growing algae?what could be the prob. help plz

[Sucua50]

hello, guys . my tank is growing some algae, on 2 separate spots , not so much on the glass but rigth on the sand bed. what could be the problem ? i believe i have enougth water circulation and nothing has really changed . i have actually lower the time the ligths are on ? could you help me out with what could be the reason

[jrp1588]

Hard to tell from the pics, but it looks like the beginnings of cyano to me. What do your nitrate and phosphate levels look like

[Sucua50]

nitrates are good, idk about phospates? what do you recommend for treatement/prevention?

[Sucua50]

i just look at the cyano, and it doesnt seem to be like the it, does it start up as green ? i siphon those 2 areas last week but it seem to slowly come back ? the ny reason why i think i have enough water movement is because i have a few corals that dont appear in the picture but they seem to be flowing nicely , this is a picture taken last week.
http://i40.*******.com/xblflv.jpg

[Sucua50]

http://i40.*******.com/xblflv.jpg

[LONGATTO]

i agree it's hard to tell from the pics. but if it is green cyano then go ahead and get your phosphate level checked. recheck those nitrates and make sure they're really good. and treat as needed.

so feed less for now. siphon the sand to get detritus out.

also think about ways to prevent adding more phosphate in. like food cubes can have phosphates, so you want to drain the liquid out of them (some even rinse) before feeding your fish. depending old your live rock is, you may have phosphate sources leaching out from the rock.

to treat phosphates, you could add a gfo reactor. or you could do it passively (get some filter bags, fill, and just place in the sump. or even use chemipure (a carbon, gfo media combo) and purigen. i use these on my nano tank, but a reactor on the larger one.

[Sucua50]

i will go have that check today . thanks

[jrp1588]

Definitely looks like the beginnings of cyano to me. The above suggestions are good

[Sucua50]

thanks for the help guys , i will update u guys tonite after i check the params!

[Sucua50]

i got the water tested last nigth it it showed that it was high on phosphates ,for now i was recommended a water change, i did a 15g change in a 75g tank any other suggestions yiu guys think i should do ?thanks . i also just purchased another coralife circulation pump 750gph to make sure im getting enougth movement tru the water. thanks guys

[jrp1588]

How high was your phsphate?

[Rytek]

I am the cyno expert. LoL. Trust me thats not a good thing.

My cyno (yes that is certainly what you have, it can be red, green, blue) was caused by my doing coral feeding. In my system it just grows cyno when I dose the corals. Your problem may be different but I digress.

Here is the only way I could personally cure it. I am not a big "dump this product in your tank to fix things" kind of guy -BUT- this stuff worked and has worked twice. It's called Chemiclean and if you follow the directions your cyno is gone in 48 hours. Period.

[Sucua50]

i did not get a specific number but from looking at the color i believe it was in the middle.

[Sucua50]

do you think it will ''go away'' i did a water change to get some phosphates down and the tank it also about 3-4 weeks since it was moved? thanks for the help

[jrp1588]

What brand test kit did you use?

[Sucua50]

i brougth it to my lfs, why do you ask

[jrp1588]

Well, there are many degrees of 'high phosphate.' A number would give us a better idea of how bad of a problem we are dealing with.

[Sucua50]

unfortunaly i wasnt given a number ?
thanks for the help? do you have any knowledge on how to start a refigium tank?

[jrp1588]

Do you have a sump already? If so it's pretty simple. Find a free chamber in the tank, choose your algae of choice. Many go with chaeto, but I had problems with keeping it tumbling and having little bits of it clog my pumps.

Another option is caulerpa, which leeches some toxins, so GAC is recommended. There is a change of caulerpa 'going sexual' and crashing all at once causing major problems for the tank. This can be avoided by pruning regularly and running a 24/7 light cycle.

As far as lighting, many just use a low kelvin spiral compact bulb or 2, but you can use PC or t5 or whatever.

[Sucua50]

im starting all new so i would have to buy all the supplies and run the lines and stuff, would yu recommend this method? it seems like it requires a lot of stat up cost

[Paul B]

I don't think there is a problem and I would do nothing. Algae is normal and all healthy reefs grow algae, thats why there are tangs, urchins, and slugs. If a reef is growing absolutely no algae, it is not as healthy as you believe.
If it takes over the tank, that is not a good thing. Not that it is unhealthy, but because it will block the light for the corals, but a little is fine and a good sign. All newer healthy reef tanks grow some algae.

[Sucua50]

thanks paul b. i feel a little better now .. i will keep u guys posted on how it unfolds in a few weeks .

[Paul B]

i feel a little better now

Good, it's a hobby and supposed to make you feel better and not stressed. There have been times when my reef was full of hair algae and sometimes there is hardly any algae at all. Either way, it has never crashed and was always healthier with more algae. People will tell you to change water, add urchins, Phosban, DSBs, shut the lights, change the bulbs, buy sea hares, add algae bleenies, clean your skimmer, buy snails, limit feeding etc.
If the thing grows like crazy that is a different story and always means overfeeding.
But for now, relax and go out to dinner and have a nice glass of merlot. :beer:

[Sucua50]

sure will, thanks .