Algae ID

[likwid]

Originally Posted by likwid

Its a very small cheaper powerhead, does 70 GPH. Right now I have it set up in a back corner pointed diagnolly towards the opposite corner in the front of the tank. Should I get another powerhead and place it on the opposite side and do the same?

Bump. Can anyone offer me their insight to this?

[daddy01]

Well for my 2 cents worth I have a small reef system 30G and was plagued with the red slime algae for months, I tried a lot of methods but it always came back. I added plants (to get nitrate down as that was recommended nitrates dropped but slime disn't)
Then I decided to get CPR overflow and put a 10Gal sump under the tank, and withing a day the slime gone.
Jim

[Der_Iron_Chef]

Originally Posted by likwid

Bump. Can anyone offer me their insight to this?

Yes. I think you should increase flow. Add another small powerhead and create some random turbulence.

[likwid]

The red slime is still there and now worse than ever. I only have a few corals, CUC, and a coral banded shrimp, so I only feed a bit of mysis like once a week or so, so I doubt its caused from overfeeding. How much GPH flow should I have in a 10g tank, and where should my powerhead be pointing? up towards the surface? down towards the sand? somewhere in the middle towards my live rock? If this is not gone by the end of the week, I will resort to using a red slime remover medication.

[michika]

Have you tested your phosphate levels lately? Could your phosguard need recharging/replacing?

I battled cyano for a long time in a previous set up and in my case it was the result of phosphates. I was careful to do weekly water changes with RO/DI water, and to use a phosphate remover, like you are. I also made sure to arrange my flow so that there were few "dead spots" in the system.

Try pointing your powerhead lower, but be careful you don't mix sand into your water making everything cloudy. The goal should be to get water movement all over your system. Maybe for now try aiming it at one area, say a particular corner and see if it helps with the cyano you have now.

[marie]

2 powerheads one in each corner of the tank pointing towards the center front would create a good flow.
Do another large water change, siphoning out as much of the cyano as you can, add a second powerhead and maybe put some carbon in your filter. Check your alk, some people have had good results keeping a higher alkalinity (around 11 or 12 dkh) and the cyano will go away (maybe not by weekend but it will go) .

If you are impatient then go the chemical route but that only gets rid of cyano tempararily, it doesn't fix underlying problems and doesn't guarantee cyano won't come back

[Reefer Rob]

Strange that reducing your photo period didn't do the trick, it's always worked for me. Any cyano I've had goes away every day only to reappear the next day. All you need to do is shut your lights off each day before it gets too bad, and usually the stuff doesn't have a chance. Once you've reduced it you can gradually increase your lighting again. Cyano is in all aquariums, it's one of the good guys, it consumes nutrients. It's only when you get the ugly blooms due to an imbalance that it becomes a problem.

[jwood]

Go to lfs and get red slime control phycially take out as much of the slime as you can then follow directions on box. I found with out this it always came back then lower phos and maintain good water flow. I did this about 6 months ago and problem disappeared it seems to have no impact on reefs either

[untamed]

Everyone has fought this at one time or another. In my case, I decreased feeding, ran phosphate removers, did massive water changes, ran carbon and finally resorted to red-slime remover. None of those made an improvement.

I upgraded my skimmer and the cyano vanished in 24hrs.