"red" bubble algae or more cyano?

Discussion in 'Algae' started by Twan013, Apr 23, 2007.

to remove this notice and enjoy 3reef content with less ads. 3reef membership is free.

  1. Twan013

    Twan013 Skunk Shrimp

    Joined:
    Apr 9, 2007
    Messages:
    287
    ok, get this... i know i've got both in my aquarium... but this seems like a mix of the 2... right now its localized on one piece of liverock.... if this make a diff, this piece of rock has the most coralline on it, i think... its like a solid sheet of purple basically... anyway, on this rock, i've noticed an outburst of something resembling red bubbles... i knocked a little piece off of it (i did it to see the reaction, whether it would bust into a cloud of red smoke, or just pop and dissappear)... but it just kind of separated from the rock, and started floating around, still in one piece... oh, and each bubble is on its separate stem or whatever.. its weird because i did a water change yesterday, and haven't noticed anything like this until just a few minutes ago... i have high nitrates (i'm not sure if its 40 or 80 ppm..), so i'm working on trying to get that down... but ammonia and nitrites, 0, pH 8.2, S.G. is 1.022.... i think my lawnmower blenny has something to do with my outbreak of cyano... i feed about 3 or 4 flakes of aquarian food to my 3 small mollies, and blue damsel... that's all i feed, once a day... but i noticed that my blenny likes to leave behind very healthy looking "algae logs", if ya know what i mean... when he goes, he means business! so what do i do? besides constant water changes? will hermits/snails eat "recycled" algae? and will that cut down on the nitrates? i realize i'd still need to do water changes, but would getting the snails/crabs be a good idea, or should i just stick with water changes?
     
  2. Click Here!

  3. amcarrig

    amcarrig Super Moderator

    Joined:
    Aug 4, 2004
    Messages:
    9,219
    Location:
    CT
    How old is this tank if you don't mind my asking?
     
  4. Twan013

    Twan013 Skunk Shrimp

    Joined:
    Apr 9, 2007
    Messages:
    287
    started it up in january
     
  5. inwall75

    inwall75 Giant Squid

    Joined:
    Sep 10, 2003
    Messages:
    7,172
    Location:
    America
  6. Twan013

    Twan013 Skunk Shrimp

    Joined:
    Apr 9, 2007
    Messages:
    287
    (sigh) yes... so now, i've got that, valonia macrophysa, and boergesenia forbesii... that would be the "red valonia", "mini hotdogs", and clump of green bubbles... i'm going back to being frustrated... the good news is, that today, i was looking at the red stuff, and it seems like they've either decresed in size and numbers, or i didn't have as many as i thought to begin with... i still want to cuss tho