Green Algae on Sand

[mello87]

Hi all,

I have a 70G cube reef since 2 years and I need some help with this algae on sand (Phot attached), I've been struggling for months without success. I had chaetto algae few months ago but began to die, i think that this could be the cause of my algae problem...

My Parameters:

PO4: 0,06
NO3: 15
MG: 1270
CA: 370
KH: 8,5
Temp: 78
Salinity: 1.024
RODI Water for reposition.

Thanks a lot in advance.

 

[mello87]

Edit: Cannot be cyano, cause it doesn't harm corals...

 

[mello87]

No one could help??

 

[Makers Marc]

I posted a recent thread with similar looling algae and got hundreds of views, but not one guess...

 

[mello87]

And how are u facing it? what do u think it is? I'm thinking on taking out all sand and replacing it with new one.... (Could you paste ur post?)
Thanks.

 

[Makers Marc]

You can find it by clicking on my username then post history.

Guessing it's green cyano. Mechanically siphoning every 3-4 days. Basting rocks as.often as I can. Been dosing no3 to above 4ppm.

It's not as bad as a month ago where it got out of control after 24 hrs. Prob tied to me starting off with all dry rock and sand.

 

[mello87]

seems to be same algae than i have... Did u put chaetto on ur reef before having this algae?

 

[Makers Marc]

seems to be same algae than i have... Did u put chaetto on ur reef before having this algae?

I did. But just for pods, not nutrient removal. Using 1 cup of GFO per month.

U use dry rock and sand.too?

 

[jolt]

I have something similar. I have come to believe it is spirulina. I haev not had it checked under a microscope though. It was not affectedperoxide when I performed the cyano test described elsewhere on R2R (put a clump in 2 cups of water, add peroxide and see if it kills the algae). The only thing it has responded to is chemiclean. But it came back in 6 months.

Here's a relevant thread: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/best-treatment-for-spirulina.247038/

 

[Makers Marc]

I have something similar. I have come to believe it is spirulina. I haev not had it checked under a microscope though. It was not affectedperoxide when I performed the cyano test described elsewhere on R2R (put a clump in 2 cups of water, add peroxide and see if it kills the algae). The only thing it has responded to is chemiclean. But it came back in 6 months.

Here's a relevant thread: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/best-treatment-for-spirulina.247038/

How long do you wait and see if it killed the algae?

 

[jolt]

IMO it doesn't look like cyano but just some diatoms.

This copied from our good friend @twilliard, just read up and give it a shot.

"Here is the thing about what you are seeing.
It is one of 2 things
Cyanobacteria or spirulina
Now these 2 different things have 2 different treatments
Can you rid your tank of these? Yes
Here is a test to know what you have
Take a small section of the problem area
Put that in 2 cups of tank water
Add 1ml of h2o2 to that container
Wait 24 hours
If the water turns a pink color and the tested section green it's cyanobacteria
If it doesn't do any change its spirulina"

 

[mello87]

Thanks a lot for the info, i will test it and post results. LEts see if it's spirulina or cyano.

 

[Diesel]

70 gallon.....
What's your bio load and what you feed fish and corals and how much?
IMO it ain't a big deal, just a loss of balance in your tank.
Cheato has a roll in even you use it just for pods as one mentioned it does help with nutrient control.
One thing is with macros is that your potassium needs to be tested as it will effect your K.

 

[mello87]

4 fishes, the biggest is an hepatus. I feed only fishes, never corals and i feed all kind of food, frozen, dry, masttick and i do it 4 times a day separatly, not too much but not a lot, because i only have 4 fishes... I attach a photo of my tank from a month ago (without the algae). I asked about chaetto, because i used until it started to crumble, coming to think that my algae problem was this...

 

[Makers Marc]

Dang. Helped you get traction with experts lol. Send em to my thread plz lol

 

[Diesel]

4 fishes, the biggest is an hepatus. I feed only fishes, never corals and i feed all kind of food, frozen, dry, masttick and i do it 4 times a day separatly, not too much but not a lot, because i only have 4 fishes... I attach a photo of my tank from a month ago (without the algae). I asked about chaetto, because i used until it started to crumble, coming to think that my algae problem was this...

I would cut down on feeding the fish by 50% for a week or two to see results if any.
Adjust light schedule by a hour in the morning and evening.
Looks like you got LED lights.
Any reds in there?
But for most don't freak out, green algae never killed a coral or fish it is just for some ugly to look at.
For all the time and effort you put in you shouldn't have any of that green stuff....... right!?!........ WRONG, having a little algae makes your tank more mature and it's a indication that your eco-system is off a bit.
Even me encounter that.
How to fix..... feeding the eco-system, I had good luck with 3 ml of oyster feast on every 100 G of tank water.

 

[Diesel]

Dang. Helped you get traction with experts lol. Send em to my thread plz lol

Link

 

[Makers Marc]

Link

https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink?ur...&share_tid=395999&share_fid=1020&share_type=t

 

[mello87]

I would cut down on feeding the fish by 50% for a week or two to see results if any.
Adjust light schedule by a hour in the morning and evening.
Looks like you got LED lights.
Any reds in there?
But for most don't freak out, green algae never killed a coral or fish it is just for some ugly to look at.
For all the time and effort you put in you shouldn't have any of that green stuff....... right!?!........ WRONG, having a little algae makes your tank more mature and it's a indication that your eco-system is off a bit.
Even me encounter that.
How to fix..... feeding the eco-system, I had good luck with 3 ml of oyster feast on every 100 G of tank water.

Thanks Diesel, whole reason

I know that is it not harmful for corals or fishes (in fact, they like it). I have a Maxspect razor 130W (50% whites 100% blue), without reds and i tried before it reducing photoperiod without any changes ... I'm not going to use chemicals or blackouts (i learned with this hobby that nature is just a patience game), i will try to stabilize it as i did it with all the other algaes. This algae is the one that baffles me the most, since I do not find much info about it...

 

[Diesel]

Thanks Diesel, whole reason

I know that is it not harmful for corals or fishes (in fact, they like it). I have a Maxspect razor 130W (50% whites 100% blue), without reds and i tried before it reducing photoperiod without any changes ... I'm not going to use chemicals or blackouts (i learned with this hobby that nature is just a patience game), i will try to stabilize it as i did it with all the other algaes. This algae is the one that baffles me the most, since I do not find much info about it...

Everything with time my friend.
You learn, battle and concur but foremost enjoy this hobby as long it's still possible.