What are these bubbles on my rocks?

[aabjones888]

I've never had a problem with them befor but I have bubbles in my rocks every few days? My parameters are all good and my rocks have been covering in purple coraline algae. But here the last month I've been having bubbles on my rocks? I brush them off and they come back in a few days. Any ideas?

 

[ClowinRound]

picture?

 

[ahiggins]

Hmm without pics it could be a ton of things...let's take a poll without pics! lol I think cyano

 

[Fish Werx]

Pictures would be helpful if you can get some... When you brush them off, does it feel kind of slimy? Do they appear after lights on, and seem to go away at night after lights out?

 

[aabjones888]

I'll try and get pics, hard with cell phone

 

[aabjones888]

It's hard to tell because of the pic from my phone, but all the little shinny things are bubbles, and ever since I've took out some sand I have had some cyno in my sand, well red stuff that I believe is. It all blows off, it's just been around for a month or so and it kills me to clean the tank every two days.

 

[ahiggins]

ohhhhhhh Im gooooooood hahahaha
it does look like cyano, especially if it just blows right off. Getcha some chemiclean and follow (really really follow) the directions. IE if you have 20 gal tank with 20# rock, you probably only have 15-17 gal water. youll be right as rain in no time (well 48 hours to be exact lol)

 

[ahiggins]

I believe I read somewhere that cyano can also get out of control if your nitrates are at zero...but that could be wrong.

 

[wkscott]

I believe I read somewhere that cyano can also get out of control if your nitrates are at zero...but that could be wrong.

Not exactly so. Cyanobacteria uses nitrate as a nutrient. It also uses phosphate. In the reef tank a problem arises where macro algae in refugiums consume all the nitrate and then cannot continue to consume the phosphate. The excess phosphate fuels the cyanobacteria bloom. Then we add nitrate to get the macro algae working again, which can eventually eliminate the cyano. It's a balancing act.

 

[aabjones888]

Well my phosphates are at .05, and my nitrates are at 0, so get some chemiclean?

 

[aabjones888]

Is that safe for everything? I've never had this problem and I've been reefing for like 10 years. I've always had super clean tanks so this is puzzling to me.

 

[ahiggins]

Is that safe for everything? I've never had this problem and I've been reefing for like 10 years. I've always had super clean tanks so this is puzzling to me.

Chemiclean is 100% safe as long as you follow the directions to a T

 

[ReeferMaddness843]

Follow instructions exactly! I dosed a little light for my tank as I had a green cyano outbreak and it wiped it clean in 72 hours. I do have 0 po4 and 0NO3 as well with salifert kits. So I can definitely see low nutrients being a cause.
Before and after:

 

[lazlodawg]

I can vouch for Chemiclean. I just used it a month ago. I had green cyano that I just couldn't get rid of. I busted my butt for months and nothing worked. Massive water changes, blowing it off and siphoning it out every other day, multiple 3 days lights out, fresh carbon and GFO every week... it just kept coming back.
I finally gave up and decided to go for the nuclear option. Two scoops of chemiclean in my 30 gallon and viola... no more cyano. I followed directions very carefully and had no issues. Make sure to dose properly for your actual water volume (be sure to subtract rock and sand volume for example) and keep the water well aerated. I kept my skimmer running without the collection cup and also added an airstone just to be sure. The wooden ones work well as they tend to produce smaller bubbles.
My corals opened more than they had in months and my snails, crabs, and fish are all much more active. Glad I finally pulled the trigger.

 

[ReeferMaddness843]

But for a true test of cyano or spirulina, take a sample of the mat that keeps growing back, place in a container with 2 cups of tank water and 5ml of hydrogen peroxide. If the water turns pink over the course of a few hours, bam, cyano. If not, spirulina or another type of bacteria. There is a peroxide regiment that is discussed by Twilliard that I'll look for a link on, helped me with a few small red patches when I first started and have heard great things about other people's results.

 

[aabjones888]

A ok will try, I'll order from brs tonight and hopefully I'll get it by the weekend and start it. Do u alll think that taking out a lot of sand started this than?

 

[wkscott]

If you removed old sand you could have released the buried nutrients in the sand. This increase in nutrients could be the reason.

 

[wkscott]

Follow instructions exactly! I dosed a little light for my tank as I had a green cyano outbreak and it wiped it clean in 72 hours. I do have 0 po4 and 0NO3 as well with salifert kits. So I can definitely see low nutrients being a cause.
Before and after:

Low nutrients are NOT the cause of cyanobacteria. EXCESS nutrients, along with other factors, fuel cyanobacteria.
http://www.saltwatersmarts.com/controlling-cyanobacteria-blue-green-algae-rid-aquarium-1596/

 

[aabjones888]

Well it worked, everything looks sparkly clean again.
I'll get pics of it here soon.
Question though, for people that's used it, does it come back? My parameters are all good. I feed a pinch of flakes/pellets every other day. So hopefully it didn't come back.

 

[lazlodawg]

Awesome! It can come back after treatment, even if no new corals or fish are added that might bring it with them. Some people will do a second dose a week or so later, but most of the time it is not needed. I would consider feeding a high quality frozen food instead of flakes/pellets. I think it was BRStv that looked into how much excess nutrients pellets and flakes add to a system compared to something like mysis shrimp. It was pretty interesting and worth watching.

Let's see some before and after pics!