Red Algae on my sand bed

[rwm555]

I have a large (2X2) patch of red algae on my sand bed. Is it anything bad? It's actually a pretty color red and it does not look slimy. It looks more like carpet.

 

[EvMiBo]

Picture? That would be the most helpful to ID'ing it.. I'm betting it's cyano though.

 

[HappySkittles]

a picture would be helpful
but im also thinking cyano...only red carpety looking algae i know of

 

[gavinthefish]

Sounds like cyano, you may have excessive nutrients in the water. How often do you feed your fish?

 

[HappySkittles]

i thought cyano was from too much silica which just comes from tap water

 

[rwm555]

I feed some flake food in the morning and frozen food a night. In both cases, just what they can eat in a couple of minutes (or less). It seems to have really taken off since I changed my CFL bulbs and started using FUEL by Seachem

 

[rwm555]

I just checked my phosphate and silica and they were both very low.

 

[Sk8r]

Nope, it's its kissing cousin diatoms that thrive on silicates. Cyanobacteria is a eukaryote bacterial sheet older than anything, and thrives on light, carbon dioxide, and water...plus any spare anything you've got. Killing the light for 3 days (4th actinic if mh system) and skimming like mad is the best cure for cyano. May have to repeat it once a month for a few months to get the better of it. (Corals can be lowlight, no problem in 3 days. Just like a storm on the reef.)

 

[jkdsr78]

I had that same red carpet on my sandbed. I left it alone and eventually it started spreading covering a good portion of my sandbed. I had to increase my water changes and I added phosban. Eventually it went away.

 

[StupidsReef]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13103656#post13103656 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Sk8r
Nope, it's its kissing cousin diatoms that thrive on silicates. Cyanobacteria is a eukaryote bacterial sheet older than anything, and thrives on light, carbon dioxide, and water...plus any spare anything you've got. Killing the light for 3 days (4th actinic if mh system) and skimming like mad is the best cure for cyano. May have to repeat it once a month for a few months to get the better of it. (Corals can be lowlight, no problem in 3 days. Just like a storm on the reef.)

This advise is 100% correct. I give it a Ditto.

 

[CraigSlice]

when cutting the lights to kill off cynao, is it necessary to cut the moon lights as well? I have heard that fish can get spooked when its completey dark and it increases the chance of jumping

 

[che25]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13109212#post13109212 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by CraigSlice
when cutting the lights to kill off cynao, is it necessary to cut the moon lights as well? I have heard that fish can get spooked when its completey dark and it increases the chance of jumping

No hay problema, No hay pena, No mas cyano

I've been cutting my lights off routinely to control the nasty slimy. All living creature, except the slime, have survived and thrived when the lights come back on. I would highly recommend this method over a chemical/biological warfare commercial red slime remover.