Red algae cleanup question

[reefgirl189]

Originally Posted by RPatsula

My question is can I use a freshwater gravel cleaner to siphon out the red algae into a bucket and throw it away? My sand is very fine so I'm assuming some of that would end up in the siphon as well. Or is there another way of getting rid of this stuff. I used to have a diamondback goby but he died about a month ago, should I just get another one of them to clean up the problem.

Thank you
Rick

I have a very similar set up to yours and had been getting a little bit of cyano lately too. I vacuumed the cyano spots off of my sand with no ill effects. To keep from sucking up too much sand just pinch the hose slightly and you will be able to control the suction by doing so. This will allow you to keep the majority of the sand from going through the hose into your W/C bucket along with the cyano.

As far as the diamondback goes, it can't hurt. I added 3 sand sifting starfish to my set up and it helps in my case.

So far the best treatment for me was frequent water changes with careful attention to vacuuming the cyano up every time. Also as a PP mentioned, rinsing the frozen/thawed food very well in RODI water is another great tip. You shouldn't need to stop feeding that type of food if it's rinsed well.

My cyano is gone after just increasing my W/C's and extra rinsing of the food.

Also if things get very out of hand you could try dimming down your lights slightly, it won't hurt your corals.