Long red hair algea

Im having a hard time trying to figure out what this is growing in my tank. I have a 75g with the FX5, and a PC 4/65 light for now. The tank has been up and running for 8 weeks now and has completed its cycle. Everything is at zero for the past 2 weeks also. The light are on for about 10hrs also. I will try going down to 8.

I have heard the this could be b/c I used tap water to start the tank. I also heard its b/c I dont have enough light. Also heard that more water movement is needed. I have not done any water change as of yet b/c the levels are still good. I do however need to get a tester for phospates. Will get the this weekend.

The long red hair algea comes off real easy off everything. As of now its on my substrate and some rocks. I would like to find out what is causing it besides putting a chemical in the tank and get it under control soon.

 

I too am dealing with this i look forward to getting an easy answer to fix this.

 

It is cyano, which actually isn't an algae but a type of bacteria. There are tons of threads on 3 Reef from folks who have dealt with this issue (its not uncommon) and I would suggest doing a search on this site for those. They can give you tons of good suggestions and information about it.

I have seen a few posts with links in them to articles that provide a lot of information about these and other nuisance algae, but I can't seem to find them in a quick search.

Basically, there are a few factors to check out in your tank. Cyano needs a food source to grow, and the culprit is usually excess phosphates in your water. Do or have you checked your phospate levels? If not, I would suggest buying a test kit to keep an eye on those levels and try various things to get them down.

Increasing flow can help by keeping the nutrients suspended in the water column so they can be removed by filtration. Do you run a protein skimmer? If not, would suggest getting one.

However, you really need to try and figure out what the source of the phosphates are. Do you use RO/DI water to fill the tank and do water changes? If not, excess phosphates can be coming from that source and I would highly recommend using one.

If you already use RO/DI, too much feeding can contribute to phosphates as well.

I would recommend doing a water change, and slowly siphoning off they cyano that you can. No more than 25% at a time, and it would probably be best to do it in smaller batches of like 10% each week until you can get this under control.

The other option that other folks often use to help control phosphates are a GFO reactor. it will help remove phosphates from your tank and there are plenty of places you can read up on that and is fairly easy to use. Also, a newer trend that is gaining momentum is the use of biopellets in a reactor that can help with phosphates and nitrates as well. Again, research that subject to see if it is a good option for you.

As for lighting, that is about where my knowledge ends. Hopefully others can chime to give you an advice as far as lighting goes and if it is even an issue to be concerned about in your tank.

Hopefully that gives you a good place to start and good luck! You can get this under control relatively easily, once you understand what the cause of it is in your system.

Best of luck!

 

Wow...I appreciate your help on this. I'm going to get a skimmer and check the phosphates today. I was wondering if that was the proplem also. I was also going to get a power head this weekend to move some more water. I will also do a WC this weekend.

Thanks for your help.

 

Phosphate test kits are pretty terrible. I stopped using mine a while ago. I judge my phosphate levels by how much algae is growing in my tank. I also have taken measures to reduce phosphates. Eliminating phosphates at the source is the key! I have reduced the amount that I feed to every other day. And I use RODI water. Since it is very difficult to eliminate ALL possible sources of phosphate, I use a GFO reactor and a skimmer. Good luck with the battle!

 

I just bought and install a koralia magnum 5 (1650gph). Wow what a difference it makes in the tank. I hope this helps with the cyano. Im pretty sure I have enough movement now (30times). Now it will be on with the light proplem next.