Green film algae Vs Green Cyano

reefaboo · Dec 22, 2015

hi Randy.. a few questions about how to correctly identify Green cyano and Green film algae ..

some of the pointers to begin with..

1. what i have in my system is a green slimy algae on my sand bed.
2. comes back with in a week how much ever i clean it and is only in the areas where there is direct light.
3. dont see any air bubbles trapped at all ..
4. same extends on to the glass and when i use a glass cleaner it comes off like slimy sheet of nori thts left in the water for a while.

now i have no clue, if its green film algae or green cyano ..

i am planning on using Chemiclean .. do you recommend it ? are there any known side effects of chemiclean ?

all this started when i left on vacation for 45 days with a 45 gallon ato and auto feeder, turned off the skimmer.. by the time i came back everything is doing well except there is looots of this above said algae ..i removed all and performed numerous water changes ( this is about 3 months ago ) but the problem still persists ..

oh and i should add, all corals including sps and other sensitive ones ( chalices are a bit pale) are super healthy and colorful.

thanks in advance

Justiful · Dec 22, 2015

I know this doesn't answer your question. But I had film algae, I recently added 10 hermit crabs, and a half dozen narsis snails. My sand bed stays cleaner, and the film is virtually all gone. I think it is less that they eat it all, and more that they keep it from forming by being active on the sand bed. Not very scientific, but my sand bed is mostly white now instead of mostly slimy. I plan to get a scooter blenny also soon, to agitate the sand even more, and cleanup after my messy eaters.

I had been holding my Clean up Crew light since I started this tank 5 months ago. I have a total of 12 snails now (6 margarita, 6 narisus), 10 hermit crabs (2 scarlet, 4 blue leg, 4 cortez), 1 emerald crab. Plus 1 evil assassin snail that killed 6 bumblee bee snails but looks so awesome I can't part with him. Secretly though I hope one of the scarlet crabs finds him and steals his shell...

Randy Holmes-Farley · Dec 22, 2015

I don't claim to be an expert on identifying such things, but I think if it comes off as a sheet, it is more likely cyanobacteria.

Chemiclean and other types of antibiotics can be useful if it is cyanobacteria.

The sand may be harboring nutrients, perhaps from decaying detritus. Cleaning it might help, as might just reducing phosphate overall.