Red algae cleanup question
 

Hello, it seems that I have some cyano red algae to starting to grow on top of my sand bed. From what I have read on the majority of the posts here is that I should be doing regular water changes and making sure I am not overfeeding my fish. Currently the algae patch is approximately 6 inches in diameter. My tank is approximately 230 gallons with the following equipment: 4 radion led lights, 2 mp40's 2 mp10's, vertech 280 skimmer, BRS activated carbon/GFO reactor, RO/DI auto top up and water change water, 120 gallon sump. I am doing about 15% weekly water change and I'm currently subscribing to the Prodibio nutrient Regiment. I currently only have nine fish and approximately 5 soft corals, my clean up crew consists of about 40 snails and 40 crabs. My tank is only about four months old. I will take a picture of my tank and problem area tonight and post it later on tonight.

My question is can I use a freshwater gravel cleaner to siphon out the red algae into a bucket and throw it away? My sand is very fine so I'm assuming some of that would end up in the siphon as well. Or is there another way of getting rid of this stuff. I used to have a diamondback goby but he died about a month ago, should I just get another one of them to clean up the problem.

Thank you
Rick

Generally what happens here is the algae is gaining a foothold because it's getting ( food ) from somewhere, tap water, to much food?

Is there a possibility you could have been overfeeding, or not washing the frozen food you are feeding in RO water?

Have you been topping up your tank with tap water?

I would start basic, do a water change and double check your feeding method; make sure you are putting clean food in the tank and certainly not to much, wait and see if this helps.

If it gets right out of control there are other means to treat the algae; however learning why it's happening & how to prevent it will be of more benefit to you in the future.

If the algae gets out of control you can look for a product called ChemiClean by Boyd Enterprises http://www.chemi-pure.com/ I believe all of the site sponsored vendors could help you acquire this; it will get rid of the algae visually, however it will not cure the source of the problem.

I am using RO/DI from my water. And I am soaking my frozen food and straining it before putting it into my aquarium. Maybe for the next few weeks I will just feed them the fish flakes.

Thanks

I am using RO/DI for all my water. And I am soaking my frozen food and straining it before putting it into my aquarium. Maybe for the next few weeks I will just feed them the fish flakes.

Thanks

I have a very similar set up to yours and had been getting a little bit of cyano lately too. I vacuumed the cyano spots off of my sand with no ill effects. To keep from sucking up too much sand just pinch the hose slightly and you will be able to control the suction by doing so. This will allow you to keep the majority of the sand from going through the hose into your W/C bucket along with the cyano.

As far as the diamondback goes, it can't hurt. I added 3 sand sifting starfish to my set up and it helps in my case.

So far the best treatment for me was frequent water changes with careful attention to vacuuming the cyano up every time. Also as a PP mentioned, rinsing the frozen/thawed food very well in RODI water is another great tip. You shouldn't need to stop feeding that type of food if it's rinsed well.

My cyano is gone after just increasing my W/C's and extra rinsing of the food.

Also if things get very out of hand you could try dimming down your lights slightly, it won't hurt your corals.

40snails and 40crabs is a lot. Even for a bigger tank.just one dieing would cause cyano.

How old are the filters on your rodi?

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vacuum out the cyano, 4 months old is still very young, if you just started the prodibio then I would say your system is adjusting and maturing, stay the course, chemiclean is the last resort.

Seems like a bit of new tank issues. I had the same thing on my 180 right after my diatoms set in. Manually removed daily, water changes and finally added a carbon/gfo reactor. I also adjusted my powerheads, added in sand snails and a sand star (who would touch the cyano and go the other way...lol) and a diamond back goby. While the goby didn't really do much with the cyano, he keeps the sand clean so that it does not have a chance to get going. Within a couple of weeks, it went away and has not returned. Patience and diligence, hopefully it clears pretty quickly for you.