Algae ID and Help!

[isomorphic85]

alright what does this look like to everyone I feel like I have a few different things going on here...

Nitrates got up around 50. Tank has been up for about 6 months with 2 ocellaris clowns in it and a few snails.

I had a bloom similar but not quite as bad in the beginning, this one is def worse


what do you guys make of these pictures?

 

[adambom]

Looks like diatoms - harmless and very common in new tanks. You can vacuum the sand if you like but it will go away on its own.

 

[reefbroao]

That looks like cyano to me... early stages of it.

 

[isomorphic85]

if it's cyano what's my best plan of action at this point?

 

[matt880305]

looks like diatoms to me and the green stuff is hair algea. is it on the rocks to? for now i would increase the flow on the sand to release some of the nitrogen gas that should help some. do you carbon dose atall? if not i would recommend it to lower your nitrates do your research on here and go slow with it.

 

[adambom]

I don't think it's cyano, but then again I could be wrong. Cyano usually forms a reddish mat on the sandbed that can almost be lifted up. It can be greenish too, but red is most common. Since what you have is brown it looks to me like diatoms.

Either way I'd vacuum the sandbed and do some good old fashioned water changes. Getting nitrates down and manual removal will help the situation no matter what kind of algae it is.

Agreed the green stuff is hair algae, too. Try and remove that with your next water change. You don't want it growing on your rocks.

 

[reefbroao]

Thats what my cyano looked like when it first formed. BUT I could be wrong. +1 to Matt

increse flow for sure

 

[isomorphic85]

I was under the impression carbon doesn't reduce nitrates? is that incorrect?

 

[reefbroao]

run some rowaphos and possibly grab some chaeto. it will go away but will take time. Vac regularly and stay religious with maintenance

 

[skp]

It's probably a mixture of things. I had a mixture of diatoms, cyano and dynos and it looked like that. How I know it was a mixture was because I got rid of one thing at a time. The diatoms got eaten by pods. The cyano went away suddenly from increased water changes and chemipure blue. The dynos came back a bit stronger the day after each water change but microbacter7 took care of it.

 

[matt880305]

I was under the impression carbon doesn't reduce nitrates? is that incorrect?

not regular carbon ( the black granular stuff) carbon as in vinger, sucrose, or vodka

 

[matt880305]

http://reefkeeping.com/joomla/index...ar-dosing-methodology-for-the-marine-aquarium

 

[matt880305]

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2008-08/nftt/index.php