ID Red Stuff

[Elizzy]

Can anyone tell me what this is and what the usual cause is? I'm suspecting it's either cyano or some form of hair algae. It's also only present on this one side of the tank...

Thanks!!

-E

[Derek]

Cyan bacteria. The green on your rocks is hair algae.

[JamesL]

Cyno is caused by lack of flow, excessive light, and a build up of nutrients. So cut back on your feeding and try to increase the water flow in that area. If that doesn't work you can try to reduce your lighting schedule.

[Derekreefer]

Cyano. U can use a siphon to suck out. Works best with a small dia flexible tubing. Do u protein skim?

[gbelcik]

i had the same problem for months.... tried everything to get rid of it... buy chemiclean redslime remover... gets rid of it in 2 days and hasnt come back in 2 different tanks

[Timfish]

MOST of the time just increasing the frequency and/or size of the water changes works for me. I usually syphon off the top layer of sand under the cyno as well and rinse it out and dry it. In all the years I've been doing maintenance I've never had it actually grow over a coral and choke it off but I guess that's always a risk.

[Gonzobob]

There’s lots of good advice above. Best thing to do is start with the root cause. You have cyano and hair algae. This means regardless of any circulation issues you have too many nutrients in the water.

Long term the best starting place is to address the nutrient issue. (BTW besides NTS, overfeeding is the single most common issue in aquariums of all varieties.)

Now along will addressing how the nutrient’s get into your water there are also methods for removing them. This would be where protein skimmers and water changes come into the equation.

[Elizzy]

Thanks all! Yeah - the hair algae came in on that rock - I didn't know I should've brushed it off prior to putting it in the tank - lesson learned. I do have a protein skimmer and just bought a koralia for that area. Will use all your tips!!

[Elizzy]

Update:

Used small airline tubing to suck out all that cyano. Did a 25% water change. Added Polyfilter to hob. Removed fluval 304 filter and biowheel from hob (figured I'd let the rocks handle the bacteria). Replaced lights (big difference noticed in the quality of light).

Cyano has not returned. Hair algae is almost gone.

Woot!

p.s. Did end up buying chemiclean redslime remover, but have not used it yet...

[Crab Rangoon]

(BTW besides NTS, overfeeding is the single most common issue in aquariums of all varieties.)

You can also go the extra mile of rinsing all frozen food before it goes into the tank. I throw all my frozen foods in a brine shrimp net and rinse it under low water flow at the sink until it's 100% defrosted, tap the net a few times or lightly squeeze the food to ditch any remaining moisture and go about feeding to the tank, or fortifying with food-soaks.

I hear way too often that people either put frozen food directly into the aquarium, or defrost it in a small amount of aquarium water & pour it into the tank (defrost water and all). This adds a bunch of extra crud that you'll just be skimming out, and that the fish will not eat, so always worth mentioning.

[Elizzy]

I didn't know that -- thanks, Randy!!