Algae ID please

[cancruiser]

Can someone let me know what this is in the pic? Its brown and slimey looking and the sand is clumping beneath it.

http://www.execulink.com/~cancruiser/whatsthis.jpg

[jtremblay]

Cyano bacteria -- a photosynthetic bacteria that shows up, en masse, in the first few months of almost every system.

Ramp up your nutrient export and it'll burn itself out in time.

It just happens to like like butt.

It's dead easy to syphon out with a turkey baster, btw.

Not that I've pulled a pound or two of it from my tank, or anything :D

Jason

[Mijee]

Definetely Cyanobacteria. They thrive on dissolved organics so crank up your skimmer and sometimes a die-off can be set in motion with siphoning out and basting so it can't get a hold on your tank. Don't use chemicals no matter what your LFS says.
It will go away.

[cancruiser]

Looks like the baster wil be coming out tonight. Unfortunately my skimmer is on full tilt (prism) and is not doing a heck of a lot. So the baster will have to do.

Thanks folks

[MountainM]

for a quick kill if it gets bad use red slime remover

[cancruiser]

Ok, of the responses here two of them have different views. One saying no chemicals another saying use red slime remover. What disadvantages or advantages do each option have?

[jtremblay]

Chemicals get at the symptom (the cyano), not the cause (too many organics). Red Slime Remover and so forth are all antibiotics that might slow down your system's maturation.

Long-term, given your high bio-load, I'd say with absolute 100% certainty that a beefier skimmer will more effectively deal with the problem than chemicals.

Just IMO, however :D

Jason

[Chrismo]

A good skimmer might help, but it's a very normal part of the break in cycle, dont worry about it. I would imagine even people with kick ass skimmers get it with a new tank breaking in.

If it were a persistant problem after 6 months, you then might want explore ways of controlling it. But very likely, it will sort itself out with or without you poking at it.

It is ugly though, When it first starts appearing it looked a nice red I thought, then gets sticky and gross looking. For me, more irculation around the sand helped clear it up... I think that lets more things in the sandbed thrive and compete with the slime.

[TJ_Burton]

Watch out when using MEDS to clear up Slime Algae problems...
It is a Bacteria thus needs an antibiotic to be irraticated. Altho when treated with an antibiotic it has great results in killing and clearing up the CyanoBacteria... it also kills all your hard earned beneficial bacteries such as what is on your LR...

So basically you also end up killing a crap load of filtration!

[cancruiser]

OK, no meds for now. That are the effects of these meds on corals? LPS and softies in particular.

[TJ_Burton]

Not much from what I have seen... the only coral that I saw respond to it was a green cap and it recoverd shortly after...

[cancruiser]

What about a GOOD hang on skimmer? My prism is finally working but it's not pulling out what I think it should be.

[TJ_Burton]

my bad..

[cancruiser]

TJ, Wrong thread? What are you referring to ???

[aquanut40]

Hello

Products marketed as red slime removers are poison plain and simple and are only a band-aid solution at best. Better nutrient export is the only long term solution.

Stan