noon atinics on and more red algae showing 2pm daylights on more dark red algae showing up it gets progressivly worse at the day goes on then the daylights go off at 9:30 pm 10 pm there are small signs of "algae" receding 12 midnight atinics off, algae is 1/4 the way gone than from when the daylights were on 3AM getting a glass of water outta the fridge algae almost completely gone and most of it barely clinging to rocks and sand. i feed the tank 1/2 a cube of mysis every other day 4 fish and a asm g1x skimmer... bulbs are about 6-7 months old on the 4 overdrivin t-5's and about 3 months old on the other 2 atinics it obviously has something to do with the photo cycle but i have not had this problem until recently... can yall offer advise? __________________ Every day above ground is a good day... Current Tank Info: 210 SPS dominating tank. 280 Gallons total volume

01/25/2010, 12:35 PM	#2
LobsterOfJustice Recovering Detritophobe Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Cary, NC Posts: 7,443	Sounds like cyanobacteria. Common treatment for this is leave the lights out for three days and them perform a larger water change. What this does is kill off all the cyano causing it to release its nutrients in to the water, then you change a lot of the water to remove them. Alternatively, you can wait till the end of your light cycle when it is worst and siphon it out. When you remove it, you are removing the nutrients that created it. To keep it gone, keep nutrients low. Try running some GFO to remove phosphates. __________________ If it's worth doing, it's worth doing right. I remember when zoanthids were called things like "green" and "orange" and not "reverse gorilla nipple." Current Tank Info: 180g reef with all the bells and whistles

01/25/2010, 01:41 PM	#4
kyle1284 Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Houston. Cypress area Posts: 260	i am running ROWA phos through a phosban reactor... 3 times the reccommended amount. i will try the lights out and reduce the feedings to every 3 days. i will do some massive waterchanges... should i clean up my fuge also? anyone else with any more advise? all levels: phos: 0 trate: 0 mag: 1275 cal 420ish alk dont know yet __________________ Every day above ground is a good day... Current Tank Info: 210 SPS dominating tank. 280 Gallons total volume

01/25/2010, 01:42 PM	#5
jb61264 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Planet Earth Posts: 1,112	i would be careful with using 3x the recommended amount...i have always heard that you need to "ease" your tank into using any sort of GFO product. __________________ In the end (and the begining) we're all just stardust anyway... Current Tank Info: 75 gallon SPS reef/55 gallon sump/6x54W TEK T5HO/Reef Octopus 200 Extreme Skimmer/Reef Octopus Single Chamber Calcium Reactor/RKL

01/25/2010, 02:37 PM	#7
luther1200 Premium Member Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: NJ, shore Posts: 4,376	I would try Bulk Reef Supply HC GFO. Its much better than ROWA, and its several times cheaper. You just have to by a lot at once. __________________ Matt, 65G reef tank Current Tank Info: 65g reef, mix of sps, lps, few softies. Hoping to upgrade within the year.

01/25/2010, 12:47 PM	#3
Jurgs Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2009 Posts: 12	Hi, what i did was leave lights off for a day, and then siphone in off the rocks and the sand while doing the water change - it comes off real easy. I did this for two days,also reduced the photo period and reduced my feeding. Gone like the wind.