Red algae cleanup question

[Dr_Hicks]

Originally Posted by RPatsula

Hello, it seems that I have some cyano red algae to starting to grow on top of my sand bed.

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.

Generally what happens here is the algae is gaining a foothold because it's getting ( food ) from somewhere, tap water, to much food?

Is there a possibility you could have been overfeeding, or not washing the frozen food you are feeding in RO water?

Have you been topping up your tank with tap water?

I would start basic, do a water change and double check your feeding method; make sure you are putting clean food in the tank and certainly not to much, wait and see if this helps.

If it gets right out of control there are other means to treat the algae; however learning why it's happening & how to prevent it will be of more benefit to you in the future.

If the algae gets out of control you can look for a product called ChemiClean by Boyd Enterprises http://www.chemi-pure.com/ I believe all of the site sponsored vendors could help you acquire this; it will get rid of the algae visually, however it will not cure the source of the problem.