Deep Red Algae

I have some deep red algae in my tank. I've been told, if I stop giving it nutrients, it will go away. I like that idea far better than taking the algae out of my tank & scrubbing it. Will it work ?

 

Is the deep red algae hard and impossible to scrape off or is it soft and like a thin film?

if its hard its coralline and nutrient reduction wont affect it

if its soft and film like , its cyno and increasing water movement would help with that

reducing nutrients are a good idea anyway - aim for 0 phosphate and less than 10ppm Nitrate and you should have very little algae issues aside from that hard Coralline stuff IMO

I take it this is your salt water set up?
Steve

 

It is salt water & the red algae is soft.

 

Hi Salyfresh
then it sounds like cyno and increased flow can help IME


Steve

 

I've tested my water & all is fine. I usually have my water spout even with the water level to increase water movement. It that ok or should it be above water level ?

 

I've battled the same type of Cyno, replacing the bulbs in my light killed it off. So if you have old bulbs you might want to think about replacing them

 

level is OK

its about the total flow really -
what size is the tank and what size is the filter
and as stated above old lights can have an effect in cyno outbreaks

Steve

 

Total flow ? It is a nano underground filter. I should know the size, but I don't. ( sorry )Still, what do you mean by total flow ?

 

what total flow means, is the total water circulation in your tank...

so add up your filter's gph rate, plus any powerheads you might have....
example: your filter might be 200gph.... plus possibly 2 250 gph powerheads...

so your total flow would be 200 + 250 + 250 = 700gph

 

I've decreased the light, got rid of the nutrients & increased the flow. Up to this point, at every water change, I have taken out the coral ,coated with cyno algae, & scrubbed it. ( bad idea? ) Is the salt water aquarium best left undisturbed ?