Question about Ryan's Biome Cycling Talk at RAP

[jkobel]

So I have a RS625 and i had been having a massive algae outbreak. GHA and other turf type algae, among others. In my tank I keep (among other things) a Ruby Scooter and a Mandarin so I add pods as needed but I have a pretty healthy pod population as well due to growing Chaeto in my sump. The stringy nasty algae on the back wall was almost 100% covering the back wall, then I went away for 5 days.

When I returned, I saw that the back wall was 100% clear of algae but the sand was covered in a thick layer of purple nasty gunk, exactly like what Ryan shows in the first 30 mins or so of his talk at RAP about pods eating various kinds of algae.

So, that was cool but now I have this purple gunk and its hard to clean up. I just did a 20 gal water change and vacuuming basically just stirred it all up and it looks terrible, its clumped together and did not want to just get sucked up. Has anyone encountered this and how did they get their sand clean?

Thx

Edit - removed link to video

 

[CoralB]

A pic under whites would be helpful but from what your saying it sounds like cyano bacteria. Keep doing the manual removal, add a competing good bacteria like microbactor 7 daily until you get a handle on it , run a UV light in line if you can , live phytoplankton can be helpful, cutting back your lighting intensity and time for 3-4 days . Increase flow in the tank , get your parameters in check and keep them steady and really important to not let your phosphates and nitrates zeroed out ever . Phosphates should be between 0.05 - 1.0 your nitrates should be between 10-15 ppm . It may take a few weeks to correct but nothing good happens fast in this hobby so be patient and it will pass . The good news maybe is that you dodged a episode of Dino’s which probably was the stringy stuff you had on the back wall before you left . Good luck and keep it steady and consistent.

 

[jkobel]

My nitrates and phosphates never read above 0 (Hanna) but they must be present since I have algae everywhere. Both on the rocks/sand and growing Chaeto in the sump. I periodically will run a GFO reactor when the algae in the DT gets out of control for a few weeks which seems to put it all back in check for a month or two.

Would love some advice on how to balance the N and P out, thats an area I do struggle with but first i need to get rid of this gunk all over my sand.

Pics below

 

[CoralB]

The info I gave you will do the job but now I have to add to get rid of the chaeto and move it off line . Manual removal of the algae and maybe pick up a few tuxedo urchins and Mexican turbo snails . The purple stuff I’m pretty sure is cyano bacteria which manual removal , UV light, and competing good bacteria will help as well as cutting back the length and intensity of your lighting to remove . Right now your gha and chaeto are eating up your nutrients ie: phosphates and nitrates and until it gets balanced you will be fighting to get those two parameters up . If you don’t want to dose them then overfeed your tank just don’t overdo too much . In this case reef roids is your friend as well as your fish food . If you maintain your parameters correctly and keep feeding phosphates and nitrates you will get through this but it does take time as it didn’t happen overnight . It will take a few weeks I would say at the minimum. Patience is key as well as diligence. Once you’ve taken care of this keep your phosphates between the parameters I said earlier and never let them zero out again . The cyano and Dino’s possibility are always in your tank and will take hold like it did when your nutrients are zeroed out . Oh one more thing I saw to increase flow .