Can someone tell me what this is?

[Emily Saathoff]

I have a 32g biocube and do 20% bi weekly water changes. I clean the sand bed with eat water change and this keeps coming back. I even added another power head thinking maybe I needed more circulation. The tank is just about a year old. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

 

[cgdcinc]

Looks like some cyano bacteria. Check your phosphates. Watch your nutrients going in. Get some Chemiclean and follow the directions. Cyano can be fun to get rid of. You may need a couple runs of the Chemiclean to get it out. Siphon as much as you can when you water change.

 

[Emily Saathoff]

That would make since. I did turn the lights out and covered my tank for 48 hours and it all died off. As soon as the lights came back so did the yuck. I thought cyano was typically reddish in color though.

 

[nereefpat]

Yep. Cyanobacteria. It comes in many colors.

 

[cgdcinc]

Don’t sweat it. I have had it in one of my tanks and Chemiclean helped my OCD by getting rid of it for weeks at a time and it would show up again and I would treat it. But in the times when it is gone, treat the root causes of it by keeping parameters in check and eventually it doesn’t come back.