algea outbreak... argh...

[aaronpaulpalmer]

HOWDY, all members of the RMAC...

Quick question for you. (Guess this is mainly directed at Michael and Jodi cause those are the two members of the RMAC that I know!) Just a few days ago I started to get quite an algea outbreak on my sandbed. It seems to be much thicker were the light is a bit lower (I know Michael, that seems like an odd statement with my solar-flare) Anyways, it has spread pretty quickly and it almost "floats" on top of the sand. Small bubbles will rise up and get caught in the algea making little strings of the messy stuff.

Any thoughts??? I just picked up some critters as well (scarlet reef crabs, nassarius snails, and a few small turbos)

Perhaps I should have posted this on the general forum, but I thought I'd ask you guys first...

On last thing, I've read up on a ton of algea posts and there are quite a few varying ideas. I was hoping to get something a little more concrete.

Thanks!!!

[mjsandbe]

The first though that comes into my head is: Is it algae or cyano bacteria. Try a search on cyano and see if that is the stuff.

Can you give a description or picture of the algae? Have you tested all of your parms?

[StellaMN]

If I remember correctly, your tank is pretty new. A cyano outbreak is pretty common in the normal tank cycle. Check for phosphates and nitrates and let us know what your readings are.

Fighting conchs are fabulous sandbed vacuums. Sally lightfoot crabs are supposed to be good at eating the stuff too. There are also products on the market that can help get rid of it, but don't solve the underlying cause. Usually mine will go away on its own after a good water change. The first outbreak was a couple of months after initially setting up my tank. That one took several weeks to clear up.

Jodi

[Mkelly]

How's the water flow in the spots where the algae is growing? No flow, kick it up!

[trodder]

Is it a reddish or purpleish color? If so you may have a phosphate problem. That is do to the quality of water, salt, or even type of sandbed you are using. One of those things may be high in phosphates and/or silicates. Kent has a product called phosphate sponge... that would be a start. But to cure the underlying problem you may want to check your water source or salt. What type of salt do you use and what type of water do you use? Is it R.O.D.I. or at least R.O. ?

[aaronpaulpalmer]

Thanks for all the replies... I appreciate the ideas.

Let me respond to some of the questions. I also thought of cyano bac. when it first started to appear... however I thought that cyano was pretty much a deep red color, or am I thinking of something else? This algea is a green to almost brown color.

I have tested my parameters and everything seems to check out OK... I've heard when all else fails do a water change (what Jodi also suggested) and I probably should do that tomorrow.

One last thing... It seems to be everywhere, even where the water flow is stronger. The only thing that has afffected the algeas mass is the lighting. As I mentioned, it seems thicker in the spots with less light.

Well, thanks for the thoughts!!!



I'll do a water change and keep testing the water to make sure it stays the same. I'll keep you posted and let you know how it goes. (also, Michael, I'll try to get a pic of the algea when Buzzell comes over this weekend with his monster camera)

[aaronpaulpalmer]

Hi Trodder,

Sorry... I must have posted my last reply just after you responded.

In answer to your questions, I use R.O.D.I. water that I get from a fellow reefer here in Oshkosh. The salt I use is Corallife.

[trodder]

I think what you are experiencing is your tank cycling for the first time. I had the same thing a month or two into it. I started stirring everything up everyday until one day it went away. This is all normal. Also it might not hurt to cut down the lighting to 2 or 3 hours a day for a week or so.

[manderson0805]

Aaron, take the huge hunk of cheese out of your tank.....hehe...sounds like a normal tank cycle you have going on...like everyone else said, check flow in the affected areas, water change and testing, and sit back and let it mature. It'll get better with time. Mike

[aaronpaulpalmer]

Originally posted by manderson0805
Aaron, take the huge hunk of cheese out of your tank.....hehe...

yeah... that cheese can be a killer!
but it's so hard to part with!!!

Anyways, thank you all again for the thoughts. I think the common theme has been to wait and see if it passes. Guess everyone agrees that this is pretty normal.

(Mjsandbe... the pics are going to have to wait a few days Buzzell is at a WWII reinactment... sorry!)

[MedicineMan]

Just to throw another worm into the can, I once had an outbreak that sounds exactly like what you're experiencing. Turned out that mine was dinoflagellates, which are often mistaken for cyanobacter. Mine was a thick, brownish red carpet with bubbles forming that would eventually pull some of the garbage to the top in clumps with pieces of sand sticking to it (ugliest stuff I ever saw; almost kind of looked like reddish/brown snot!) The tank had been up and going for over a year and it was my first experience with metal halide lighting. My coralife bulbs were just 9 months old but had gone out of spectrum. I changed the bulbs and the problem disappeared in a few days! Good luck!!

[Buzzkill]

Hey Aaron! I think it is a cyano out break after seeing it the other day. But Medicine Man might have something to share. What is a dynoflagellate? Unfortunately the lighting couldn't be the cause because your light is less that 2-3 months old. So really most things that happen in or on the sand have to do with the nutrients that exist there. Most of the the bacteria that breaks down organics is living in the sandbed. Just because your nitrates tests low doesn't mean that there isn't any in the sand. A place to start is ask yourself how much you feed Bruce. However, I think everyone would agree that this is just something that you have to deal with during your tanks breakin. I would suggest letting it go. Keep it off the the rocks at least and try to keep it confined to the back corner. Eventually it will starve out, provided you don't feed it more. If you need to remove some use a turkey baster or small net. One more thing about water changes and things like that. The more you meddle with it the worse you can make it, just an example, look at the world around you. Sorry don't mean to preach! But hey its been 3 years without a waterchange and skimmer for my tank. So hey don't work yourself up into a frenzy over it, eventually it will go away and you'll have a gorgeous reef!
Ok with that said it is late and I am going to bed!!!

I will try to work on those pics this weekend, too much homework this week!

Jeremy

[MedicineMan]

Dinoflagellates are a kind of bacteria. Actually, zooxanthellae fall into the dinoflagellate category! Sorry I don't have more info on them but they are UGLY!

Sounds like you've gotten some good suggetions: don't overfeed and give the tank time to "rev up". And don't tinker too much with the water!

[aaronpaulpalmer]

Actually, I thought that dinoflagellates are in the Phylum Pyrrophyta and thus a protist not a bacteria. In fact, I think they are called dinoflagellates because they have two flagella which they use for movement, unlike bacteria...

[mjsandbe]

Wow I did not think you were a bio major Aaron I wish I could remember my lab sciences better.