Brown algae Problem

[ocholoco]

I'm have brown and red alge all over my sand, how can I get rid of it?

 

[D1J8Z]

look up cyano threads i think i spelled that right:splitspin

 

[ZANYMASTER]

Take care of that phosphate problem and then get a good clean up crew or a cucumber or I went with a sand sifting goby.

 

[boardryder]

How old is your tank? Have you used anything other than RO/DI water? I bet you have phosphate problem. Do some water changes with some good RO/DI water and good salt mix. Also some phosphate media is a good way to clear things up.

 

[ocholoco]

brown algae

Ithink its a phosphate problem, where can i get ro/di water?

 

[ZANYMASTER]

Invest in a good filter or try to get one at the LFS.Walmart sells RO water but not RO/DI.

 

[boardryder]

http://www.thefilterguys.biz/
I got one from these guys. They are actually reasonable for all that you get and the price you pay. Plus they are really nice and cool. They even refunded some shipping costs back to me. I highly reccommend them. In the mean time or always I would buy some RO/DI water from your lfs. It should be around $1/gal fresh and $2/gal for salt. I got my own RO/DI because I was tired of going back and forth to fill up my buckets and now I can do a lot more water changes.

 

[ocholoco]

Ro/di

Thank you guys, you guys were great help. I'm on my way to buy some water, until i can afford an RO?DI unit.

 

[johnmaloney]

Is all that necessary really? I always use tap water with phosphates, never have algae, not an inch of it. Strong clean up crew, plus macroalgae = natural way to keep the nuisance stuff away.

 

[Wes]

Is all that necessary really? I always use tap water with phosphates, never have algae, not an inch of it. Strong clean up crew, plus macroalgae = natural way to keep the nuisance stuff away.

yes it's necessary. Not only phosphates, but there is alot of other chemicals in the tap water that shouldn't go in a reef tank.

Also, south florida tap water does not = NYC tap water.

what works for one may not work for the other. It's better not to risk it. Maybe the chlorine is killing the nuissance algae lol

Also, you should consider a phosban reactor. RO/DI or not, eventually those phosphates are going to start building up.

 

[mandown123]

cyano could be indicative of not enough flow in some areas of the tank as well.

 

[Deanos]

Really?! I've had cyanobacteria grow on the return lip of the hang-on power filter of my former 15g nano. That location had the highest flow rates in the tank.

 

[mandown123]

yeah i have had it grow in an area of high flow, but recently this entire MAT of cyano grew in the back where the food sometimes collects, cause there was no flow at all. it is a contributing factor, i'd say

 

[Deanos]

If it grows in both areas of high and low flow, why would flow rate still be a contributing factor?

 

[mandown123]

Because in the spot where I had no flow, there was a 5 inch wide MAT of the stuff. In areas of high flow maybe you see a little bit here and there, but where there was no flow, it was cyano-ville. adjusted powerheads and haven't had the problem again.

 

[Deanos]

Cool! Your cyano disappeared after a powerhead adjustment with no change in nutrient levels?!? If it were only so easy for everyone...we wouldn't have any red slime threads :sad2: