Red Algae

[paul bloem]

Hi all, I have a problem with red algae in me tank, I already gave 2 doses of anti red but its back again. I do not have a phosphate test kit yet, I did put in about 100 ml of phosphate in my tank. Any other Idease of how to get rid of this?

thanks

 

[Matt]

Dont dose anything... Rather get a good phosphate remover and water changes. Find the source of the problem rather than dosing. You'll have a MUCH bigger problem down the line if you dont...

 

[Mekaeel]

Paul the red algea you got, is it like a hard velvet type of algea? Or is it cyano which can easily be removed by flow?

 

[lanzo]

What salt are you using?

 

[paul bloem]

I think it is cyano.

 

[lanzo]

o.k

what is your tds of your ro water?
what is you no3 reading?
what is your kh?
what is your flow rate in your tank?
what salt do you use?
what size tank and skimmer are your running on your tank?

 

[Mekaeel]

I think it is cyano.

It would really be helpfull if if you could post a pic so we can confirm. Also how old is your system?

 

[Matt]

paul bloem: as others have said, please post a pic. How old is the tank as some algae's grow naturally as part of the tank maturing, then recede... However some need intervention before they get out of hand.

Try post a pic mate

 

[paul bloem]

Hi guys
The KH is about 2.3, which is not to bad.
NO3 is 20
flow rate is 3200LPH (using one SEIO M820)
I use real ocean salt
The tank is 250L and it is a hang on skimmer that can go up to 350L.

 

[Kanga]

I would not use the Anti Red, even though the actual product should not do any harm it does kill of the cyano. Your system then has to deal with this sudden surge in dead organic matter to filter and so it all starts again.

How old is your system, and what corals etc do you have in it?

 

[Mike]

Hi guys
The KH is about 2.3, which is not to bad.
NO3 is 20
flow rate is 3200LPH (using one SEIO M820)
I use real ocean salt
The tank is 250L and it is a hang on skimmer that can go up to 350L.

Looking at the specs, you need to up the flow, your hourly flow rate needs to be around 25-35times the volume of the tank, this will help with the cyano.

 

[Kanga]

Forgot to mention, a turkey baster once a day does a decent job of dislodging it.

Agree with Weeboy, up the flow

 

[paul bloem]

My system is about a year old.
I only have the leather coral and one other that I got with the tank, but dont know the name.

thanks guys you helped allot so far.

 

[lanzo]

if there is no sps's in the system i'll increase dkh to 12
also
try and decrease no3 and increase flow like the others guys said.

 

[Alan]

I did put in about 100 ml of phosphate in my tank.

This part i dont understand???

The KH is about 2.3, which is not to bad.
NO3 is 20

If you are measuring KH in the DKH scale 2.3 is way too low, and NO3 values are way to high.
You didn't mention if its a red slime algae or a velvet type algae?

 

[jacquesb]

BTW: Paul - a VERY warm welcome to MASA!

Paul:
The basics in removing cyano, are the following:
- run your tank/water with as low nutrients as possible
- ensure that you have MORE than a lot of water flow inside the tank
- ensure that your substrate/live rock/base rock does not have locked in or hidded detritus (use a turkey baster, as Kanga suggested, or a loose power head - blow in/around the live rock - the detritus looks like fine "dust" that get's blown into the water column).

What size skimmer do you have? It might also be that the skimmer is under-rated for your size tank.....
You might have/had a lot of die-off on/in the live rock.... this could possibly have released/leached a lot of nitrates/phosphates into the water, feeding the cyano bacteria.

BTW: just take into account that cyano bacteria is not really a "BAD" thing. It just looks icky......

Good luck in eradicating your "issue"....

 

[paul bloem]

Thanks guys since i`ve put an extra 2000L/H in the tank it starts to look allot better.
The skimmer is rated for 350L and my tank is 250L.
I did not put in phosphate sorry, I meant phosphate remover.
The test kit I have said that the marine aquarium runs bets on a KH of 2.5, and yip NO3 is high for me too!

 

[luke]

red algae problem

hi im new to marine tanks iv been running my tank for a year and a half and iv got alot of red algae all over my tank its a hard red velvet algae,can any one please tell me how to make it go away

 

[Tony]

Prodac Aquasalz. I've used it for my cyano and it's all gone. It's basically just oxygen salts which increases the O2 levels of the water it it works even with corals ind inverts

 

[martinhal]

hi im new to marine tanks iv been running my tank for a year and a half and iv got alot of red algae all over my tank its a hard red velvet algae,can any one please tell me how to make it go away

Luke ,

Read the details above , it should help - even better start a new thread and share you tank details and test results. Oh ... Welcome !