Scoreline algae in my sand bed?

[ReeferBrian]

Hi all,I have what may seem like an odd question.I have recently discovered that I'm having some type of algae growing in my sand bed.the problem is ,is that it doesn't look like Cynobacteria.it's dark purple and it isn't slimy but it's growing in clumps.it doesn't look like the typical red slime you typically see.the clumps are isolated to two different parts of my tank close to the live rock.I know most would dismiss this as red slime,but it just doesn't seem to be it,.being a noob to this and only 8 months into this 10 gallon nano reef tank,I don't want to come off as a know it all,but it just doesn't look like Cyndi,ill try to post some pics soon,but was wondering if anyone else has ever had scoreline in their sand bed?

[seabass]

Pics would help. Can you siphon it out? I assume that either way, you don't want it, right?

[ReeferBrian]

Sea bass,sorry for the delayed response,I can remove it very easily,it forms "clumps" and I can pick it right out,after having it for a few days the removing it manually is helping I now have it isolated to about one spot.I'm leaning towards it being cyno but being a noob I can't really be sure,ill be honest that while it's not welcome in my tank it's a beautiful color,lol ill work on getting picks

[seabass]

If it's slimy, it's probably cyano. It might add some color but it can be toxic; you really do need to work on getting rid of it. It's usually the result of organics and/or nutrients in the sand bed. There are plenty of threads on the subject. However, if you have any questions, feel free to ask.

[ReeferBrian]

Thanks sea bass I'm going to manually remove as much as I can,I I'm going to start with a good clean and improve my water flow it's kind of lacking,I agree that it's nutrients in the sand bed,it's in a "dead spot"

[ReeferBrian]

Well 3water changes this week,manual removal of Cyno added some chemipure elite and so far everything is good,I think I got rid of some phosphate,doing those water changes although my tests were all reading zero nitrates,phosphate,it could be that the algae was using it up as I was testing so crossing my fingers because I'd rather not use a product to eliminate cyno

[seabass]

What phosphate test kit are you using?

[ReeferBrian]

Well that is the issue I believe.I'm using an api test kit,which I hear are very inaccurate

[seabass]

Well that is the issue I believe.I'm using an api test kit,which I hear are very inaccurate

No, it's accurate enough. The problem is that it's a high range kit and goes up in 0.25 ppm increments. This means that it can't detect any phosphate until it's about 10 times higher than it should be.

 

You should try to keep phosphate between 0.01 and 0.03 ppm. To determine this, you need a good low range test kit. I use a digital Hanna ULR Phosphorus Checker.

[ReeferBrian]

Ok ill start checking into that,I just gave the wife a speech about how I need a new hob filter,so ill give her a day in till I tell her I need what you advise,lmbo.But thank God she's getting g into the hobby more and more everyday!

[seabass]

But thank God she's getting into the hobby more and more everyday!

You're lucky. That can be a huge help.

[ReeferBrian]

Yeah I have my 10 gallon nano and we just put up a 14 gallon coralife biocube for her.she actually helped me with her water change in her tank today,and said next time she wants to mix the saltwater and do the whole thing by herself! So we now share the hobby together.it makes it so much more fun!

[seabass]

Hopefully, she won't ever feel that she knows more than you.

[ReeferBrian]

Hopefully, she won't ever feel that she knows more than you.

lol good point