Red carpet algae on sand

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12830308#post12830308 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by abulgin
Weekly 10 percent water changes and siphoning off the cyano will go miles and miles towards battling cyano--it will take a few weeks, but it will make a difference. Some cyano is normal/inevitable especially in relatively young tanks. Massive cyano is not. Lights do not cause a bloom. Dissolved organics do. Cyano needs light to survive, but 3 days of darkness won't solve the problem. Careful feedings are always a rule, but do NOT starve your fish in an effort to kill cyano--unless you are really overfeeding or dumping liquid polution into your tank, you won't change much by eliminating food. If you are only using RO water, and not RO/DI, you aren't removing phophates/silicates. It's the DI stage that removes these. Consider employing a fuge with some macro algae.

Finally, and I can't stress this enough, DO NOT use red slime remover. This is erythromycin, a broad spectrum antibiotic. Guess what antibiotics kill? Bacteria. Guess what makes sure your animals aren't poisoned by ammonia and die? Bacteria.
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I disagree with you on the RO/Di part of the equation, but I agree with you that I was polluting the water with liquid foods, mainly selcon and phyto plankton and the nutrient rich soup that the pods came in that I bought as a supplemental food (They're dead pods in a nutriet rich broth if you will) I think I just over nutrified the water... Oh and I DO have a fuge, with Macro Algea, mainly Cheato also some feather Calupera and what is it... grape Calupera I think? They all sorta came together, though there are just a few little pieces of the caluerpa, it's mostly Cheato.. And I have live rock rubble and feather dusters galore as well as a
3 inch sand bed, oh and I do skim and do 10% water changes weekly...
It's not as much a question of where I got it as it is how do I most effectively get rid of it? And would Chemi-Clean work? (Oh and it does not have Eurithromyacin in it btw...) I dunno what it is EXACTLY, but it isn't an antibiotic....
Anyway, thanks for the help! :D
 
Flipper, what part of 10 years marine didn't you understand? The mods use/advocate red slime remover?

I am posting using a handheld, trying to type good info on a tiny keyboard. Post contained succinct facts/opinions. Sorry if it didn't meet the accepted posting norm.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12831055#post12831055 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by abulgin
What part of 10 years marine didn't you understand? The mods use/advocate red slime remover?

I am posting using a handheld, trying to type good info on a tiny keyboard. Post contained succinct facts/opinions. Sorry if it didn't meet the accepted posting norm.
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Huh?
I am SOOO confused now....
 
Oh and my lights are at most 6 months old, but then I have the newer ones that are only about 2 and half months old...
and let me see, I am using a Koralia 2 & 3 as well as a maxi jet 900 & 1200 and the return for flow.... It's turning over about 38X an hour, but I think I am going to add an additional Koralia 2 townards thte bottom as most of my movement is up at the top....
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12830996#post12830996 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Larah
Nah, that's not Cyano that's just a diatom outbreak... Not to owrry it looks ucky but it'll go away all by itself in about a week or so... And it's not going to hurt anything...
But if you're anything like me you'll be driven nuts by it while it's there.. :( Sorry man...
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Thanks, I appreciate the answer.

Actually, I was stoked to come home after 2 days (girlfriend moved into her own place) & see that my tank looked completely different from just a couple of days ago.

I picked up a few snails & they've been having a field day. You can see the tracks they've left behind.
---

But as for Cyano- high flow, low light, & low phosphates/nitrates helps prevent/cure it, correct?
 
Interesting comments. My tank is only 4 months old, and I am heavily involved in its day to day maintenence. I generally feed pellets, flake food, Rod's food about once a week, & frozen spirilena brine a couple times a week. In general I feed fish once a day according to what I have read and fish I hospice. From information gathered, maybe it is a new tank issue, or flow issue. I use a Remora protein skimmer, btw, recently installed on my 55gal.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12831045#post12831045 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Larah
I disagree with you on the RO/Di part of the equation
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see www.wetwebmedia.com/ca/volume_2/cav2i4/RO_systems/reverse_osmosis.htm

4th paragraph under "Choosing an RO Unit".

Don't know anything about the chemical media you referenced. As for getting rid of it, i've found that siphoning off the cyano week after week after week will eventually tip the cards in your favor.

I have read on wetwebmedia.com and other sources that mixing types of macro is counterproductive/better to have one type only.
I also noticed that you have a 3" sandbed. There is a lot (negative) written on 3" sandbeds--detritus traps and nitrate factories. I don't know if there is any relationship between cyano and nitrate, but if so the nitrate could be getting used up by your cyano and your tank may show 0 ppm.
 
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That 3" sand bed is in my fuge not the DT....
and I will read the choosing an RO unit..
though I probably won't be getting anew unit anytime soon..
My dad is in the water treatment business and gave me the RO and suggested that with the excellent tap water in our community the RO should be plenty good enough... I've also read where people have used only RO and had fine results. I don't think that's the culprit...
And yeah I don't show any Ammonia, Nitrates or Nitrites on my tests, neither does the LFS when they test....
I dunnno care caused it I just want to get rid of it! LOL!
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12831115#post12831115 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by singold
Interesting comments. My tank is only 4 months old, and I am heavily involved in its day to day maintenence. I generally feed pellets, flake food, Rod's food about once a week, & frozen spirilena brine a couple times a week. In general I feed fish once a day according to what I have read and fish I hospice. From information gathered, maybe it is a new tank issue, or flow issue. I use a Remora protein skimmer, btw, recently installed on my 55gal.
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From what I've heard feeding pelleted and flake foods can cause issues as they tend to fall appart in the water and are quite messy.... This could help feed a cyano or diatom outbreak...
I dunno though as I have only ever used frozen foods....
Oh and most brine is crap... Sorry :(
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12831115#post12831115 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by singold
Interesting comments. My tank is only 4 months old, and I am heavily involved in its day to day maintenence. I generally feed pellets, flake food, Rod's food about once a week, & frozen spirilena brine a couple times a week. In general I feed fish once a day according to what I have read and fish I hospice. From information gathered, maybe it is a new tank issue, or flow issue. I use a Remora protein skimmer, btw, recently installed on my 55gal.
Click to expand...

From what I've heard feeding pelleted and flake foods can cause issues as they tend to fall appart in the water and are quite messy.... This could help feed a cyano or diatom outbreak...
I dunno though as I have only ever used frozen foods....
Oh and most brine is crap... Sorry :(
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12831188#post12831188 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Larah
That 3" sand bed is in my fuge not the DT....
and I will read the choosing an RO unit..
though I probably won't be getting anew unit anytime soon..
My dad is in the water treatment business and gave me the RO and suggested that with the excellent tap water in our community the RO should be plenty good enough... I've also read where people have used only RO and had fine results. I don't think that's the culprit...
And yeah I don't show any Ammonia, Nitrates or Nitrites on my tests, neither does the LFS when they test....
I dunnno care caused it I just want to get rid of it! LOL!
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No new unit needed. You can add a DI canister for cheap. I think you should care how it got there, because that's part of the solution to your problem. Your water has phosphates or you wouldn't have cyano--cyano uses up the phosphate as fast as it gets into the water, which is why your water shows 0 phosphates. Until you address the source of excess phosphates, you won't get it out of your tank no matter what you do. Between this and siphoning off the cyano, I think you will see good results but it's not something that happens over night. Cyano is crazy aggressive and tough..
 
I had a cyano outbreak on my sandbed recently. I couldn't figure it out, flow was good, I wasn't overfeeding, etc. Finally I just took a net and scooped up the thin layer of sand that the cyano was on and threw it in my fuge. I purchased a sand-sifting goby (had one previously but it jumped out of QT, don't know how, had eggcrate on top :confused: ) and it hasn't reappeared at all.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12831153#post12831153 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Flipper62
Please read my PM to you....
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Did, thanks. Please read my pm in response.
 
I'm adding a refugium to my system, however, I don't think it will cure the cyano blues overnight. As far as what is being added to the tank to cause cyano...........I'm at a loss, I'm very careful with water, feeding, and water changes.

I'm even considering ambient contamination from what could be on my hands. Even though I wash them before putting them in my tank. I've started rubbing my hands with anti-bacterial creme before they go into the tank...........Do you think this is a good practice.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12832243#post12832243 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by che25
I'm adding a refugium to my system, however, I don't think it will cure the cyano blues overnight. As far as what is being added to the tank to cause cyano...........I'm at a loss, I'm very careful with water, feeding, and water changes.

I'm even considering ambient contamination from what could be on my hands. Even though I wash them before putting them in my tank. I've started rubbing my hands with anti-bacterial creme before they go into the tank...........Do you think this is a good practice.
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Contaimination from your hands/arms (like from lotion, soap residue, etc.) can certainly cause problems. You can get full-length gloves.
 
Well yes I DO care how it got there.. I'm just tired...
I guess I'll take a look at the DI canister.. Though if I'm running phosban shouldn't that take care of phosphates?
And that isn't the only thing that cyano eats is it?
 
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