Jestersix

red slimy stuff?

LeviT

LeviT

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Hey guys, life has been crazy so I just haven't had the time to read up on this so I figured I'd post here and hope I get some confirmation. I've been getting some red slim algae on some of my rocks and sand. Well I figured I'd just clean it up with water changes and get new bulbs (since they were over a year old and I wasn't happy with the colors anyway) until I worried about it. Well I now have new ATI bulbs and my tank is looking better but I still have this red stuff on my sand and rocks. I happen to notice that it goes away after the lights have been out overnight and then appears more and more once the lights are on for a little while. My logical thought now is to lessen my light periods down to as little as possible.

What do you guys think? Am I on the right track? Parms are all fairly normal,

both N's are not detectable as well as phosphates and ammonia. Alk is around 8 and CA is just under 400. lmk, thanks in advance.
 
Is their enough water movement in the areas where the red cyanobacteria is springing up?
If you want, you can try using Chemi-Clean ... I used it with success once before.
 
Sounds like cyanobacteria. How long has your tank been up? Do you run a skimmer? I have read an article on RC where it made mention that cyano is part of the cycling process (I don't remember author). Unfortunately, I can't find anything else that explains it as the cycling process (Ammonia, Nitrites, Nitrates, Algae Bloom... Later Cyano Bloom). If anyone knows what I am talking about, let me know.
 
Here is a snid bit of info I copied from his article and the link to it.

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-01/eb/index.php

"Furthermore, denitrification is a slow process. Yet, all these back and forth swings are happening... every time, they get less and less, but they keep happening. Eventually, they slow and stabilize. What's left? A tank with limited denitrification and a whole lot of other stuff in the water. Who comes to the rescue and thrives? The next fastest growing groups... cyanobacteria, single-celled eukaryotic algae, and other protists. Then, they do their little cycle thing. And then come the turf algae. Turfs will soon get mowed down by all the little amphipods that are suddenly springing up because they have a food source and will reproduce rapidly." By Eric Borneman
 
Cyano can fix atmospheric nitrogen, there's no need for organic nitrogen with those buggers. Sometimes you need to break the cycle, sometimes it's as simple as a large water change.
 
Careful about using Chemi-Clean, erythromycin, or similar for treating cyanobacteria.

If your tank's disolved O2 levels are on the low side, and your skimmer isn't running well, the dying cyano will increase the dissolved organics in your tank. Next you get a bacteria bloom, and your O2 levels will crash, and your tank will crash. This is more critical on a heavily stocked tank. This has happened to several members here.

That said, I've used erythromycin successfully before. But it was only after doing a bunch of other things first to deal with the cyano.

I've posted my procedure on here somewhere. There are a lot of precautions you need to take to do it safely.

Try all the typical methods first... reduced feeding, water changes, siphoning, manual removal, increased circulation.

If you need still help getting rid of the last bit of cyano then you might try chemical methods. I can walk you through it if necessary.
 
Thanks Norm. I don't think I can do anything about flow, i have 4 mj1200's on a Red Sea wavemaster pro so I have 2-4 at a time alternating. I cut my feeding down to 1 time a day from 2 (just feeding 1.5 cubes of mysis) last week. I've been siphoning it off for a while now but I think I'm going try the following

do a 5g water change once a day for the next 3-4 days (have 46g display and about 7g in my sump)
put a filter sock back on and blow off what I can't siphon

Does lowering photo period not help? The stuff can't be seen in the morning until my lights come on.
 
[quote author=Mr. Ugly link=topic=5655.msg71079#msg71079 date=1229935925]
Careful about using Chemi-Clean, erythromycin, or similar for treating cyanobacteria.

If your tank's disolved O2 levels are on the low side, and your skimmer isn't running well, the dying cyano will increase the dissolved organics in your tank. Next you get a bacteria bloom, and your O2 levels will crash, and your tank will crash. This is more critical on a heavily stocked tank. This has happened to several members here.

That said, I've used erythromycin successfully before. But it was only after doing a bunch of other things first to deal with the cyano.

I've posted my procedure on here somewhere. There are a lot of precautions you need to take to do it safely.

Try all the typical methods first... reduced feeding, water changes, siphoning, manual removal, increased circulation.

If you need still help getting rid of the last bit of cyano then you might try chemical methods. I can walk you through it if necessary.
[/quote]

Is erythromycin the same as erythromycin salt?
 
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