please help me id this algae

[frankiep]

please help me id & stop this stuff.
thanks so much for the help

 

[Murfman]

Really hard to see in that picture, is there any way to take a larger picture? Here is a great resource; Browse Library Sections

 

[skinz78]

Looks like Cyanobacteria to me. How much flow do you have in your tank and how new is your tank?

 

[frankiep]

about 7 months. 75gal with 2 1050 hydor, mag 9.5 in the sump

 

[jabberkaycee]

Looks like cyano to me also. Is this limited to one area? Check your phosphates and nitrates and do frequent water changes. Make sure to use RO/DI water if possible and be sure to run a good skimmer. Lower your feeding until the problem goes away. It won't go away over night but if it stops spreading then you know you're on the right track. Sipon out as much as possible and run some carbon. I have battled this in the past and this combination worked for me, slowly but surely. Good luck!

 

[skinz78]

Yep it is Cyano, add some more flow to the area's of the tank where it is growing and that should help. What kind of skimmer do you have? How often do you do water changes and what percent? Do you use RO/DI?

 

[frankiep]

thanks for the help. i have a tuze 9011, yes i do have have ro/di water water change every 2 weeks i use tropic marin pro salt

 

[skinz78]

I am unfamiliar with the skimmer but I bet if you just increase the flow in the area you may even see a big difference over night. In the mean time siphon out that stuff and use it as a nutrient export method.

 

[Murfman]

thanks for the second and 3rd pic. it is Cyano bacteria. Not a bad thing to have, if it is in your sump, real ugly in the display. Like every one has said, increase flow. It may move to a different location in the tank too so you will have to keep adjusting. It is all part of a new tank running its course.

 

[btkrausen]

I just started geting Cyano in my tank from vodka dosing. It only showed up where there is little to no flow, so like others said, move your pumps around to get flow in that area

 

[frankiep]

ok thank you so much for the help.

 

[Br0ken68]

One thing I do that might help you. Whenever I get ready to do a water change, is I agitate my rockwork by gently waving my hands close to the rocks. This helps stir up any excess waste that may have settled on the rock, which will help lower phosphates and nitrates. I had a small outbreak of cyano and started doing this and it cured up in a week or so. But like others have said make sure you move your rocks and/or powerheads to eliminate any dead spots in your tank.

 

[bulkhead]

+1 Br0ken68

You can also suck it off your rocks when you are doing a water change. It pulls away easily under the vacuum of the siphon house.

 

[Murfman]

Another thing to help clean detritus off the rocks is take a small power head and, driving it around with your hand, use its flow to suspend the dust in to the water column.

 

[gweston]

Cyano:

I had some of this stuff, the following got rid of it.

-Siphoned it whenever it appeared.
-Controlled fish feedings more (reduced nutrients). I was overfeeding.
-Started using a reactor with Carbon and GFO (filter socks weren't working too well)
-Raised PH range from 8.0-8.2 to 8.2-8.4 by dosing Kalkwasser. Side bonus, precipitates phosphates.
-Modified flow in display by adjusting powerheads so there were fewer dead spots. Cyano loves dead spots.

It can take some time, but a few changes, and some time, it can be reduced or eliminated.

 

[re-fin-away]

My buddy just had to do a tank tear down due to cyano last week. He was also dosed vodka. I would agree with uping the flow in the tank to reduce it but you need to find out how you got it, then you wont get it again. here is a good article on cyano for you to read.
Dealing with Cyanobacteria (Red Slime Algae) - Reef Health