Make the bad red stop!

[blazk]

I am at the end of my rope. I have a pretty bad red algae buildup in my aquarium (fish only). I turned the lights off for 4 days. When i turned them back on, shocking enough the red was all gone. 2 days later, boom back to where it was from the start. I have tested the water and everything is spot on where it should be. The lighting i am using is Octopus Horizon 4ft with 2 x 4ft 54W T5HO Pacific Blue Actinic tube 2 x 4ft 54W T5HO Artic White tube 2 x power heads. I am using RO water now for abut a month or so, with constant 15-20% weekly water changes, sucking off the red off the sand and the live rock each time. Originally my tank started off with de-chlorinated tap water. Any help or advice any could offer would be great.
Thanks for reading.

Tank specs / gear here: Link

 

[dustin_P74]

sounds like cyano algae which is usually a symptom of lack of water flow in the area which it is growing in, so to remedy it just increase water flow to the area and continue water changes. if that doesnt work go back to the no lights but once you turn the lights back on, do a massive water change to get all the nutrients out of the water so it will ahve no food.

 

[cthegame]

I recommend increasing your water changes to x2 per week, less light per day and more flow as dustin suggested.

It takes a few weeks to win the battle so dont be discouraged if you dont see results right a way.

 

[kyle]

a little while ago the same thing happened to me. i just added more flow and did more water changes. it all cleaned up now

 

[yote]

Their right.
Up the flow,siphon out as much as possible,cut the lights,and ron some phosphate media.Then the day you turn the lights back on,do a big water change.

 

[blazk]

How do you mean increase the flow, as in move my powerheads around ?

I moved them into these positions: 1 at the front on the LHS, one in the middle on the RHS and the 2 return pipes aimed downwards towards the front corners of the aquarium. I have a center weir if that helps.

I did order PhosBan 150gm to combat the phophate problem. Do i need to leave the bag in all the time the algae is all gone then take it out or just leave it in there forever?

So i should water change maybe 10% every 3 days? or should i just turn the lights off for 4 days (seems to kill most of it) and do a 30+% water change then?

Sorry for all the questions.

 

[dustin_P74]

id leave them off for four days and then once you flip the lights on do a big a water change as you can

 

[yote]

I'd change enough of the water to allow me to siphon out as much of cyano as possible.Then leave the lights off for 3 or 4 days to kill the rest.Then the day I turned the lights back on,I'd do a 30% water change.
You'll also need to cut back on feeding untill you can figure out where the cyanos nutrients are coming from.
Its a fight that wont be won over night,but it CAN BE WON.You just have to stay on top of it.

 

[blazk]

Feeding wise and fish wise: Yellow tang, Blue Tang (dori), 2 x Clown Fish, Flame Angel, bi color wrasse, valentini puffer. I feed them once ever 2 days with either flake, or brine shrimp with seaweed on a clip. Is this to much food for them or should i be doing something different? I do feed them down a feeding tube if that makes any difference?

 

[yote]

Switch the flakes for frozen mysis.Flakes contain ash which is basically just phosphate.And phosphate is one of the main nutrients for cyano.
Whats your other parameters testing at?

 

[blazk]

Other parameters are:
Nitrate - 0
Ammonia - 0
PH - 8.3
Alkalinity - 1.024

Everything is spot on. So i guess its got to be the flakes ?

 

[yote]

The flakes probably aint the biggest cause,but I'm sure they aint helping.
I usually dont recommend chemicals for cyano.But if all else fails,then a product called Chemi-Clean will help.But the cyano also builds up a resistence to it,so with each dose,you cutting its effectivness.

 

[blazk]

Thanks yote.
The lights are on from 9am till 8pm so 11 hours, is this to long ? Also the moon lights kick on at 8pm till 9am do the moon lights (LED) contribute to the growth of cyano?

 

[Bifferwine]

You can cut back your lights to 6 to 8 hours (if you have corals). If you have fish only, make it 4 hours or so. Reducing your photoperiod will definitely help.

 

[blazk]

Biff is that a permanent thing or just 4 hours a day till it goes away ? Does that include the moon lighting as well ?

 

[Bifferwine]

No, just temporary until you get the algae under control. Moonlight doesn't count, it doesn't put out enough light to make a difference.

 

[project5k]

i was fighting a massive red/brown growth all over my tank, it would fall off a little at night with the lights off but would come back stronger each day with the lights on... nothing i did made a difference, till i started changing the water.. i started this tank with tap water, (didnt know any better at the time) and a friend of mine came over and saw the red stuff and asked me point blank, "you put tap water in the tank didnt you?" I said yea... he said ok, lets go to walmart... bought RO water, did about a 30 gallon change, and over night the red was cut in half... did another 30 gallons the second day, and the red is all but gone... did one more on the 3rd day and now i dont see any except a few little strings that are still stuck to the intake of the canister filter...

also i put some stuff in the canister filter(cause when i got it all it had in it was an old fuzzy bag of carbon, so i put in a phosphate sponge, some of thoes white rocks that come in a plastic container, some bio stars, and 2 filter pads for mechanical filtration...

problem is that i did it all at basically the same time but it got rid of the red/brown skum that was taking over the tank and giving off bubbles.

 

[blazk]

I also started my tank with tap water (de-chlorinated) and soon found that it causes more harm than good. I went and bought a 5 stage RO unit as it worked out cheaper in the long run, that and no one sold RO water here. I have a phosphate remover media in the mail as well as a bucket of salt. So once they get here ill be doing a 30-40% water change then a 20% the next day and then a 10% after that. I have the lights off at the moment to get rid of most of the algae (been off for 3 days now), hopefully monday the delivery will arive. Sounds like a good plan?

With the photphate remover do i just put that into a bag and chuck it in the sump as i dont have a canaster filter, or is there another way ? I was maybe thinking of a DIY Phosphate remover canaster.

 

[yote]

You can put the phosphate media in a bag in the sump,but its not as effective.It'll do better if you can put it in a reactor and give it just enough water flow to gently tumble it.

 

[blazk]

mm i feel a DIY project coming on :D can it be gravity fed or does it NEED a pump ?