Red algea of doom

[Rattagast]

In my animal science class we have a saltwater tank that has been cursed with red algea. We have tried scrubbing the live rock(outside the tank) and siphoning up the algea, but it always comes back. I have read a little on here about soaking the rock in acid or something of the like? Trouble is we have some spontanious soft coral growth on the rocks and really do not want to cause any harm to them, which may cause us to miss some of the algea. I have suggested starting over completely but our teacher has difficulty listening. I was thinking we remove everything (equipment,rocks etc.), scrub and soak the crap out of it, and start over with new water and a little more sand (we hardly have 1/2 inch of sand) the only thing in there besides one lonely clownfish is the coral, some elusive snails, and random small white starfish.

So basically I just want to know the most efficient method of stopping the red scourage so we can have a lovely, healthy looking tank that fish can maybe live in. I think the saltwater tank is a woderful idea for education but we really, really, need to fix this properlly. I dont know how many gallons it is but will try to post pictures tomarrow for all of you. It seems to be at the very least 50 gal? I seem to be the only person who cares to research updated care for any of our animals.:rolleye1:

 

[johanasu]

First: That is cool that you have a saltwater tank in your classroom. I teach 8th grade science and we have five saltwater tanks ranging from a 4g picoreef to a 40g softie tank.

Red Algae: Yes a picture would help. You have the right idea of taking the rocks out and scrubbing them but unless you control the nutrients that are feeding the algae then it will just keep coming back.

Do you have test kits? Can you test for Nitrate and Phosphate?

I would do this:

Take all of the rock out and scrub it.

Put it back in and do a 50% water change.

If possible run some GFO (Granular Ferric Oxide) in a reactor or at least in a mesh bag in a high flow area like the filter. This will help eliminate any loose nutrients in the water.

Don't feed more than your lonely clown will eat pretty quickly. Feed more often and smaller amounts to make sure he eats all of it in one sitting.

If you cannot scrub the algae off then it could be red wire algae which might be spot treated with hydrogen peroxide... that is a bit more technical and you should research the process.

I just re-read your post and you said you can siphon it out, which means cyanobacteria.
Google it and see if it looks the same.

If it is cyanobacteria you have other options. Siphon out as much as you can, then completely cover the tank for 2-3 days to make it completely dark. The fish will be fine. This should take care of the cyano. If it doesn't you can try the product Chemiclean which is intended just for cyanobacteria outbreaks.

You still want to do the scrub/siphon/water change regardless of type and eliminate the excess nutrients.

 

[Rattagast]

We do have test kits and a refractometer, I will get the numbers tomorrow. It really looks like cyanobacteria, however if we were to cover the tank to make it dark wouldn't that hurt the soft corals?

 

[johanasu]

Softies are super resilient, temporary darkness(2-3 days) should not affect them in the long run.

 

[MistaOrange]

I had the red fluff of death in my 75g cube for months & struggled to get rid of it even increased the Mg to 1650 but it was still there then I noticed the old net that was resting over the sump was rusting quite a bit. I removed the net & added some Mexican turbo snails & orca bio cubes & within a 2 months it was all gone. Also keep you No3 & Po4 as low as possible but not extremely that it's undetectable as you'll starve the coral...

Just my experience.

 

[reef r madness]

what spectrum of light are you using?and whats the light schedule

 

[cet98]

If it is cyanobacteria you have other options. Siphon out as much as you can, then completely cover the tank for 2-3 days to make it completely dark. The fish will be fine. This should take care of the cyano. If it doesn't you can try the product Chemiclean which is intended just for cyanobacteria outbreaks.

the only red algae I can think of that is a nuisance would be cyano (commonly called red slime algae)

here's a google image for reference:

if that is the case, then I would suggest ChemiClean, but ONLY if you have a skimmer to run AFTER the treatment is completed and a large water change has taken place....Skimmers will go nuts once ChemiClean is added to the system so please be sure to follow the directions completely...Also, run carbon afterwards as well if you are not currently
after that, you should focus steadily on finding the source of your problem which may be phosphate leaching from the LR of over feeding...

GL