A red algae problem during the day

Hi guys, I read up on some other people red algae problems, sounds like its common to have a red algae outbreak that happens during the day then goes dorment at night.

People said its a Cyano outbreak.

I am new to tanks and all the lingo and stuff so if you could answer my question like you were talking to a idiot and explain exactely what to buy and how to fix it, it would help me out the most ;D

Ok I got a 30 gallon saltwater tank thats 4 months old.
I have the Live rocks that petco sells, they are a "brick red" color.
I got the Ocean floor white sand.
I have 4 hermit crabs, 3 snails, a clown fish, a blennie, striped wrasse. and I just recently bought a cool anemone (white with purple tips) and a purple coral that has green grass stuff that comes out in the day.

ok and equipment is I got the 30 gallon filter that hangs on top of tank.
I bought a bio cube protein skimmer.
I just bought a Maxi-jet 600 for water circulation.
and I have a real nice light on top made for Reefs. sits up about 2 inches off tank. and has a Moon light for night time.

So I just went to Petco and had them test my water, and they said it was perfect.

I have been trying to treat my tank with Chemiclean, and its not working. I treat it over and over just like instructions tell me to do and still no help. I just did a 50% water change and I used the water conditioner on all the water hoping that would help. ( I hear in saltwater you dont normally have to condition the water) but I did it anyway to give it the best water.

Anyway the outbreak continues and is Real ugly.

If someone could give me a little step by step, I will do what ever you say and keep posting my current news on hear daily til the problem is cured.

Any help is appriciated, thanks everyone.

 

Buy a test kit. One that includes nitrate, ammonia, nitrite. You also need a test for phosphate, but they mostly come as a solo test. You can't rely on PetCo to give accurate results, since they don't tell you your actual numbers, let alone that they use a dip strip, which is extremely inaccurate. When you do, post those results.

You need more circulation along the sand in order to stop this stuff from growing there. I would siphon out the algae, then run my finger through the sand to get all the gunk into the water column, and siphon that out. Detritus builds up on and in sand, and can make cyano bloom very quickly.

You probably want to buy more snails and/or hermit crabs. The only hermits that are ref safe are dwarf crabs; blue legs, and red legs. You need a large number of snails compared to what you have now. I would go to reefcleaners.com, click "custom clean up crews", and let John help you get what you need for your tank. It'll seem like a lot, but he knows what he's doing.

You may need to buy another powerhead to get some better flow along the bottom of the tank. That could help your situation with cyano, as cyano only grows where there's low flow. Without fixing that underlying problem of nitrates and phosphates, you're going to fix cyano and get another kind of algae growing in its place, though.

That anemone was a bad idea. They have a very low survival rate, and can pretty much kill off your entire tank when it dies. What kind of light do you have? It may not be appropriate for corals/anemones at all.

 

(here's my copy/paste cyano post that hopefully will help)

I fought red slime for about 2 months. I had bought Chemi Clean initially to dose but hesitated. I then started taking the advice of other reefers and began figuring out what the source of the nutrients that was fueling the cyano was. I was able to successfully get rid of all red slime and now that my nutrients are in check I don't believe it will ever return.

Dosing chemicals is like a "band aid". You will get much better piece of mind when you find out what is the cause of the cyano and along the way you will gain better tank husbandry IMO.

Here are a few things I did to rid myself of the red slime:

- use RO/DI water only, that tests at 0 TDS
- cut back on your feeding, I went from once a day to every other day
- rinse any frozen foods prior to feeding (in RO water if you can)
- ramp up circulation in any dead areas of the tank
- pick out any clumps of red slime you can, use baster/siphon/tongs
- double your water changes to keep Nitrate down
- clean out all powerheads/skimmer/filters etc.
- make sure your bulbs are still good
- make sure your tank isn't overstocked
- run a phosphate remover (I use a reactor with Chemi Pure Elite)

It seems like a lot of work, but it's much better getting rid of it naturally then wondering when it may come back if you dose with chemicals.

best of luck!

 

For those of you joining us that are new to the hobby - the best piece of advice

you'll get around here as a saltwater newbie is 3Reef's slogan
"Go slow, let it grow."
And for those experianced hobbyists joining us - it's still good advice
good luck and post pics soon


Your tank is still young and the red cyano outbreak is a normal occurrence at this point in it's maturation cycle.
Several things to help you beat it:
manually remove as much of it as possible, I try to do this just before lights out.
increase the water flow in that area of the tank, it will grow in the lowest flow areas it can(potential dead spots in the flow)
feed less food to the tank, feeding every other day should not hurt the inhabitants.
add a fuge if possible, it should have a few mangroves and a ball of chateo which will hopefully out-compete the cyano for the remaining nutrients.
last, leaving the lights out for 4 or 5 days will help clear it up, but do all the previous steps first, it wont hurt any corals you have already.

I do have 1 concern with your setup, you mentioned a new anemone in your tank, most nem's really need a tank that has been running and stable for 6 month to a year before surviving for any great length of time in a tank. You may want to consider putting it in a more established tank till yours matures a bit more or taking it back to the store for credit and then replacing it when your tank is ready.

for a good grasp of the basics, read these and then come back and ask about anything you still don't understand.

we'll get you squared away and on the right path


http://www.3reef.com/forums/new-hobby/how-setup-saltwater-aquarium-89044.html

http://www.3reef.com/forums/new-hobby/ultimate-newbie-guide-86462.html

http://www.3reef.com/forums/reef-aquarium-articles-how-tos/all-about-sumps-filters-fuges-79852.html

http://www.3reef.com/forums/protein-skimmers/all-about-skimmers-skimmers-skimmer-85389.html

Tropical Fish Forum|GoldFish|Aquarium Fish|Tanks - 3reef.com

 

Great Advise!!!

 

i had same problem just moved powerheads around to get better flow and it went away

 

A lot of good things mentioned already. But, I really think you need a lot more flow. I have over 1300gph in my 38 and it's not even remotely close to overkill. For your tank, I'd recommend having at least 1000gph flow. If the only power-head you have is that maxi-jet 600, then I'd recommend 2 Koralia Evolution Nanos (425gph each). Put one on each end of the tank (about a 1/3 of the way down from the top) pointed directly at each other. This will give you a nice chaotic flow, helping to keep the cyno from growing.