Please help me to ID these two algae!!!

Hi, the algae problem in my 55 gal FOWLR is getting worse.

1. The first one I believe it's cyano. It's been stay at that size for 3 months already, not getting bigger or smaller, so I'm not too concerned. It would be nice to get rid of it though.
2. The second one worries me the most. When I took over the 55 gal tank from my friend last February, I found few of these on the live rock. It's like a dark red blanket covering live rock. You can peel it off quite easily and it's white underneath. I tried to look up at reefcleaners.org and the closest I could find is blue-green cyano. It's getting worse this couple weeks. I don't know if it has something to do with losing of the yellow tang. It looks really bad with this crap over all the place.

Here is my tank info:

• 55 gal FOWLR
• 10 gal refugium with chaeto and mangrove
• CPR wet/dry filter with built-in skimmer
• Power compact light running 6 hours per day
• temp. 78
• Salinity 1.022
• pH 8.4
• NH3 0
• NO2 0
• NO3 10
• PO4 N/A (will check tomorrow)
• Ca 450
• Alkalinity 3.25

Inhabitants:
clown fish x 1
long nose hawkfish x 1
banded shrimp x 1
peppermint shrimp x 2
dwarf seahorse x 5 (in refugium)
purple tip anemone x 1
bubble tip anemone x1
hermit crab x 10
bristle star x 5
turbo snail x 3
hammerhead coral x 1

Thanks in advance since I'm getting this in my 24 gal nano reef tank as well. I can tell corals don't like this crap all over them. I try to scarp as much as I can in the nano tank and try to take all the broken pieces out.

 

I believe both are cyano, find out your phosphates and if its high get some GFO or chaeto running if you don't already. Also, increase flow in the areas with cyano, that will prevent it from coming back.

 

I agree both cyno by the pics

 

both cyano..get water cleaner..research

 

First is def cyano, second sounds like it is, but pix looks like a darker color of it. Gotta reduce your waste, your test might say low. Because the bacteria is living off of it, throwing off your readings. When you take it out, use a vacuum tube to catch it all.

 

It’s all Cyano bacteria (not algae). Things to be considered are your age of light bulbs, Phosphates, dissolved organic compounds and Nitrates. That’s pretty much the “big 3” in the world of Cyano Bacteria.

Often times the bacteria are consuming the excess nutrients at the same pace they are being produced, thus your test returns good readings – oh the tricky nature of it all ! Manually remove the Cyano, see about increasing your water flow and test your tank over the next couple of days to see if you get a spike in nitrates or phosphates. Consider the age of your bulbs, ensure your skimmer is doing its job and check your make up water (using ro/di right?) test some for nitrates and phosphates before adding to your tank. Good luck.

 

I agree also red cyano alge. Its a pain to get rid of and may take a while. high nutrients in the water can contribute small weekly water changes can help i always go with 10%, and run your skimmer. Also it forms in areas of low waterflow maby you might need to add a powerhead if you have a dead flow area. Old light bulbs can help form alges becasue the spectrum in the lights change and can actually feed alge so if your lights have been on a while maby you need to change them out. Also when you do a water change try to syphon it out or use a turkey baster to suck some of it out to help keep it under control.

 

thank you all for your help. Truly appreciate it.

My PC light bulbs are 7 months old, but they are not good quality bulbs (Odyssey, I believe). I'll swap them all ASAP once I got a new one. As for water change, I only do 5% every the other week. I guess this is not sufficient. How much and often would you guys recommend? As for topping-off, I use RO water so there is no problem here.

I do have hermit crabs, bristle stars, turbo snails, peppermint, and banded shrimps in the tank. I also have chaeto (grapefruit size) and mangrove (10) in the sump. What else should I add? BTW, what's GFO?

I feed flake, dry krill, and from time to time, frozen mysis shrimp which I always rinse them clean with tap water and finish with RO water. Is there something wrong with my feeding routine?

Here is my action plan and please feel free to correct me:
1. Cut down feeding until cynao is under control (once every three day sounds good?)
2. Move the two power heads lower to increase water flow in the area where cyano thrives
3. Scrape off cyano (should I do it all at once or few at a time to avoid spike) and suck them out at the same time. Do I need to go pretty hard and make sure all are off?
4. do I need to keep the light off for 3 or 4 days?

Thanks again, guys.

 

i would still feed the fish at least once a day every 3 days might be a bit much, moving the power heads is a good idea or add another one a good even circulation in the tank is good. taking the cyano wont do anything or cause a spike suck some out when you do a regular water change or use a turkey baster you can even scoop it out with a net if its floating in the water. dont turn your lights off your critters need the light. try getting the new lights, small regular weekly water changes, increase or readjust water flow its still going to take a while but it will help a lot.

 

iv had some trouble with this and had fixed it by water changes and vaccuming it up could be a day or two or a week or so but it goes away rather quick once you find whats feeding it.. like stated b4 how old are your bulbs