Help algae

[duckdodgers]

I have this red algae

bloom ever since i put a t5 hybrid on with my kessils

 

[Spare time]

That is cyanobacteria. If your new t-5 is on too long and has a color spectrum that the cyano favors it could grow more. The other problems are too little flow (normally it just gets blown away but if it settles it will pile up and that is what you see) and certain levels waste products (nitrate and phosphate (phosphate causes all sorts of problems). My guess is that you have your t-5 on too long but I am not sure because I don't know what bulb you have. Try increasing the flow there and shortening your time with the t5 on.

 

[King Turkey]

cyno out brake will happen if ph4 reaches zero for two long. what is po4 and nitrate in tank? I would do water changes and reduce light period to 8 hours max a day for now. keep up on water changes.

 

[Spare time]

You can also scrub it and manually remove it with a siphon or what not chemi clean is nice to use after you manually remove a decent amount. Chemiclean works great

 

[Bret Brinkmann]

I have heard of dinos blooming when phosphates bottom out but not cyanobacteria. I usually hear about cyanobacteria blooms when tanks have a lot of uneaten food left over that settles in the sand.

I recommend reviewing your feeding techniques to try and reduce wasted food. More current and manual removal will help some what too. Trochus, cerith snails, and fighting conchs are good CUC members that will eat it.

 

[duckdodgers]

Thanks for all the post . I have backed up the lights already to a. 6 hr period on the t5s and my phosphate it almost undetectable. I have also tried boosting my water movement. This is why i am puzzled. I have red slim i could dose but i have yet

 

[King Turkey]

Could be a imbalance on nitrate to phosphate. If I remember correctly you want a balance of 15 nitrate to .05 phosphate ballpark. No lower on phosphate but I believe nitrate as low as 5ppm. If you are reading 0ppm phosphate I believe that is a false reading and somthing is using it up like algae..

 

[Bret Brinkmann]

Could be a imbalance on nitrate to phosphate. If I remember correctly you want a balance of 15 nitrate to .05 phosphate ballpark. No lower on phosphate but I believe nitrate as low as 5ppm. If you are reading 0ppm phosphate I believe that is a false reading and somthing is using it up like algae..

Test kits can only detect inorganic sources. It is possible to have zero inorganic sources but still have organic sources. Once those get low enough also, then comes the dino bloom.