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What algae is this?

arvin

NJRC Member
Can someone help me identify this algae?

IMG_5303.jpg


I have got this for a month and half. Sometimes it looks like it is going away and some other times it gets worse.
 

redfishbluefish

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
Arvind, I have the same problem, but I’ve just gone through some major changes…lights, high temperature, new skimmer, high salinity. Do you also get multiple gas bubbles after the lights have been on for several hours? That’s what is happening to me. Hundreds of small gas bubbles covering the brown mat.

I just assumed it was cyano!
 

arvin

NJRC Member
Hi Paul, mine went through major changes also. A month ago, my basement sump started leaking. So I had to replace it. For one week the tank survived without skimmer, carbon, phosban etc. Salinity was high and low and in between during the change. Also the temperature dropped because of a faulty heater that I didnt notice for couple of days.

I went and looked and yes, those bubbles are there! Were you able to get rid of it? And how?
 

redfishbluefish

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
I’m convinced it’s a nutrient problem, so in addition to stabilizing the tank, I’m also doing frequent water changes, cutting down on feeding and skimming like crazy. It’s slowly improving.
 

mnat

Officer Emeritus
Staff member
Moderator
What is your flow like in the tank? We had some in the 20g when we just had a koralia nano on there (which was not enough). Once we added the mp10 on there we never got them again. We also cleaned our sand bed around the same time which also helped.
 

redfishbluefish

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
mnat said:
We also cleaned our sand bed around the same time which also helped.

How do you clean the sandbed? I heard if you disrupt the sandbed it will make it worse by releasing nutrients.
 

mnat

Officer Emeritus
Staff member
Moderator
One of the bonuses of having a nano is cleaning is easy. We literally pulled everything out of the tank and put it in heated tanks and then drained the display. Then we rinsed the sand with saltwater until we saw no brown water. I know this is literally impossible to do with a larger tank, but we did it maybe twice a year on our tanks. Now we have pistol shrimps in all three tanks and a jawfish so the sand gets turned over pretty often. Depending on how old the sand bed is, a pistol shrimp can stir up a lot of nasty stuff and lead to other algae outbreaks. We have always had a ton of nassarius and cerith snails to help with the sand beds, but I really don't know how I would clean a large sand bed.
 

arvin

NJRC Member
mnat said:
What is your flow like in the tank? We had some in the 20g when we just had a koralia nano on there (which was not enough). Once we added the mp10 on there we never got them again. We also cleaned our sand bed around the same time which also helped.

I have a closed loop system. Plus a Koralia 3+Koralia 4+Koralia 5. It is a 180g tank. I am going to give siphoning a shot. Never done that before. Let me see how it helps.

I have a cuc also in there somewhere. I think one may not be enough for this size tank.
 
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