Help with Brown color Algae with lots of Bubbles
- Thread starter boogs79
- Start date
KniLLifer
Premium Member
Does it seem to be kind of slimy and the air bubbles are trapped in the stringy brown/rust/green stuff? If that is the case it may have Dinos. Check out the link and see if that is what it looks like.
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-11/rhf/index.php
Thanks,
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-11/rhf/index.php
Thanks,
futureeyedoc
New member
doesn't sound like bubble algae to me... more of a diatom bloom.... I've had about every algae break you can think of since starting up tanks and what always worked for me was
-cut down on hours with lighting
-water changes with RO water
-if nothing else gives, get a small UV sterilizer - they really work wonders
-I've also used some sort of powder that was supposed to kill a cyano algae outbreak - worked for me but some may be against this...
The whole thing is natural and unless you do everything right in the start up process with your tank , it's going to happen....
I have one tank that I started up with established rock, all RO water, etc... and it's never had a single algae outbreak...
I've got another with quite a bit of lighting over it that I didn't start with RO water and started back when I frankly had no clue what I was doing - even today it has it's occassional outbreaks...
-cut down on hours with lighting
-water changes with RO water
-if nothing else gives, get a small UV sterilizer - they really work wonders
-I've also used some sort of powder that was supposed to kill a cyano algae outbreak - worked for me but some may be against this...
The whole thing is natural and unless you do everything right in the start up process with your tank , it's going to happen....
I have one tank that I started up with established rock, all RO water, etc... and it's never had a single algae outbreak...
I've got another with quite a bit of lighting over it that I didn't start with RO water and started back when I frankly had no clue what I was doing - even today it has it's occassional outbreaks...
Tomoko Schum
New member
This is a classic case of cyano bacteria. Diatom looks a lot like cyano sometimes, but they don't usually hold bubbles inside. Bubbles come from photosynthesis.
The treatment for cyano is pretty much the same as diatom except for reducing silicate which helps cutting down on diatom. What futureeyedoc prescribed is correct for cyano, too.
The common cause is the high nutrient level in your water. If you are still using tap water, I'd switch it to RO water. I suggest that you test your water for NO3 and PO4.
If you don't have any light demanding coral such as SPS or tridacna clams, turning the light off for 4 days after a good water change would be the cheapest thing to try. A light case of cyano will be treated easily this way. Some people do this once a month with a good success. I recall that there was a long running thread on RC a year or two ago.
However, if this does not make a dent, you should consider using Red Slimer Remover. It's a reef safe antibiotic treatment. This should get rid of cyano pretty quickly. However, the result will be temporary unless you take care of the underlying cause (a high nutrient issue).
Granular ferric oxide products, such as Rowaphos and Phosban, or a UV sterilizer works, but they require some initial investment.
HTH,
Tomoko
The treatment for cyano is pretty much the same as diatom except for reducing silicate which helps cutting down on diatom. What futureeyedoc prescribed is correct for cyano, too.
The common cause is the high nutrient level in your water. If you are still using tap water, I'd switch it to RO water. I suggest that you test your water for NO3 and PO4.
If you don't have any light demanding coral such as SPS or tridacna clams, turning the light off for 4 days after a good water change would be the cheapest thing to try. A light case of cyano will be treated easily this way. Some people do this once a month with a good success. I recall that there was a long running thread on RC a year or two ago.
However, if this does not make a dent, you should consider using Red Slimer Remover. It's a reef safe antibiotic treatment. This should get rid of cyano pretty quickly. However, the result will be temporary unless you take care of the underlying cause (a high nutrient issue).
Granular ferric oxide products, such as Rowaphos and Phosban, or a UV sterilizer works, but they require some initial investment.
HTH,
Tomoko
Tomoko Schum
New member
I don't know how much Kroger is charging for a gallon, but buying an RODI unit may be cheaper in a long run. There are a number of online vendors that sell a good unit relatively inexpensively (maybe about 150 for a 5 to 6 stage unit.)
Tomoko
Tomoko
