How to get rid of red algae

globaldesigns · #1 02-17-2010, 04:19 AM

I would first suggest posting your parameters and test results. Also please explain your setup, water flow. Then we can maybe try to help you better.

pascalsimpson · #2 02-17-2010, 10:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by globaldesigns

I would first suggest posting your parameters and test results. Also please explain your setup, water flow. Then we can maybe try to help you better.

Phosphate 0.5-1.0
PH 8.2
Nitrate 4.54
Nitrite 0.1
kh 180mg/L
Calcium 430
Salt 1.024

I picked up some ChemiClean today and I'm not sure if I should use it or not.

globaldesigns · #3 02-17-2010, 10:25 PM

Hey,

I got your PM, also noticed you posted your param's here.

All looks pretty good. Of course you can do some extra water changes to try and bring down things like your ammonia and nitrates.

I would look at getting some more flow in your tank. I don't know what you have, but alot of red slime is due to overfeeding and not enough flow. What do you have for powerheads and pumps?

Grizz is also correct, Coral Snow is a good product that helps in the fight of this stuff. I recommended it to him and it worked for him.

Let us know how it goes.

pascalsimpson · #4 02-18-2010, 05:47 AM

I got 2 powerheads of 1189 g/hr each today and some Coral Snow. We'll see how it goes

burrows14 · #5 02-18-2010, 06:09 AM

Coral snow worked well for me too. I also cut back my lighting for 5 days. I would also recommend running the coral snow when the lights are at their dimmest/actinics. I read in the zeo manual that if dosed during peak lighting after the snow disapates the clarity ofthe water could burn your corals.

Lampshade · #6 02-18-2010, 04:36 PM

I just got over a pretty bad red algee takeover. Reduced the lights to 6 hours a day, sucked what i could while doing water changes, and now its nearly all gone with only a few small patches left that i'll hopefully get this water change. I'd also moved my powerheads around a lot to try and get more flow in those area's. The algee was actually a pretty good indicator of area's that had low flow. Theres apperently many different causes, too much light, phosphates, dirty water, etc. But mine seemed to be a flow issue after i'd moved some rock around. I didn't use Coral Snow, but.. if i had SPS or coral that was more dependant on light i probably would have.
What my LFS told me that actually made a lot of sense was that even using Coral Snow or any other remover, if you dont' get rid of the original problem, it'll just come back.

Reefer Rob · #7 02-18-2010, 05:16 PM

Is it cyanobacteria or red algae?

If it's cyano and your tank is new just chill, it should eventually go away on it's own. It is naturally occurring in all tanks and blooms when there is a change (good or bad) it can take advantage of. Stability is the key to a clean tank, it should disappear when you tank balances out.

Red algae requires a more aggressive approach.