Brown algea was an early stage of a cyanobacteria outbreak

[gwilcom]

In a recent post I thought I had brown algea when in fact it was just the first stages of a cyano bacteria outbreak. The stuff started to turn maroon red and spread across the entire bottom of my tank developing large bubbles of gas on top.

Further research today on this site outlines many different ways of approaching the problem but my specific issue trying to identify the cause of the nutrient that is feeding the stuff.

Is there a specific regiment for cleaning the detritus off the bottom sand layer that I should be following or should I be looking to my sandbed itself to "cure" the problem with re-generation of the sand or adding bristleworms?

 

[Anonymous]

Cleaning the sandbed really won't help much, as the excess nutrients are pretty much everywhere. Adding more critters simply means adding more critter waste to the equation. The excess nutrients can be taken out of the water via a chemical media like Phosban or through large water changes. Even so, oftentimes the easiest thing to do is to stop adding excess gack to the tank (changing how we do things) and let the cyano burn itself out. Crank up the flow in the tank and run the lights for a minimum time. Manually removing the stuff by turning off the pumps and siphoning it out of the tank may also help.

Good luck!

 

[Kerchakone]

I killed an outbreak in a few days just by doing a quick 10% water change and keeping the lights off and barely feeding.

 

[jandree22]

In a recent post I thought I had brown algea when in fact it was just the first stages of a cyano bacteria outbreak.

That's not how it works. That’s like saying influenza is the beginning stage of chickenpox. Both are equally not fun to deal with, but ultimately, two completely different beasts. Brown algae that appears to grow very thin and that is generally very easy to blow off or wipe off glass, those are diatoms. The new purplish/reddish sheets you have w/bubbles are cyano(bacteria). Neither are out of the ordinary for a new tank. You’ve said in your separate post that you’re using pure RO water for changes/evap makeup, so that should be covered. Make sure your lighting is up to speed (meant for aquarium use, and not older than 6 months for T12 fluorescent, 12 months for anything else). Cut back on your photoperiod and siphon out until it passes, which it will by itself so long as there’s no way nasties from tap water are getting in your system.