What type of algae is this?

Subinay70 · Apr 12, 2017

It looks brown and stringy, it's grows on my back glass, sand, and sometimes stuck to my SPS corals. It's also on my wavemakers and some on my rock.

johntdaballa · Apr 12, 2017

Turn on your whites. And re upload. Looks like cyano

Labridaedicted · Apr 13, 2017

Cyano. But as mentioned above whites need to be on for photos.

wkscott · Apr 13, 2017

Most likely cyanobacteria but could also be another strain called spirulina. Even with your white lights on, no one can tell just by looking at the picture.
The two have different means of eradication, so it's important to know which one you actually have.
Follow this link to find out which one you have.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/positive-identification-of-cyanobacteria.253287/

Labridaedicted · Apr 13, 2017

wkscott said:
Most likely cyanobacteria but could also be another strain called spirulina. Even with your white lights on, no one can tell just by looking at the picture.
The two have different means of eradication, so it's important to know which one you actually have.
Follow this link to find out which one you have.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/positive-identification-of-cyanobacteria.253287/

Spirulina is a genus of cyanobacteria. Nutrient reduction is how you get rid of all cyanos.

wkscott · Apr 13, 2017

Labridaedicted said:
Spirulina is a genus of cyanobacteria. Nutrient reduction is how you get rid of all cyanos.

Nutrient control does not necessarily work on cyanobacteria because it can survive on practically nothing. If you try to starve the cyano, your corals will suffer significantly. Intervention may be necessary or just leave it alone, especially in newer tanks, and it may go away on its own.

Labridaedicted · Apr 13, 2017

wkscott said:
Nutrient control does not necessarily work on cyanobacteria because it can survive on practically nothing. If you try to starve the cyano, your corals will suffer significantly. Intervention may be necessary or just leave it alone, especially in newer tanks, and it may go away on its own.

True, I generally run very low nutrient levels, so I only see it occasionally in cycles while the stabilizes. It often does go away on its own, anyways.

Subinay70 · Apr 13, 2017

johntdaballa said:
Turn on your whites. And re upload. Looks like cyano

So what's a good way to get rid of cyano? I thought it was diatoms at first

johntdaballa · Apr 13, 2017

If it's cyano, then try to vacuum as much of it up during water change and use chemiclean! That worked great for me [emoji106]. If you have a skimmer make sure you dial it down or turn it off . It will foam like crazy .

wkscott · Apr 13, 2017

Chemiclean does work, however it will use up some of the oxygen in the tank. Follow the instructions and do NOT turn off your protein skimmer. Your need it to help oxygenate the water. Just remove the collection cup and turn it down somewhat.

Subinay70 · Apr 14, 2017

wkscott said:
Chemiclean does work, however it will use up some of the oxygen in the tank. Follow the instructions and do NOT turn off your protein skimmer. Your need it to help oxygenate the water. Just remove the collection cup and turn it down somewhat.

Okay my tank is mostly SPS and LPS so I can put one of the wavemakers facing the surface if needed.

Subinay70 · Apr 14, 2017

johntdaballa said:
If it's cyano, then try to vacuum as much of it up during water change and use chemiclean! That worked great for me [emoji106]. If you have a skimmer make sure you dial it down or turn it off . It will foam like crazy .

How well has chemiclean worded for you?

reeftank220master · Apr 14, 2017

johntdaballa said:
Turn on your whites. And re upload. Looks like cyano

Just add the chemi-clean..it works

johntdaballa · Apr 14, 2017

Subinay70 said:
How well has chemiclean worded for you?

It worked really well for me. I also adjusted my lights lower less white/red/green . I siphoned most of it out before I knew about chemiclean . After following the dosage instructions and water change my tank is clean.

Beware of foam overflow lol I didn't believe a fellow reefer and it foamed up all over the place real quick lol [emoji23]

Subinay70 · Apr 15, 2017

johntdaballa said:
It worked really well for me. I also adjusted my lights lower less white/red/green . I siphoned most of it out before I knew about chemiclean . After following the dosage instructions and water change my tank is clean.

Beware of foam overflow lol I didn't believe a fellow reefer and it foamed up all over the place real quick lol [emoji23]

Here's more pictures with the whites so any idea what it could be?

johntdaballa · Apr 15, 2017

Check this out http://reefinabox.com/cyanobacteria-spirulina-algae/ do a few tests to determine what it really is first .

Try siphoning as much up

Subinay70 · Apr 15, 2017

johntdaballa said:
Check this out http://reefinabox.com/cyanobacteria-spirulina-algae/ do a few tests to determine what it really is first .

Try siphoning as much up

So I got it suspended while doing a water change. Any idea?