Can't get rid of this algae, need suggestions...

[Vitaly S]

Hi,

I've been battling with algae now for 4-5 months. I had a bit of GHA and I think cyano. I did use Vibrant and Flux Rx to get rid of it. GHA is gone... However, what I presume is cyano remained.

I've used chemiclean, did two dozes in course of a week. After using chemiclean I could not get skimmer under control and did multiple water changes I think in combined water changes I've replaced about 50-60% of my water (tank is 55 Gal). I actually ended up disassembling and cleaning skimmer and washing some foam guards to get rid of over bubbling. At that time I also used toothbrush to clean rocks and sifted sand. Tank looked much cleaner.

Two weeks have passed and tank looks like I did not clean it at all, sand and rocks completely covered by algae. I am still using vibrant, but not sure if it doing anything. Skimmer now barely producing any foam, and I have it at max foam setting.

Any suggestions of getting rid of this algae which I assume is cynobacteria or is it something else?

Below are pictures of my tank and screenshots of Nitrate and Phosphate charts. Today's results are Nitrate 0.5 and Phosphate 0.04.

Last image has clean a bit of clean sand because clownfish hosting in the corner of tank and keep moving sand.

 

[Charley]

Hi,

I've been battling with algae now for 4-5 months. I had a bit of GHA and I think cyano. I did use Vibrant and Flux Rx to get rid of it. GHA is gone... However, what I presume is cyano remained.

I've used chemiclean, did two dozes in course of a week. After using chemiclean I could not get skimmer under control and did multiple water changes I think in combined water changes I've replaced about 50-60% of my water (tank is 55 Gal). I actually ended up disassembling and cleaning skimmer and washing some foam guards to get rid of over bubbling. At that time I also used toothbrush to clean rocks and sifted sand. Tank looked much cleaner.

Two weeks have passed and tank looks like I did not clean it at all, sand and rocks completely covered by algae. I am still using vibrant, but not sure if it doing anything. Skimmer now barely producing any foam, and I have it at max foam setting.

Any suggestions of getting rid of this algae which I assume is cynobacteria or is it something else?

Below are pictures of my tank and screenshots of Nitrate and Phosphate charts. Today's results are Nitrate 0.5 and Phosphate 0.04.

Last image has clean a bit of clean sand because clownfish hosting in the corner of tank and keep moving sand.

Reefdudes has some good youtube videos with a fellow by the name of Chris I think that has a great protocol to follow to get rid of gha

 

[C_mo97]

Also, BRS has good five-minute videos on cyano and dinos. If they break up at night they are probably cyano if they do not it is probably dinos. UV sterilizers are good when it comes to cyano, idk how well they work against dinos though. The first thing I would do is figure out exactly what it is and then fight it using proven methods against that type of algae.

 

[Nicholas Dushynsky]

I'd say dinos that's what my tank looked like after I had cyano. You bottomed out your nitrates, I bet you did the same with phosphates, what is your phosphate level?
What I have done to limit this issue is turn all flow off blast the rocks off and the sand with a Turkey baster. Syphon the floating bits and detritus out through a filter sock back into your sump or to a bucket if you don't have a sump, then pour the water back in to the tank if you used a bucket. Top up with fresh salt water if you have lost some during this. Don't do a water change.
You need to dirty the tank up. I'm dosing phosphates every day. My sand and rocks looked like that, they are clear now and I just have a little on the rear filter box but 90% better than it was.
I'm sure there are other methods but this is what is working so far for me. I'm sure that others will help. Good luck, keep us up to date.

 

[Nicholas Dushynsky]

This is what mine looked like

Now it's like this, it's still not perfect, the euphillias aren't as good as they used to be bit doing ok

 

[Vitaly S]

Thank you for quick replies.

Also, BRS has good five-minute videos on cyano and dinos. If they break up at night they are probably cyano if they do not it is probably dinos. UV sterilizers are good when it comes to cyano, idk how well they work against dinos though. The first thing I would do is figure out exactly what it is and then fight it using proven methods against that type of algae.

It seems that it does recede a bit off sand at night, however stays on rocks. I was considering UV, but after measuring detentions I do not think it will fit under my tank, so I do not think UV is option for me

I'd say dinos that's what my tank looked like after I had cyano. You bottomed out your nitrates, I bet you did the same with phosphates, what is your phosphate level?
What I have done to limit this issue is turn all flow off blast the rocks off and the sand with a Turkey baster. Syphon the floating bits and detritus out through a filter sock back into your sump or to a bucket if you don't have a sump, then pour the water back in to the tank if you used a bucket. Top up with fresh salt water if you have lost some during this. Don't do a water change.
You need to dirty the tank up. I'm dosing phosphates every day. My sand and rocks looked like that, they are clear now and I just have a little on the rear filter box but 90% better than it was.
I'm sure there are other methods but this is what is working so far for me. I'm sure that others will help. Good luck, keep us up to date.

Yes, I did bottomed out my nitrates and phosphates with all the water changes. I am slowly increasing it. Current Nitrate is at 0.5 and Phosphate is at 0.04, two weeks ago both of them were at 0 reading.

Would getting macroalgae be beneficial in my case? Do you guys think I should keep dozing vibrant?
Next weekend I will try cleaning with toothbrush and siphoning sand through filter sock.

 

[C_mo97]

Thank you for quick replies.



It seems that it does recede a bit off sand at night, however stays on rocks. I was considering UV, but after measuring detentions I do not think it will fit under my tank, so I do not think UV is option for me



Yes, I did bottomed out my nitrates and phosphates with all the water changes. I am slowly increasing it. Current Nitrate is at 0.5 and Phosphate is at 0.04, two weeks ago both of them were at 0 reading.

Would getting macroalgae be beneficial in my case? Do you guys think I should keep dozing vibrant?
Next weekend I will try cleaning with toothbrush and siphoning sand through filter sock.

You can put a temporary uv sterilizer on the side of your tank with a cheap pump to circulate the water. But, I think you might be dealing with Dinos so that probably won’t be very effective.

 

[Hallowhead]

Dose sodium nitrate or potassium nitrate to level off your nitrates !

 

[The cats wrasse]

how long has your tank been running?

 

[aquaman30k]

It looks a bit more like Dino’s to me. I’ve nuked Dino’s several times by using Metroplex. I believe it was 1 scoop per 10 gallons. Turn off your skimmer, dose, wait 2 days and retreat. By the end of the week the Dino’s will be gone and you can do a 10% water change and turn the skimmer back on.

 

[Vitaly S]

how long has your tank been running?

It has been just under a year.

It looks a bit more like Dino’s to me. I’ve nuked Dino’s several times by using Metroplex. I believe it was 1 scoop per 10 gallons. Turn off your skimmer, dose, wait 2 days and retreat. By the end of the week the Dino’s will be gone and you can do a 10% water change and turn the skimmer back on.

I'll take a look at it.

 

[sporeefer]

I'd say dinos that's what my tank looked like after I had cyano. You bottomed out your nitrates, I bet you did the same with phosphates, what is your phosphate level?
What I have done to limit this issue is turn all flow off blast the rocks off and the sand with a Turkey baster. Syphon the floating bits and detritus out through a filter sock back into your sump or to a bucket if you don't have a sump, then pour the water back in to the tank if you used a bucket. Top up with fresh salt water if you have lost some during this. Don't do a water change.
You need to dirty the tank up. I'm dosing phosphates every day. My sand and rocks looked like that, they are clear now and I just have a little on the rear filter box but 90% better than it was.
I'm sure there are other methods but this is what is working so far for me. I'm sure that others will help. Good luck, keep us up to date.

The first sentence of your reply sounds contradictory. You’d say dinos but that’s what your tank looked like after cyano? Which is it?

 

[Greenstarfish03]

Dinos for sure. Chemiclean would hff ave killed the cyno but instead it probably knocked out your good bacteria and allowed the dinos to take over. I would be very careful with these shotgun approaches though. Big sways will just cause other problems or an entire crash.

 

[tehmadreefer]

Vibrant and then 2 doses of chemiclean, you jacked up your bacterias immensely and stripped your tank of nutrients. Your gonna have that algae/Dino’s for a bit, best thing you can do is stop using the bottled crap, raise nutrients and keep them stable.

 

[The cats wrasse]

It has been just under a year.



I'll take a look at it.

whats your feeding schedule and your cleanup crew

 

[Vitaly S]

whats your feeding schedule and your cleanup crew

I have autofeeder dispensing 2x day dry pellets (fairly small portion) and half cube of hikari mysis shrimp in the evening.
I have 2 clowns and 2 azure damsels.
Clean up crew right now is 2 turbo snails, about 4-5 hermits (blue leg) and bunch of nassarius snails.

 

[Nicholas Dushynsky]

The first sentence of your reply sounds contradictory. You’d say dinos but that’s what your tank looked like after cyano? Which is it?

I had cyano which is the big red matt on the sand and rocks. I was doing frequent water changes and bottomed out no3 and po4 and I used red slime remover, the red slime went, Then as i said that was what my tank looked like AFTER the cyano was gone, It resembles what the ops tank looks like. I should have said after I delt with the cyano I got dinos that looks the same as yours. Sorry I didn't make it clear it made sense when I wrote it at 1.30 this morning (uk)

 

[Nicholas Dushynsky]

Vibrant and then 2 doses of chemiclean, you jacked up your bacterias immensely and stripped your tank of nutrients. Your gonna have that algae/Dino’s for a bit, best thing you can do is stop using the bottled crap, raise nutrients and keep them stable.

This is my new approach, don't quick fix.

 

[tehmadreefer]

I did exactly what you did, exce

This is my new approach, don't quick fix.

pt on one dose of chemiclean and had the same issues, twice!

the vibrant foes its jobs but then Cyano sets in so the we use the chemiclean to get rid of that , then weend up with Dino’s and a tank that is out of balance opening the door for who knows what.

 

[Nicholas Dushynsky]

I did exactly what you did, exce

pt on one dose of chemiclean and had the same issues, twice!

the vibrant foes its jobs but then Cyano sets in so the we use the chemiclean to get rid of that , then weend up with Dino’s and a tank that is out of balance opening the door for who knows what.

I'm just sticking with manually dosing potassium phosphate and potassium nitrate as a diy mix as per James' planted tank web site.