creeping red stuff on the sand

[Leafer]

I have bright red algae like growth on my sand. I think I recall someone explaining that this may actually be some form of ammonia. It may have started where some food pellets fell and were not eaten. I think this might be something commonly encountered. If you know what I’m describing and can point me to some related reading material it would be really appreciated. Or, if you can suggest how to address it that would be great also.

To give me a greater margin of error I do larger and more frequent PWC then necessary (about 10 gallons every 5 days for my 55g). I think my fish appreciate it. I use that type of food much less now and do so one pellet at a time. I think phosphates are in check. I’ve started disturbing the sand some and suck some of this out with my PWC though I know this is not truly correcting the problem.

 

[kkyyllee]

is it slimy? or hairy? if its slimy its cyano, you could fix that by adding more flow

 

[afelder]

Are you still using the wet dry? If so that may be the root of the problem. Wet dry filters are very good at breaking down waste into nitrates. Many algae use nitrate as fertilizer. If you are using bioballs removing them a SMALL amount at a time and replacing it with live rock rubble will help reduce nitrate which along with water changes will help fix your algae issues.

 

[lpsluver]

If it is red slime algae then the root cause is overfeeding or too many nutrients in the water. Work on the nutrient export. Quit overfeeding, keep up the water changes and the problem will resolve.

 

[kkyyllee]

do a search for cyano