Algae that collects air bubbles problem

[ndfootball5489]

I have had my tank set up for about a month and a half now, and i have this problem with this brown algae that is collecting air bubbles. I know what the air bubbles are from, they are from the algae going through photosynthesis and the oxygen bubbles are produced. It is kind of slimy looking. IT ISN"T CYANO!!! It is brown and kind of mats my rock and it kind of shoots strings up sometimes. Does anyone know how to get rid of this? I do water changes weekly, rarely feed, my lights run about 9 hours. The only thing i can think of is to take all the rock out and just scrub it, but i don't want to have to do that. I may have to. I thought it was just algae blooms from the beginning of the tank being set up but now i am starting to think it isn't. Any ideas on how to get rid of this? I run activated carbon and everything.

 

[Sk8r]

That's cyano, I fear. Get a turkey baster and just blast it off the rock where it sits, and skim wet...ie, make your skimmer cup collect a lot of water and dump frequently. Try like everything to avoid using one of the cyano-killers: they can cause big troubles.

What size tank, and how strong a pump? Flow can have something to do with it. Running Phosban may help get some of the spare nutrients out of the tank. You can do this in a woman's nylon [unused.]

Just be patient with this one. Most tank pass through this phase. Removing your rock will only make a bigger mess. It can persist about a month, even if you do everything to get rid of it.

I run a mag 9.5 in my 52 corner, and it's taken a month and Phosban to discourage a small outbreak of it. Some turbo snails will eat it. Mostly your tank just has to age past this nastiness.

 

[Randall_James]

sounds sort of like dinoflagellets, it is a photosensitive single cell algae. (is toxic in large amounts and kills snails etc)

Vacuum out what you can, black out the tank for 36 hours (block all light getting in) and watch nutrient import. It needs light and food to grow if that is what it is.

Do you have a sump/refuge? Doing a chemical treatment on a 1 month old tank does not sound like a good idea to me

 

[ndfootball5489]

I knew someone was going to tell me it was cyano. It isn't at all. I think it is a type of dinoflagelletes too. But the thing is if i leave light out, it is just going ot come back when light come back on. I really don't know if there is going to be any way to get rid of it.

 

[Craig Lambert]

Your tank has been up for one month. This is just part of having a new tank. Is your cycle complete? I would just up the water changes to 30% or so every week, and wait it out.

 

[azgard]

I agree it sounds like dinoflagellets. PH over 8.4 will also help.

 

[Maury]

Absolutely dinos.

Go a few nights with longer dark cycles, use something to export any phosphorus and silicates, and greatly increase circulation in the areas it is forming.

You can lick it quite well doing this.