red alge stuff...

[Max]

i have red alge (or bacteria my lfs says) i think its alge its red and its on my rocks and gravel, also it is stringy, and i added 15 blue legs (took em from my 10G) and they seemed to eat eat. but my lfs said they wouldnt eat it... so i think it IS just regular red alge, what do you think?

 

[Great Lakes]

It is cyano bacteria almost for certain. If you try to clean it out, do so being careful not to break it up too much, this can spread it.

Some things may eat it, some may not, this varies. Cutting back on your lighting a little can help it go away.

GL

 

[Navarre]

GL is right, cyano.
It looks like an algea but it is actually a bacteria so yes your local shop is right and has given you good advise

As has been mentions, try and syphon off some if you can, increase the circulation in the tank as cyano is also an indication that the flow is low. Cyano hates higher water flows as it cannot get a grip so easily.

Im afraid there is no real fast easy or quick way to get rid ot if. Its part of the natural maturing process of the tank. Some times it can dissapear in weeks, others it can take months

Finding a cleanup crew to eat it is hard, most wont touch it so if your hermits are eating it then you are doing very well indeed.

What you must also try and discover is why its appearing. Cyano is eating something.. nutrient are high i would guess. I would tests for phosphates and nitrates in the tank.
Make sure you take water from as close to the cyano as possible, you will be astounded in the difference in phosphate levels in here when compared ot the open areas of your tank.

Once you have reduced the amounts of nutrients in the tank then the cyano will die off.
In the early setup you get cyano bloom because of the silicates in the sand etc. but once this is used up the cyano dissapears. Of course, if the tank starts to get high nutrients then the cyano will never go.

 

[Max]

ph-7.8
ammonia- 8.0 (whoa!)
nitrite- 5.0
nitrate- 80 (whoa again....!)

wow bad water

what can this do to my tank? other then look bad?

 

[Navarre]

Hmm.. not good at all.

What do you have in the tank at the moment?
With ammonia and nitrite this high your livestock is in serious trouble.

Can you re-test again? lets hope its faulty test kits or something. These readings are extremely high.

Edit: How did you manage to change your name?

 

[Guilio]

I'd be very very worried if your ammonia was really that high, im surprised most of your tanks inhabitants aren't dead yet... If it is true then id say time for some water changes.

 

[ILikeVoltron]

I just went thru a big bit of Cyano, I got some Chem-clean and it helped it a bunch! I also picked up two maxi-jet 900's as my flow was not all that great, now its amazing. I've treated the Cyano a few times and there is still some under my substraight but my LFS said thats normal and it'll go away in time. I'm yet to add fish and only have live rock in there now. I just have to sit around and wait

 

[Max]

well i retested (not as high at all but still prettie high...) im still cycling though, you know that right?

 

[Max]

Edit: How did you manage to change your name?

i pm-ed william

 

[Navarre]

Phew ok i thought you had livestock in the tank. If the tank is going through its cycle then thats ok. Just wit until both the Ammonia and Nitrite drops off the scale. You should be left with Nitrates.. I would do a large water change when this hapens to bring down the Nitrate levels and then start to add your fish.

 

[Max]

i did a 15% change of water. got most of the stuff off... (oh and i have three damsels if you didnt know that... read the busy busy post of mine....) but the damsels are doing fine... (i woulda thought they woulda died by now... )

 

[neilpearson]

If you have damsels in there you really need to do some big, big water changes or they will be dead very soon.

Do as big of a change as you can. If ammonia and nitrite aren't below 0.2 do another big one. Continue changing water until it is under 0.2

Or better yet... pull them out of the tank and take them back to the fish store until your tank is done cycling. There is no point in torturing (or killing) the poor fish while the tank cycles.

 

[Navarre]

I can only echo nielpersons words. No fish should be used to cycle a tank. Is harsh and cruel when you consider that there are many other safer and less dramatic steps can be taken.

Just because a fish survives a tank cycle doesnt mean it hasnt suffered dramtically through the process.

Sorry if i sound harsh but patience is the jey to this hobby and placing the welfare of your livestock first is the utmost importance. )