[tate23am]

Need help getting rid of red algae growing in my 65g FOWLR. Anyone has
any natural solutions to the problem. It seems when I use chemicals it
throws my skimmer off producing too many bubbles and sending it into
the tank but I'll take any suggestions that works.

 

[goldenmacman]

is this red algae, cyano? if it is get chemiclean red slime remover.. its expensive but does the trick in less than 24 hours.. i had the same problem and added the correct dosage and 12 hours later the water was redish and the rock was clear! just had crap that had setteled underneath it.. its a great product

 

[archer772]

What are your tank parameters, flow, lighting and how old are the bulbs, length of lighting and filtration.

 

[MediaHound]

More flow to the areas that are getting it will help.
Turn your lights off for a day or two will help as well.
Do water changes more frequently.
Replace your phosphate removing media.
Cut back on feeding.
Siphon off what you can.
Consider new bulbs.

 

[tate23am]

two emperors 280 power filters, two power heads and a seaclone100 skimmer.
all water test seam fine. no nitrates or nitrite or ammonia. phosphate is at .2 on my intant ocean test kit. sorry didn't verify the unit of measure on my test kit. I believe its mg/liter, but its the lowest reading after zero. I have cut back on feeding and lighting. and seems to have work on the green algae becuase its almost gone with the help of turbo snails. my light bulbs are only two months old. only running 110w so far which not a lot. I plan to add a metal hylide shortly in my preparation for reef.

 

[tate23am]

I tried syphoning but it came back in two days. I did the red slime remover but it threw my skimmer off for a week or so and eventually it came back since i couldn't use the skimmer. I will get a RO unit next week as I here tap water is probably the cause according to LFS. what do you think about a couple of sleeper gobies? would that be a problem when I put the corals in since they throw sand everywhere?

 

[archer772]

If you are getting a reading of phosphates then they are HIGH. I would do 2-3 30% WC's over about 10-14 days and run phosphate remover in one of your HOB filters and carbon in the other also make sure to use ro/di water for your WC's. I wouldnt use red slime remover or maracyn because that wont correct the problem it will just cover it up for a short time.

 

[cultivatedcoral]

Your sleeper gobies will probably throw sand on the corals but you can just swish off the the sand from them.

Besides the RO unit, which is a must for a reef, you should consider upgrading your protein skimmer and some better filtration as well as some higher gph pumps. Not sure what pumps you use now.

Hope that helps.

Nick DeBellis
Cultivated Coral
Cultivated Coral Inc.

 

[briney dave]

First, make sure that we are all talking about cyano and not a true red algae. The above advice is fine for cyano, good water movement and strick control of P are sure cures. I don't like the "be-gone" chemicals because I feel they are masking issues rather than solving them (JMO)

if its a true algae (not blown off or crumble when you touch it) or otherwise coming off very easily. Then that is a totally different issue.

I have not found any reds that are all that bad for a reef tank. nipping critters that will keep it cut short are about all that is needed in addition to keeping good water conditions.

IN short cyano is bad since it wants to over grow many things in the reef and is a symptom of not enough water movement and a bit too many nutrients rolling around loose in the tank.

Red algae ok as long as you like the look and have no troubles controling its growth.

 

[tate23am]

I'm happy to report that after repositioning my powerheads the algae is gone!
apparently I wasnt getting enough flow at the bottom of the tank. yay!

 

[briney dave]

Most likely it was a cyanobacteria then. I would suggest a good water change today and follow it up with another in a week or so to get rid of any decaying bacterial colonies.
plus there would still be a algae/cyano fuel source in the tank that the water changes will get rid of (assuming that you are using R/O water)