Greenish algae ons sand surface

[Skippie]

Hi
I notice greenish algae developing on the sand surface on my DSB as well as in my display tank.
I tested and results as follows
Ph 8.0
salinity *1,020
No2 0,0
Nh4 <0.25
Temp 25-26

Purple algae is growing nicely on th LR

Any comments please??

[crispin]

well its a little difficult to tell with just that info and no pic, but it sounds most likley to be cyano bacteria rather than algae to me.

ypou dont mention NO3 levels, do you perhaps know them?

is the Dsb lighted (maybe you have chaeto or the like above it?)

that SG is rather low, try lift it to 1.025 or so over the next few days (just do a water change with slightly raised SG, (1.027 or 1.029) and measure the result over the next day.

Does the algae look like a mat of slime with slight bubbles in it? or is it long thing strands?

[Skippie]

@crispin
I don't have a test kit for NH3 so I have no idea
The DSB is lighted, I had it on 24/7 but read that it should be on reverse cycle of you display tank lights, so I turned it off this morning

How do in increase the SG do I add salt to RO water? And measure that?

It looks more like dirty sand than anything else I will try to post a pict but my camera can't focus when I zoom in

Thanks for reply

[crispin]

Originally Posted by Skippie

@crispin
I don't have a test kit for NH3 so I have no idea
The DSB is lighted, I had it on 24/7 but read that it should be on reverse cycle of you display tank lights, so I turned it off this morning

How do in increase the SG do I add salt to RO water? And measure that?

It looks more like dirty sand than anything else I will try to post a pict but my camera can't focus when I zoom in

Thanks for reply

dont stress too much about the NO3 level we can work around that, but its a very good idea to have NO2 and NO3 test kits as they are very useful measurements.

Do you have anything else above the DSB? is there a reason you have a light in there? And yes, rather have it on a reverse photoperiod IF you have macro algaes in there which you want to grow, else just leave the light off

To increase the SG its best to simply add water which has a slightly higher salt content (ie SG) than you have in the tank, to lower it just the opposite. So what I am saying is take some RO and mix salt with it untill you get an SG of around 1.028. Let it stand over night so all the salt is propperly disolved and then check the SG in the morning again. If its too high just add some RO, if to low add a little salt. Take the same amount of water out the system and add the new water to the sump so that it can get mixed in and pumped up to the display tank. Do this a few times over a week period so that the overall SG in the tank reaches the right level.

What do you use to measure your SG? do you have a refractometer or a swing arm hydrometer?

when you say it looks like dirty sand, could it possibly not be diatoms (google for a pic and compare them) and is it not more brown than green?

How old is the tank?

[Skippie]

pic's


and


There are more in my album under Algae and wierd stuff

[crispin]

ok thats diatoms not pretty stuff but its not a big problem as its mainly associated with a relativley new tank. Just lookn at the other things in the tank for a few weeks and the diatoms will disapear on their own

Although you still need to raise the SG

[Skippie]

Thanks a lot Now I can sleep better and thanks for good advice
I will get more RO water and salt to get the SG up

Thanks again.

[crispin]

Originally Posted by Skippie

Thanks a lot Now I can sleep better and thanks for good advice
I will get more RO water and salt to get the SG up

Thanks again.

if you feel a forum memeber has helped you and given good advice go to the little 'thanks' button under their name and click that. It adds to their reputation and makes them feel appreciated

glad i could help

[Skippie]

Originally Posted by crispin

if you feel a forum memeber has helped you and given good advice go to the little 'thanks' button under their name and click that. It adds to their reputation and makes them feel appreciated

glad i could help

Done thanks