She's Seeing RED (Algae, That is!) - 10/18/06
Hello,
<Hi there! Scott F. here today!>
I'm not sure where about to begin!
I have 120 gallon marine aquarium, full with live rock and various soft corals.  My fish are 1 Yellow Tang, 2 Clowns, 1 Pink-Spotted blenny (I love him). 2 Chalk Gobies, 1 Mandarin, 1 Flame Angel, 2 Chromis, 2 Blue Damsels, 1 Cleaner Shrimp, 20 plus blue hermits, 20 plus Turbos and a couple of Nassarius snails (haven't seen them for a while)!
<Nice mix of animals!>
I've been struggling with algae blooms.  The Nitrate level is less than 20mg and Nitrite is less than 0.1mg.  The Phosphates aren't 0, but they are less than 0.25mg.  I'm beginning to think the lights are incorrect.
<Well, lights alone are not causing your nuisance large problem. Lighting plus nutrients equals algae growth.>
The reason I am mailing you (finally getting to the point) is the remaining green hair algae has begun to grow red.  Its not slimy, its not hairy like the green algae, it looks like a blanket of algae or furry.  I've been removing it, but last time to we pulled it up some small remains must have spread.  Within 1 week, we have  a small blanket of the stuff over a rock.  It grows very fast.
<Sounds like the dreaded Cyanobacteria, or some other nuisance algae.>
I don't really want to add anything to kill it, incase it kills my snails and crew, but I did look and LFS don't seem to sell anything to remove it unless you keep freshwater.
<You don't want to use any "quick fix" products. With a few husbandry adjustments, you can beat it naturally!>
I'm going to remove it again later, but everything I read, either is about red coralline, Cyanobacteria /slime algae, its not coralline and its not slimy.
<Hmm...>
The fish and corals all seem to be great, I have red coralline algae the live rock.  I don't want to turn the lights out, as I don't want to kill my coral.  I'm stuck.
<Not really.>
I have checked your forums too, but can't seem to find anything.  Please can you help.
Thanks
Lindsey
<Well, Lindsey, without a photo, an ID of the algae would be really tough. There are literally thousands of suspects! With most nuisance algae, the problem is generally caused by excesses of nutrients somewhere in the system. Your phosphate level is of concern. Phosphates accumulate from food. The associated packing juices from frozen foods, and uneaten foods can contribute. My first recommendation is to feed very carefully, not allowing any excess foods to accumulate. In addition, you should embrace a schedule of regular small water changes with high quality source water (RO/DI), employ chemical filtration media, such as activated carbon or Poly Filter, and use a good protein skimmer, adjusted to produce skimmate daily. Maintain a stable, high pH and alkalinity, and keep good water movement in the system. Persistent good husbandry will see this nuisance algae bloom out. It doesn't happen overnight, but steady work on your part will do the trick. I hope that these ideas will give you some food for thought to look into the root causes of the algae problem. Best of luck to you! Regards, Scott F.>

Identification Question  10/15/06
Hello!
<Hello.>
I have a hopefully quick question for you concerning identification of some seemingly odd growths in my nano-reef.  The tank itself is a pleasant little 7gal with a various assortment of soft corals.  Here's where the issue comes to light.  I've had the tank up for a year and a half and have been very happy with it.  However, in the past view weeks I've noticed some odd purple/reddish-brown bulbous growths that seem to grow exclusively near my green metallic mushrooms.  I would almost go so far as to say that they appear to be filled with air....rather odd.  They do not, at this point, appear to be harming anything.  I tried searching through your site to shed some light on this before sending out this email, but honestly, I wasn't quite sure where to start.  I've attached a very rough picture (best I could do with the materials at hand) of the growths.
Thanks for your help!
Jacob
<I'll be honest, it's really hard to tell from this picture... I'm going to guess, based on your description, that this is Cyanobacteria - Blue/Green Algae. More to read on this here:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/bluegralgae.htm
Cheers, J -- >

Is Diatoms, Not Detritus - 09/02/06
Hello there,
<<Hi!>>
I have a question that I asked my local "fish guy" and he answered the best he could but for some reason I have a feeling that his advice isn't working.
<<Ok>>
I have a 50 gal SW tank and everything has been awesome for about 6 months.  Now, I am seeing huge amounts of algae growth.  I know
that the coralline algae is a good thing so I don't mess with that, and even some of the green algae can be desirable, correct?
<<Indeed...>>
But, my problem is not with those two things, I have an outbreak of this brown (copper-colored) algae all over my sand and some of my glass!
<<Sounds like diatoms...do have a good read here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/diatomfaqs.htm >>
My fish guy asked if anything had died in there and I told him no.
<<Are you filtering the your make-up/top-off water?>>
His thought about it was that it was detritus?
<<Nope>>
He gave me some pouch to put in filter but that doesn't seem to be working either.  I just don't get it, I have good water quality and nothing has ever died...I need help figuring out what it is so I can do something about it.  HELP!
<<If you aren't filtering your water, consider getting an RO/DI unit...if you are filtering your water, check/replace the membranes/DI cartridge.  You can also try adding some bio-turbators (Cerith snails work well) for your substrate and add some Poly-Filter to your tank filter flow path>>
Krysti
<<Regards, EricR>>