Please tell me this is an easy fix

[saltnewb]

I've had cheato and sea lettuce for a while, before this nuisance algae showed up.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Maybe the tank just missed you while you were gone.

 

[moiy24]

I'm not fond of dosing chemicals but I've heard if dosing correctly Chemiclean (red slime remover) can help. First siphon clean the sand, make a WC and add rowaphos. If those 3 things don't help I would use the chem.

 

[Heather w]

Here's a picture

Use a small gentle bush. Clean the rocks and any hard surface. You have sand, gently use your hand to skim it off the sustraight. Reduce your lighting time. Go on Dr. Fosters Web site and order what he recommends. Use it according to directions. A new tank is going to have this outbreak. Also reduce its nutrients. Feed your fish less

So I've been super busy with work and family stuff and haven't been able to put a lot of attention to this wonderful hobby as I used to. I now have this reddish brown algae that seems to be taking over my tank and it's to the point that it's starting to cover my GSP and Zoas so they aren't opening as they once did. Hasn't been like this very long but seems to be spreading quicker every day. What do I need? Vibrant? Snails? Vacuum it all out?

 

[Heather w]

Use a small gentle bush. Clean the rocks and any hard surface. You have sand, gently use your hand to skim it off the sustraight. Reduce your lighting time. Go on Dr. Fosters Web site and order what he recommends. Use it according to directions. A new tank is going to have this outbreak. Also reduce its nutrients. Feed your fish less

Also....increase your flow. Get the crap out of your tank and into your filtration and let it do its job. Reduce your refugium lighting by half at least. Basically you are starving it out

Cyano feeds a number of different ways. Nutrients N/P. Dissolved solids(food n poop), and co2 uptake along with light. A lot of folks get the cyano on the sand and rock because the cyano converting the calcium to co2 basically.
Ph can be tough, Id go with a small amount of kaltwasser in the ato over the supplement you using now. you likely don't have much demand anyway.
Id def look into a spring clean too to get particulates out(canister filter a la PaulB's diatom filter), and a big bottle of bacteria like Mb7, Dr Tims one and only. and yea, get the NandP down to.(but I have had higher numbers and no cyano btw)

New tank stuff, an unestablished biofilter will easily let another agressive organism take over.

yea vibrant may do it for you to. It drops N/P and eats organisms. Dunno. I pers am not fond of the idea of something eating my micro flora and fauna in my nice old live rock.. But its a choice. my .02

I have cheato and sea lettuce in a HOB refugium and running a nano skimmer as well. The light schedule is opposite DT. pH was taken during the day. I will check pH at different times of the day and start with sucking out the yuck.

 

[prsnlty]

Also....increase your flow. Get the crap out of your tank and into your filtration and let it do its job. Reduce your refugium lighting by half at least. Basically you are starving it out

Thank you Heather, this is good advice for the OP and cracker with fairly new systems and excess nutrients

However in my case my 180g is 2.5 years old and nearly went through a total crash due to a 6 hr power outage. It cannot handle starving the tank and my nutrients are quite low (This can also cause some species of cyano to show up as in my case).

This is also not the most commonly seen cyano that is a deep dark red like wine color, it's more of a brick red to primary red. Cyano also can be bright green and nearly black like ink in color. I never experienced the bright green or black cyano until the use of Vibrant (which I discontinued due to it). Chemiclean does an excellent job of removing those species. Note: Red Slime Remover is nowhere near as good as chemiclean in case anyone is curious. I have never had to turn out or lower lighting with chemiclean but the skimmer will overflow if you don't turn it off or remove the cup.

That being said, if your nutrients are low and need to keep your system balanced where it is- use chemiclean. And cut their recommended dose to 3/4 as more isn't necessary IMO.

 

[saltnewb]

I will start cutting away. I'm also planning on getting snails today as well, hoping they'll eat something that's in there

 

[prsnlty]

I will start cutting away. I'm also planning on getting snails today as well, hoping they'll eat something that's in there

About the only snail to eat this would be Mexican turbos and that is hit or miss. It isn't algae, it's bacteria. Cucumbers will sometimes eat it though but they can be slow.

 

[rich42082]

Red Slime Remover = Easy Fix

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

I will start cutting away. I'm also planning on getting snails today as well, hoping they'll eat something that's in there

About the only snail to eat this would be Mexican turbos and that is hit or miss. It isn't algae, it's bacteria. Cucumbers will sometimes eat it though but they can be slow.

You'll want to look at not only the stuff but what its feeding on.
Here is a great list of snails and what they eat.
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/choosing-cleanup-crew-critters.258695/.

 

[saltnewb]

PH this morning is 8.0

What are some causes for the swing in pH?

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Co2 levels.
http://www.reefedition.com/ph-and-the-reef-aquarium/

 

[prsnlty]

Co2 levels and alk instability are the main reasons for pH fluctuation. That's a great article above that saltyfilmfolks posted for you

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Co2 levels and alk instability are the main reasons for pH fluctuation. That's a great article above that saltyfilmfolks posted for you

8 first thing in the morning is pretty stinkin good.. refugiums work.

 

[prsnlty]

8 first thing in the morning is pretty stinkin good.. refugiums work.

Absolutely! My 180 is about 8.09 for the low these days. I have chaeto in a chamber of the sump, sump lighting opposite of dt lights, diy co2 scrubber and an outside airline attached to the skimmer air intake. So when my house is closed the ph is covered [emoji12]

Just keeping it at 8+ for the low and 8.2+ for the high will make a huge difference in your corals

 

[prsnlty]

Thanks Salty. The part (if you don't have a good biofilter the algae if all types will take over 0 is so true. I have learned that lesson time & again just to make the same mistake again.

Yep. +1 ... I'm afraid my power outage killed off most of mine [emoji26]

 

[saltnewb]

Lights have been down/off for a while yesterday and there is a noticeable difference in the growth.

 

[saltnewb]

Okay, not sure what to do now. I setup a 10g quarantine and pulled out all my zoas and gsp, because they all stopped opening up and started to look bad. Well, they still aren't in the best shape, but they're starting to open up again. Not sure what to do with my tank right now. The fish appear healthy, but this tank is a mess it seems.

I don't care about the tank layout and am debating if I should take out the rock and scrub it and while the rock is out suction/scoop out the nast all over the sand bed.

 

[ReeferMadness80G]

Update us on your parameters and what you've tried so far and what you're dealing with currently. Last we heard algae was dissipating.

 

[saltnewb]

Parameters haven't changed. After pulling the frags out I noticed they were covered in hair algae. As of today they are almost all open back to where they should've been the whole time. This hair algae stuff is a pain to get out and I can't reach all of it without pulling rocks out. I'm wondering if the frozen food I was using was contributing to the breakout. I stopped feeding it and switched to a different food, what I was using before, and between that and the lights it's made a difference?