Red algae on sand??

[kb0vhy]

Broke out when I was away.. What to do? everything else is OK.

 

[triggerjay]

Cyano bacteria by the sounds of it. Siphon it off.. check water params.... I got a diamond watchman goby to control my sand, and he keeps it turned over enough, nothing grows on it... does a good job.

Jason

 

[AqCons]

I know your wife's been feeding while you're away. Make sure it's not too much. check the age of the bulbs and amount of time they're on. Also, check to see how much direct sunlight it's getting. Is the overhead light in that room left on 24/7? I would reduce the amount of time your lights are on right now until you get it under control.

 

[fish2]

i find that some of my corals actually feed on it. its nothing detramental just looks like crap

 

[aquaconnect]

If it is cyano bacteria, which is what it sounds like, use red slime algae remover after you siphon off as much as you can. Contrary to the name and the above post, it's not an algae, it's bacteria and is harmful to corals if it isn't removed, but if it isn't on corals it won't hurt the system, but it will spread rather quickly. If it gets on corals and isn't shaken free then it will suffocate them out, potential feed on them, and kill whatever it grows on. I've never seen anything eat it because it's a bacteria. A goby might help keep it from occurring, but it normally won't go to sand that has it on it, it just helps prevent the problem by stirring the sand. Check phospate levels, that's when it ususally shows up because phospates and nitrates are up, and if there isn't good water flow in a specific area, it will bloom. If it does get on corals, shake them softly or use la ow power powerhead to blow it off outside the tank, if you can't siphon it off, and scrub any rocks you can remove that it is on. Where ever it lands in tank it will continue to multi very quickly if you don't get the tank in check and the flow is week. I would recommend adding a two little fishes phosban reactor and go to twopartsolution.com and purchase some Granular Ferric Oxide and fill the reactor with it. If fact that website sells the GFO, phospate reactor, and maxijet you need. 4lbs is 65bucks and will last you a long time. Or you can by ROWAphos, which is the exact same thing but name brand that costs about 400% more, because a 1000gr's of it runs about $100, and 4lbs is much more than 1000gr's. If you decide to get a reactor, I can help you set it up, it's easy. I run 2lbs in my deltec fr509 and replace it ever 2 months. This will also help w/brown and green algae blooms.