Algae ID Confirmation

[Nano_Addict]

Hey everyone,

 

I've been battling various forms of algae for months now.  At this point, it seems to be cyano that has come to dominate the system but I wanted to get a quick confirmation before proceeding with any plans to eliminate it.

 

Based on my research it looks like blue-green cyano, but the number of bubbles trapped within it are throwing me off.  Also, if it is blue-green cyano, will chemi-clean still do the trick?  It's advertised to work on "red-slime" cyano.

 

Thanks all!

[rough eye]

cyano is pretty easy to deal with. don't use chemiclean. only because you shouldn't have to.

[Tired]

Don't use chemiclean. It's bad for your tank's biodiversity, and biodiversity is what you're working toward. You won't get pest algae outbreaks nearly as easily if your rock is nice and mature, all covered in algae. 

 

What are your parameters? You should be able to get rid of it by keeping your nutrients reasonable (not sky-high, not really low), regularly blowing it off the rocks with a turkey baster, and maintaining a proper cleanup crew. 

[Nano_Addict]

Thanks for the input.  I've held off on the chemi-clean thus far for the exact reason you mentioned...biodiversity.  I started the tank with marco rock and sand and I've struggled from one outbreak to the next for the better part of the past 8 months.  I've also struggled to maintain nutrients currently my NO3 is about 1-2ppm and PO4 is ~0.02.  I've been dosing both to the tank to maintain detectable levels.

 

My latest effort to bump the tanks biodiversity involved adding some LR rubble from aquabiomics as well as swapping the old dry sand for live sand from ocean direct.  The sand has been in about two weeks now and I have noticed an improvement in water clarity as well as how often I've had to clean the glass. 

[Tired]

The lack of nutrients is probably what's hindering things. Shoot for at least 5ppm nitrates and a bare minimum of 0.03 phosphates. The live rock should help a lot, and the sand won't hurt. Is Ocean Direct the bagged "should have some bacteria" kind, or the "we went and got this sand out of the ocean" kind? 

 

What size tank do you have, and what snails? Cyano isn't super tasty, but some snails will eat it a bit, and they'll definitely shove it around. 

 

 

[Nano_Addict]

9 hours ago, Tired said:

The lack of nutrients is probably what's hindering things. Shoot for at least 5ppm nitrates and a bare minimum of 0.03 phosphates. The live rock should help a lot, and the sand won't hurt. Is Ocean Direct the bagged "should have some bacteria" kind, or the "we went and got this sand out of the ocean" kind? 

 

What size tank do you have, and what snails? Cyano isn't super tasty, but some snails will eat it a bit, and they'll definitely shove it around. 

 

 

The tank is around 40 gallons.  The Ocean Direct was the "we went and got this sand out of the ocean" kind.  Right now I have a mix of snails; trochus, astrea, margarita... probably about 6-8 total.  I could probably bump that number up a few.

[Tired]

Assuming there's non-cyano under all that, a few more snails would be good. Particularly to replace the margeritas, which I'm pretty sure are a coldwater species.

 

Pick up some ceriths. Nice all-purpose snail that eats most things you want a snail to eat, and will move the sand a little in the process. Like a nassarius, but better.