Clean Up

[Crash64]

My tank has been taken over by some sort of algae.... I am looking for something that will clean it up fast? Photos below.... A bit mesed up I forget to turn off the flash.

 

[Anonymous]

Mine too. Its that time of year. I bought some turbo snails on Fri and went away. Came back today and what a difference.

 

[Anonymous]

Is this a new tank?

Looks like Cyanobacteria, do a search on this form for it.

Do you have a good skimmer?

 

[Anonymous]

And don't look for any quick solutions.

 

[Crash64]

Skimmer Yes

 

[Anonymous]

Looks like cyanobacteria. I guess that the tank is not that old?

You could remove it with a syphon or a turkey baster. Some snails will consume it but prevention would be better. Use RO/DI water for waterchanges and makeup and make sure you have adequate water motion and a good skimmer.

 

[Anonymous]

Yep, that looks like cyano. If it looks like dark red/maroon hair creeping across the rock, and it can grow an inch or two in a day, it's cyano. Siphon what you can, get nitrates and phosphates down with water changes. Watch your bio load. good luck

 

[Crash64]

So Nothing Will eat this?

 

[Anonymous]

So Nothing Will eat this?

I think Asteria (sp) snails, not sure. It would be best to get at the root cause.

Phosphates, nitrates, flow, nutrients and lighting.

It is one of the oldest organisms in the world, nearly 4 million years older than Jesus. You will never get rid of it, we can only limit its growth.

 

[Crash64]

What about lighting and flow?

 

[qwiksilver]

Turns up in low flow areas (increase your flow) and usually shows up when your lights get old and change spectrum. So, you could add more powerheads and change your lights. Or, if you have a high fish load you could get rid of some. Also if you overfeed... problem. Clean your sponges and filter material regularly. Check your pH and salinity... they can play a role.

 

[Anonymous]

Skimming would have a better effect. Astrea will eat cyano of of rocks and conchs will eat it off that sand.

 

[Anonymous]

Everything eats cyano, problem is, it grows too fast.

I'd suggest doing the easiest first.

1) check nitrates. If they are high, get them down - particularly if you added bioload recently.

2) check lights. PCs, for example, typically are shot by one year at 10 to 12 hours a day.

3) Only worry about water flow if you've changed the water flow recently.

4) Add some critters if you want, but they aren't going to keep cyano in check if the nitrates are high.

Good luck