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can anyone give me any help with an algae problem i have at the moment?
my tank has been established just over a year now, and for over a month now i have had alot of algae growing on my coral sand substrate. one half of the sand's surface looks as though its coated in an emerald coloured dye, and the over half has a dark red velvet looking algae all over it!
this is making my tank look very dull and dark due to no light reflecting off what was white sand.
Does anyone know what i can do to clear this algae, i am using RO water NOT tap water and i have about 5 hermit crabs and 5 turbo snails.
I have just put some phosphate remover in to see if this helps but any other ideas would be great, thanks.

How big is your tank? I would say you need more hermits. Add perhaps 10 or 15 more, and see if that helps. You shoudl also remove all you can my hand, then the hermits will keep up with the growth.



Dan

I have a 200 litre tank, think thats about 40 gallons. If i try to grab the red velvet looking algae it just breaks up and drifts about in the flow.

What you have sounds a lot like what I had a while back. When it got thick I would slowly roll it across the sand and then scoop it up. some would get away, but I would get most of it. Once the magority is gone, the hermits should keep up with it. with a 40gal tank, you should be able to have 20 to 40 hermits in there. That should keep the tank clean.



Dan

thanks dthurs i think i'll try and clear it then get some more hermits.

What are your water parameters? Ammonia, nitrItes, and nitrAtes? Sounds like it could be diatoms. Has your tank had any reason to go through another cycle?

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There is always a bigger fish...

Here's a thought--nobody hurt me please.

I had a sand substrate in my aquarium that had similar problems--abundant algae growth that my hermits and snails couldn't keep up with, along with just looking ugly, particularly when stuff grew inside it.

So I took it out--no matter how beneficial sand beds are supposed to be, I simply could not take it anymore.

Naturally, it took an entire tank breakdown to handle the substrate change, but I moved the livestock to a 5 gal bucket with a powerhead and a heater for a day, switched my substrate to crushed coral, and I've been very happy ever since--no algae growth, more light in the tank(the same reflecting factor you addressed) and more aesthetically pleasing.

Sure, it's a big move--however, it's very rewarding in the long run.

"Dark red velvet looking algea"
Isn't this Cyanobacteria?.Have you checked your phosphate level.A phos. sponge may be in order.
The hermits will do fine on the green algea but they will not touch the cyano.

Last edited by fishheadfred at 18-Jan-2005 04:41

Out of curiosity, how's your water movement?? Got any powerheads or filters that are moving the water around in the tank??

Yes Cyano was a thought as well, but with him using RO, I was more apt to think it might be diatoms first. Definitely check your phosphate as well.

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There is always a bigger fish...

Cyno is generally a dark brown, I've never seen it in a red color.



Dan

have to agree with dthurs here, i dont believe its cyno as i had already got past that stage at approx 4-6 months of the tanks life. And that was dark greeny brown sort of stringy stuff. water movement is good as i have 2 power heads with no dead water on surface, levels are also good, nitrate at about 15 - 20 ppm but am wondering if this is low due to the algae consuming the nitrates anyway?
so i have taken steps to reduce this further, and also added some phosphate remover as mentioned before.
i'll wait and see if this helps, thanks for your replys

Your going threw the exact thingn I had several months back in my new reef tank. It was a lot of work hand cleaning it up. Adding the hermits really helped. Astria snails also helped. One of the best things you can add is a algea eating sea slug. They can be hard to find, but do a good job. Just don't throw it out like I did. It's a pain, but after a month or two it will start to clear up.



Dan

i dont believe its cyno as i had already got past that stage at approx 4-6 months of the tanks life.

cyano can come back at any stage of your tanks life. Cyano can also come in many colors, red, green, brown, purple, etc.

With your nitrates that high, I would say it is infact Cyano.

What size tank, what is your total tank turnover circulation wise (powerheads gph, filter gph,etc all added together)?

I must concure with DRO here, as your nitrAtes do seem a little high, especially if they have been that high for a while. I try to keep mine as low as possible, but I never let it get over 20.

And yes, cyano can come in all those colors DRO has listed.

Also, you have listed your tank size at about 40 USgals, but what is the live stock in the tank? And what is your feeding regime?

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There is always a bigger fish...

**UPDATE** after running a good quality phosphate reducer for a couple of days now, combined with a 30% water change, this algae seems to be clearing.