Is it safe to let algae run it's course, or should I be actively siphoning it / trying to fight it?

mell0w · Aug 9, 2020

I have a tank that is 1 month old, there's a dusting on the sandbed that's brown and has some airbubbles and also some rocks developing an almost slime like hair algae with bubbles and I'm afraid it's dino but it could also just be cyano (seems to have started when I added 2 clownfish and started feeding frozen food that got blown around the tank and probably not eaten). My other green algae taking over the back wall also has air bubbles, and well photosynthesis creates air bubbles doesn't it?

Anyway, I was considering doing a blackout or treating with 1ml per 10 gal Hydrogen Peroxide but I'm also under the assumption that maybe let nature take it's course? Let the algae develop, let **** happen, develop diversity of life, etc or is that just a bad idea?

I have 2 clownfish, a large colony of GSP and a medium colony of Xenia. So nothing crazy in there yet but I don't want them to die.

What do you think is the best course, considering the tank is 1 month old?

Just for the record, all my tests are fine after doing a fishless cycle and converting 4 PPM ammonia to 0 in 24 hours. Right now ammonia is 0, nitrite is 0, nitrate is 0-5, salinity 1.026

Also should note some of the live rock I had purchased about a month ago is developing coraline algae (pinkish/purple encrustments starting to take over that rock). I don't want to kill that stuff with a blackout or hydrogen peroxide

ReefBeta · Aug 9, 2020

It won't hurt to let the it run its course for couple more months. Green algae with bubbles sounds more like cyano. For cyano it's best to just use red slime remover to nuke them. I don't have much experience with dino so can't comment on that. For a new tank, it will need more photosynthesis creatures to out complete the algae, chaeto in refugium, ATS, more corals, are all fine choice. My usual approach is to just let the cyano be and start stocking up corals. After it's mostly good on coral and they're comfortable in the tank, I then nuke the cyano with red slime remover. I don't usually do it early because new corals will have chance to reintroduce it again.