Can I ignore red algae?

[joshola]

Hey all,

My tank's been up for a little over three months now and I've had good luck with algae so far. It's a 37g with only two small fish, crabs & snails, and a bunch of mushroom corals. Aside from the occassional, easily scrubbable green film on the glass, the only problem algae I seem to get is a reddish coating on my sandbed, which doesn't bother me aesthetically. With only these inhabitants, can I just ignore the red algae and any water quality implications? All critters seem fine.

I don't have water params right now, but typically, I have about 20-25 ppm nitrates; 8.2 ph; .5(?) phosphates. Also, temp 80. Lights on for 10hrs/day, 15x flow.

 

[WaterKeeper]

If it is more brown than red it is probably diatoms that go away on their own. If it is red hair algae you need to control it. If using tap water switch to RO/DI water ( [rodifaq] ). Use water changes to get those nitrates and phosphates down and it probably will disappear.

 

[joshola]

Thanks. I do use ro/di water and do water changes weekly. I think the main problem with getting out nutrients is that it's hard to get detritus off the sandbed (I have a tall tank that's pretty full with live rock). The red growth is more like a coating than a hair-like growth. It resembles diatoms (which did come and go in my tank), but it' definitally pink/red, not brown and only on the sand bed. I'll post a pic when I get home.

 

[JPagliai]

It sounds like you have an outbreak of red slime or red film algae, also known as cyanobacteria. You'll want to rid your tank of this stuff because it can get out of control and smother your corals. It's usually an indication that you have too many nutrients in the tank. Put a powerhead a few inches above the substrate to gently increase the flow at lower levels of the tank. This will lift the surface nutrients into the water column where they can be picked up by your filtration system.

 

[kevin2000]

Cyano may look unsightly but unless its smothering corals its not going to hurt anything.

Cyano is the result of excess nutrients in your system .. namely phosphates and nitrates. If the sight doesn't bother you then I suggest you look at it as a free phosphate binder ... just let it grow and periodically siphon it out ... when you remove the cyano you will remove all the phosphates and nitrates it has consumed.

 

[captain19365]

My experience with cyano shows that it will over run your corals if left untreated.
I cut my light schedule drastically after a major water change and the cyano went away. There are a bunch of threads on cyano on here. I think that you will find that cutting back on lighting, doing a few water changes and finding the source of phosphate and eliminating it will do the trick for you.

 

[joshola]

Hmm. Two different takes, but I'm inclined to take Kevin's advice.
I honestly don't mind it aesthetically and it hasn't shown any signs of appearing on the rocks (which are getting good coraline growth) and none of my corals are near the bottom.

The reason I asked is that I don't want to become obsessed about nitrates and phosphates if it's mainly a matter of unsightly stuff. Of course if my critters are suffering, that's a different story. I'll try to get more flow lower in the tank (it's hard to do with a tall "column" tank). Thanks for the replies

 

[fatdaddy]

If the thunder doesn't get you, the lightning will. Take it as a wake up call that trouble is brewing.

I'd definitely take some action to remedy the excess nutrients, improve flow, or both. Small changes over weeks is much better then large changes during an emergency.

 

[troy-angela]

i have a 29 gal with soft corals and mushrooms i have 3 mexican turbo snails which do a great job of keeping the algie under control

 

[wes_8_u]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10160197#post10160197 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by kevin2000
Cyano may look unsightly but unless its smothering corals its not going to hurt anything.

Does it smother your corals once it starts growing close to it? is it a likely event?