A little algae problem

malira · Oct 19, 2015

What is this green algae? How do I get rid of it? It's only growing on the left side of the tank. At least for now.

Then I've got this red stuff. How do I get rid of it or do I need to?

melypr1985 · Oct 19, 2015

How new are these tanks? We are looking at two tanks right? Are they connected together on the same system? The red looks like cyano and is usually helped by more flow in that area. If the tanks are new then I would just add more flow in that area and wait it out for now. If it continues then I would start investigating other problem areas that would cause this.

malira · Oct 20, 2015

melypr1985 said:
How new are these tanks? We are looking at two tanks right? Are they connected together on the same system? The red looks like cyano and is usually helped by more flow in that area. If the tanks are new then I would just add more flow in that area and wait it out for now. If it continues then I would start investigating other problem areas that would cause this.

The tank is 2 years old. It it is recovering from an ultra low nutrient problem, hat tip to Diesel.
He's been helping. The tank has been recovering for about 3 months. I'm just beginning to stabilize my parameters.

The green is the DT and the red is the sump. I put a little MJ 900 pump in the sump. To help with water flow.

Tomorrow I will take out what I can with a water change in the sump and scooping out what is on the sand in the DT. I increased the flow towards the sand bed in the DT.

melypr1985 · Oct 20, 2015

I'm not great with algae problems and since @Diesel has been helping you and knows what all has been going on here, I'll tag him in and see what he says. Sorry to not be much help.

malira · Oct 20, 2015

melypr1985 said:
I'm not great with algae problems and since @Diesel has been helping you and knows what all has been going on here, I'll tag him in and see what he says. Sorry to not be much help.

Thanks for the concern. Diesel confirmed it was cyno which is a bacteria so you fight it different than algae.

Salty0331 · Oct 20, 2015

Cyano benefits from mainly Lighting, nutrients (excess nitrates and Phos), and flow. Looking closely at these will give you a good head start to finding the root of the problem. Lighting maybe inadequate or bulbs may be out of date, flow may not be enough.

malira · Oct 20, 2015

Salty0331 said:
Cyano benefits from mainly Lighting, nutrients (excess nitrates and Phos), and flow. Looking closely at these will give you a good head start to finding the root of the problem. Lighting maybe inadequate or bulbs may be out of date, flow may not be enough.

In the DT, Nutrients and probably lighting. I have 2 newish T5s and 4 about 9 months old. I'm replacing one ever 2 to 3 weeks. I've also just backed off of a heavy feeding period. The ULNS.

Diesel · Oct 20, 2015

Manual remove as much as possible, Increase flow in troubled areas by adjusting the direction from your wavemakers, back off on the feeding schedule till it will be gone and you might dose some extra bacteria to help with the nutrients a bit.
Check for No3 and Po4.
After all this get a beer and sit back and repeat this tomorrow again.

Salty0331 · Oct 20, 2015

You may want to look into dosing a carbon source, like vodka or vinegar. Use caution however, and research these option very well. If not dosed correctly you could create a real headache. I dose vdk myself and couldn't be happier with the results.

Diesel · Oct 20, 2015

Salty0331 said:
You may want to look into dosing a carbon source, like vodka or vinegar. Use caution however, and research these option very well. If not dosed correctly you could create a real headache. I dose vdk myself and couldn't be happier with the results.

That will work too, but he came from a super low ULNS a few weeks back as he was running Phosgard, bio-pellets and Chaeto in the sump.
As results his corals got starved up to severe stress that some didn't make it.
We backed off all above and relied just on the skimmer and WC, still we didn't see any improvement on N03 and Po4 #.
So we started to feed the fish more and spot feed the corals, that did work and corals started to get color back.
Now we just have to find the fine line between the feedings that Cyano won't have a chance.
This is his sons tank as his son left for college but will be back with the holidays and I promised him to help him out even the process can be stressful but I'm sure we will get there in time.
If not Diesel just have to pull-out the big guns and re-scape and re-load with some great corals from my frag tanks.
This is a great family as they always a helping hand in the Houston Marine/Reef Community, last time I saw them together we were moving out a
740 gallon tank and moving in a 380 gallon in 100F Houston everyday summer weather.
All I can do at least is get their 90 gallon back on track and have it looking great for the Holidays and long time after.

malira · Oct 20, 2015

Diesel said:
That will work too, but he came from a super low ULNS a few weeks back as he was running Phosgard, bio-pellets and Chaeto in the sump.
As results his corals got starved up to severe stress that some didn't make it.
We backed off all above and relied just on the skimmer and WC, still we didn't see any improvement on N03 and Po4 #.
So we started to feed the fish more and spot feed the corals, that did work and corals started to get color back.
Now we just have to find the fine line between the feedings that Cyano won't have a chance.
This is his sons tank as his son left for college but will be back with the holidays and I promised him to help him out even the process can be stressful but I'm sure we will get there in time.
If not Diesel just have to pull-out the big guns and re-scape and re-load with some great corals from my frag tanks.
This is a great family as they always a helping hand in the Houston Marine/Reef Community, last time I saw them together we were moving out a
740 gallon tank and moving in a 380 gallon in 100F Houston everyday summer weather.
All I can do at least is get their 90 gallon back on track and looking great for the Holidays.

That was a great move. I learned so much. Met some great people.

Something I've learned from a wise reef keeper, the simpler the better, gradual steps and keep records.
Since I keep records I know this started 4 to 5 days after I put a little too much dry food in sump to raise my No3. That is what started the snowball effect. I didn't take scion to correct it when it started so now I have this.

I don't want to have to regularly dose anything else. I'm going to focus on less feeding fish and corals, water changes, manual removal, more flow, and if need be bacteria.
Thanks Diesel.
I need to post before and after shots.