Algae ID

mrcoffee2 · Mar 31, 2014

Hey guys,

I am not sure what I have... From what research I have done it kinda looks like cyano?

Backstory: Basically I had a dino bloom that I was not winning. One of my last resort efforts was to go without a wc for an extended period of time. 3 weeks later most of the brown hair algae / dino's cleared up. Also around week 3 this red / oj algae on the sand started to show up. I did a 40% water change and it seemed to get worse? Any thoughts on what it is and how to remove?

8G tank
6 months cycled.

wuuzzzuuppp · Mar 31, 2014

Is it Redish in color and kinda slimy looking?

mrcoffee2 · Apr 1, 2014

wuuzzzuuppp said:
Is it Redish in color and kinda slimy looking?

Its not like a dark red. It looks like it is the color of equal proportions of ketchup / mustard mixed

Dalmatia · Apr 1, 2014

Brown cyano

Dalmatia · Apr 1, 2014

Pretty soon they will have lots of air bubbles trapped under it. Cyanobacteria is a big producer of nitrogen but toxic if consumed

Alarm777 · Apr 1, 2014

I have a big breakout in my tank at this time. I started treating it today. I was looking at the instructions and had a question.It states before treating it to siphon out what I could. Any suggestions or best way of doing this? Also it states to stop my skimmer and carbon, how to I prevent the spike in nitrates and amonia ?

wuuzzzuuppp · Apr 1, 2014

You might try this stuff before going crazy with some of those algae killers. I've read reviews where they killed all the fish in peoples tanks. Granted that was a review and not a first hand experience so I'm not sure how much to believe. They will even send you a free trial and if you add them on facebook they will set you up with an expert to help you figure things out. Anyway here is their website:

Nualgi Aquarium - Safely Controls Algae and Promotes Coral/Fish Health

Here is a thread to read about it with some of our fellow members:

https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/reef-aquarium-discussion/153204-anyone-use-nualgi.html

mrcoffee2 · Apr 2, 2014

What do you guys think the best form of treatment would be for my 8Gallon tank?

Also do you guys know how I can remove some of the sand bed? I tried siphoning and it did not grab any of the sand.

Dalmatia · Apr 3, 2014

Try some h2o2, should take a week before you see some results. For a 8gallon I would dose about 1ml per day.

Dalmatia · Apr 3, 2014

Even 1ml is prob to much, try 0.7ml

Alarm777 · Apr 3, 2014

Well I treated my tank and sure enough I lost my beautiful blue throat trigger. I have pretty nothing but two clown fish in it. I guess this is the time to rethinking my whole entire set up.I am thinking about just starting from scratch and recycling the tank over

Dalmatia · Apr 3, 2014

What Are your water parameters at? With ammonia

wuuzzzuuppp · Apr 3, 2014

Alarm777 said:
Well I treated my tank and sure enough I lost my beautiful blue throat trigger. I have pretty nothing but two clown fish in it. I guess this is the time to rethinking my whole entire set up.I am thinking about just starting from scratch and recycling the tank over

Oh NO!! I am very sorry! What a very sad day! Try to keep your chin up! Your tank looks very nice to me in the picture. Your corals look to be thriving. You have had success! Dont let some ugly old algae get you down too much. Yeah it's ugly but as long as it isnt killing your corals it's no a supper supper bad thing. Just keep reading on it and find a way to get it under control. What kind of salt are you using? What is your water source? If a water change makes it explode then it might be from one or the other.

wuuzzzuuppp · Apr 3, 2014

Can I ask what you used so I know to never use it please?

CastAway · Apr 3, 2014

Not being unsympathetic, but did you say Blue Throat Trigger, in an eight gallon tank?

kschweer · Apr 3, 2014

JeffBowlin said:
Not being unsympathetic, but did you say Blue Throat Trigger, in an eight gallon tank?

I thought the same thing until I went back through the thread a bit more. 2 different people. The OP has the 8g not sure about the size if the other tank but it wasn't the 8g from the original post.

CastAway · Apr 3, 2014

Ah. Sorry. I see now. :nerd:

wuuzzzuuppp · Apr 4, 2014

Ha! and I missed that too. What does your tank look like Alarm777?

wuuzzzuuppp · Apr 4, 2014

Sorry mrcoffee!

Alarm777 · Apr 4, 2014

Good morning all, I just started my coffee but I agree. more coffee. I currently had moved everything in a 35 gallon tank. I had it in a 125 gallon tank but was way to big for my tiny home. I do use tap water but have but have been trying to save up to get an Ro/DI. The trigger was not that big that's why I had him in a 35. I have been looking at buying a 90 gallon but was kind if waiting to save up to get a nice set up. I do have two purple tip anemones and a couple of mushrooms. that's it I test my water every other day an u an at zero for all. I use instant ocean sea salt. I have a protein skimmer that is rated up to 250 gallons.