Red Hair Algae?

[Creben]

im not sure what this is? it also produces red clumps on the sand. no bubbles have come from it yet. what is it? what should i do about it?
i use 1G jugs of purified water, & the light was new in January...

 

[pheasant29]

looks like cyano. Can you up the flow to these areas?

 

[Creben]

i can try, but it is pretty fast moving in that area. are there other possibilities? additives?

 

[AmberSunrise]

Creben DUUUDE where ya been?

I wouldnt use an additive I think its part of having a new tank.

When was the last time you gave your filter a good scrubbing? Maybe its time to do that. Good cleaning top to bottom make sure you dont have any goop sitting around making nitrates. Have you tested for nitrates??

I have a diamond watchman goby who really keeps my sand bed stirred up so I dont have anything settle.

 

[little_fish]

I agree, its cyano. Are you using tap water? Im kinda confused by the 1 gal jug of distilled. Also what is your stocking like and how much/what are you feeding?

 

[daugherty]

is it just purified water or distilled water. most purified water is just tap water ran through a carbon filter. check the jug to see if it says prepared by reverse osmosis

 

[AmberSunrise]

Just go to the fish store and let them fill up your buckets for you its way easier

 

[daugherty]

as long as you trust the pet store.

 

[Creben]

ok well its wal-mart brand i think its prepared by just filtering tap water..
i change the filter media every 2-3 weeks, im about to just not have any media there and use it for circulation, because of my 40lbs of live sand & live rock.
i dont have any trates in the tank, or ammonia. it just looks bad.
little fish, i have 1 clown and 1 chromis as well as a CUC and 2 clams. i feed about 1/4 of a frozen shrimp cube per day and put in phyto every couple days.
amber i have been busy! trying to get through college. i was looking at a goby to do that but i was told they get too big? i have 2 fish in my 20L.

 

[AmberSunrise]

Yeah I dont think I would put anything from walmart in my tank LOL

Doenst 'nooga have any saltwater fish stores?? Geez

I dont see why you couldnt get a goby in your tank they dont get that big nor do they swim around. I think as long as you dont get something that is going to grow a foot or that likes to swim a lot you will be fine.

My goby doesn't swim at all he just moves sand around all day he is awesome.

 

[Creben]

well i just may pick one up soon then. did you glue your rocks together so they wouldn't topple? is that a big issue with gobies?

we have about 3, and only one is really noteworthy. yote works there! although ive never seen him.

oh, and yes i think wal-mart is a fail at everything i just didn't want to drive any further. now i know =]

 

[Creben]

my LFS told me the algae was 'red slime' so bought some chemicals to kill it today. i boiled the infected rocks, sucked up some, and put in the chemicals. when should i do a water change? the instructions didn't mention one but im assuming i should...

 

[little_fish]

Ya, and you probably just caused a cycle if you boiled you rocks. I would get water ready for a change asap and monitor closely.

 

[Creben]

what should i be looking for, ammonia?
the rocks had no life on them other than bacteria, im drying them for a few days before i put them back in.

 

[little_fish]

Oh, in that case you might be fine.

But yes, in any cycle you look for ammonia, then nitrites, and then finally the nitrates

 

[Creben]

Phosphate .25
pH 8.0
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 2.5
Salinity 1.024
Temperature 80F

its day 1 of the blackout/medication. there is still some red slime in the sand and on the rocks, i hope i wasn't supposed to see it all gone by now..
fish, CUC, coral looks healthy.

 

[Creben]

Day 2:

Phosphate .25
pH 8.0
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0
Salinity 1.024
Temperature 78F

i dosed the tank again, and still i see red alge on the sand! what should i do if there is no change? dose more?

 

[little_fish]

You need to get those phosphates down. I would invest in a GFO reactor. Also, those red slime away stuffs can create a strain of the cyano in your tank that is resistant to that killer. You need to address what its feeding off of to get it to go away.

 

[Creben]

ok. the phosphate is holding strong at .25. should i switch my water i put in there? im using spring water from wal-mart but i feel like thats not the best.. i cut back the lighting to 8hrs a day (apart from this black out) and i feed 1/4th of a shrimp cube a day to 2 fish... any other ideas for the source?

 

[ErinCahir]

I would guess the water... spring and RO are not the same.