I get the feeling this ain't GOOD algae

[andsoitgoes]

It's now covering a large portion of the rock - Great shroom on it and some anthelia - I can move 'em and clean the rock, but I'd rather not have to.

Is this something I need to worry about? It LOOKS like BGA, but I don't want to kill something good without knowing (already turfed my share of good worms )

Thanks in advance!

Nick

[Der_Iron_Chef]

I can't really tell from the pic, but it looks like cyanobacteria to me.

[mixixe]

you can just suck it up with a siphon if it is

[andsoitgoes]

It was spreading like the DICKENS though, I roughed the shroom off of the rock, looked more closely and that's for sure what it was.

I'd like to keep the rock, so I've done a good clean, the second I see anything come back though, that's it. I may see if I can save the other critters in the rock (mini brittle stars, and such) but otherwise rock go bye bye, disappointing, it's a pretty rock.

The last thing I need is a nasty cyano outbreak in my tank *shudder* - Not make me happy.

[Delphinus]

Don't get rid of the rock.

How old is your tank?

Unfortunately, it's not uncommon to go through a few different plagues during a tank's "settling in" period. Although a tank may be "cycled" within a matter of weeks it's not truly hit a sort of equilibrium/steady-state until a few months in and until then you can have a plague of cyano, a plaque of hair algae, probably a bunch of other things that make you think "This sucks! What am I doing wrong!" and yet you're not doing anything wrong, and if all else is well then they should pass.

However, in general, cyanobacteria blooms result from a high nitrate level, thus anything that helps lower nitrates will help keep it in check. These include, increased water movement, increased skimming, growing/pruning macroalgaes such as caulerpa (or even better, chaeto), reduced feedings if overfeeding, etc. In a new tank it could be as simple as the bacteria populations required to reduce nitrate simply haven't reached the tipping point yet.

If it gets *really bad* there are treatments such as "Red Slime Remover" and they do a bang-up job, however if the root cause of the cyano is not addressed, it will return.

Also, sometimes cyano can indicate old lights. In my first tank that was lit only by 4x40 fluorescents, I could always tell when the actinics hit six months (literally, to the day).