algae blues

[bubba chuk]

Have been battling an problem algae for the past 6 weeks. It is marroon in color and rises out of the crushed coral substrate as fine strands. If left unabated it appears as very long waving strands ... appeared much like the picture of cyanobacteria in text (D & S )... though i must admit it never demonstrated the carpet like slime appearance on rock and substrate that i thought was characteristic of cyano. So far have eliminated additives, reduced feeding to once every other day, increased water flow by adding powerheads, and performed regular siphoning of the stuff ... yet it returns. Recently replaced skimmer with remora C pro. Only use RO/DI water and parameters including the phosphate and silicate levels are very good. I have MH/VHO actinic lighting that i have reduced to 10 hours/day. Tank is 90 gallon reef with about 15 different corals, 5 fish, 20 turbo snails, 2 emerald crabs and 2 brittle stars. Can anyone confirm that this is indeed cyano ? vs some other hair algae ? any other recomms for treatment or is patience the only name of this paricularly annoying game. Thanks

 

[tanzy]

I once had red slime on the sand. Watch that pH. Could be low. I brought my pH gradually over a week to about 8.6 and they all went away. I used Seachem Marine buffer. In the mean time, scoop and siphon as match out as possible. good luck!

 

[jmeader]

I don't think you have cyano. It sounds more like dinoflagellates. They are a protozoan and can be much worse than cyano. Many of them produce a poison that can affect the inhabitants of your tank. Do a search on dinoflagellates. There have been a few threads on it.