live rock problem

[amstar15]

i recently upgraded my lights to two 175 watt 10k halide lights. they run 9 hours and I have two 40 watt blue actinic lights, they run about 10 hours a day. my live rock is always growing brown, now red, alage. I know this cant be good. is distilled water bad. I have to put in about a gallon a day. I am at a loss for why this is happening. All of my corals, mushrooms and polpys are doing great. alot of budding and reproducing. amonia is alittle high but everything else is in check. any ideas? Do I just need to give my cleaning crew a boost. 75 gallon tank maybe 25 "small" red legged hermits. Maybe 10 snails at this point. I bought a cleaner crew about three and half years ago. is this my problem? When I take the live rock and flip it over to "hide" the alage I have good coraline growth, pink, purple, orange. I havent put my mudd filter on yet. I have a wet dry running with a berlin protein skimmer.

 

[Navarre]

The red algae is not an algae, its a bacteria. It will be effected by the new lights as this new higher light level with boost enrgey outputs of various organisms in the tank. Turning the rcocks over will not help the situation as this stuff will simply cover the rocks again within a matter of hours.
High circulation on the effected areas will help, each time you do a water change make sure you syphon up as much as you can. If you have ammonia (which if you have fish in the tank then you should have none) then you are almost certain to be creating high nutrients in the tank and this is whay cyano live and thrives on.
Cut back on feeding, allow the tank to cycle normally and do not add anything to the tank until its cycled.
When this is done, add your cleanupcrew, 1 crew per gallon.. so 75 gallons will need 75 hermit/snails.

 

[bluefyre88]

i have a 2 month old 55 gallon tank....and i had the exact same problem ... red cyano....i went to my local pet store and he had this powder for it....took care of the problem in 10 hours! i added it....its reef safe and fish safe and invert safe..........added it and 24 hours later did a 20% water change as directed...took care of the problem amazingly! best of luck.

 

[amstar15]

do you remember the name of it?

 

[Navarre]

there is a medication that will get rid of it. Its called "Antired"
Reef safe and works very well. Doesnt deal with the root of the problem though whch means why the cyano is there.

 

[bluefyre88]

i will look up the name of it for you and get back to you by the end of today hopefully....sorry i cant give it to you right now but its not with me at this moment ... i lent it to a friend....i'll get it back ... or at least the name today..
-blue
*note it wasnt called Antired...but i'm sure that works well also...*

 

[Navarre]

Its not the same product. Antired is a liquid and the treatment that was mentioned was a powder. I have never heard of this treatment but if it works it might well be worth trying.

 

[Salt Freak]

Chemi clean works well to

 

[amstar15]

have you ever heard of using a freshwater tablet? it is made by mardel and it is called maracyn. It is for freshwater fish who get fin and tail rot, popeye and "body fungus". the local lfs said that they all use this in their own SW Reef tanks. They add one tablet (crush up into a fine powder) for every 50 gallons to control their red alage/slim. im going to try it tomorrow.

 

[Salt Freak]

I personally would still use a product that is designed to kill that bacteria. It could have metals in it that could kill inverts.

 

[jflowers]

No mention of contents or whether reef safe


Maracyn Mardel Laboratories, Inc.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Maracyn is a specially compounded broad-spectrum antibiotic which has been shown to be effective against a number of pathogenic bacteria associated with ornamental fish diseases. It was developed for complete but gradual dissolution in freshwater.
For infections of: Columnaris (body fungus), fin and tail rot, Popeye, Gill disease, and secondary infections.

Indications: Maracyn is primarily effective against gram-positive pathogenic organisms. Symptoms of clamped fins, swollen eyes, heavy or rapid breathing, patchy coloration, change in swimming behavior or corner hiding can be signs of possible bacterial infection. All suspected bacterial infections should be treated immediately.

Administration and Dosage: Maracyn tablets should be dropped into the tank (not the filter). The tablets dissolve rapidly and circulate throughout the water. A dosage of one tablet per ten (10) gallons (37.85 liters) is recommended. Repeat treatment every 24 hours for a total of five days. Use of a hospital tank is recommended. *be sure to treat for the full five days using the dosage recommended, even if the symptoms disappear after a few days.

Precautions: Any sudden change in aquarium conditions can be hazardous. Make changes gradually. Do not overdose. Keep out of reach of children. For aquarium use only. This product is intended for the exclusive use with ornamental ifsh and/or other ornamental orgaisms and is not intended for use with fish for human consumption.

Active Ingredients: Each tablet contains 200 mg erythromycin.

Notes from Mardel on biological filtration: "Nitrobacter and Nitrosomonas are recognized as the primary beneficial bacteria present in the biological filtration system of any aquarium. Some drugs which treat fish diseases and parasitic infestations are harmful to these 'good' bacteria. When the biological filter is upset, there is a buildup of ammonia and nitrite concentrations resulting in fish distress and death. Mardel products have been tested with known strains of these bacteria with no adverse effects noted. When used as directed, they do not interfere with the biological filter."

Maracyn is a trademark of Mardel Labs, Inc.

[EDIT: Ok its says 200 mg of erythromycin, which is...

Erythromycin base is (3R*, 4S*, 5S*, 6R*, 7R*, 9R*, 11R*, 12R*, 13S*, 14R*)-4-((2,6-Dideoxy-3-C-methyl-3-O-methyl-a-L- ribo- hexopyranosyl) -oxy) -14- ethyl-7,12,13- trihydroxy - 3,5,7,9,11,13-hexa methyl-6- ((3,4,6-trideoxy-3-(dimethylamino)-b-D-xylo- hexopyran osyl)oxy)oxacyclotetradecane-2,10-dione

Anyone a chemist?
]

Jon

 

[ostrow]

I would do something to solve the problem rather than add a snake oil, which will help for a few weeks tops only if that and will have other consequences you can't predict because the manufacturers don't tell you what is in the product.

Increase flow.

Decrease nutrients.

Export nutrients (better or heavier skimming).

Run carbon.

Export phosphate (run phosban, get a fuge).

(Re-)charge your sandbet with a detritivore kit, pods, worms, etc.

Get/add sand sifters (fighting conchs, nassarius vibex, etc).

 

[Salt Freak]

those tablets just make a mess a used them on my fresh tanks they are crap. I would do what ostrow said this bacteria does not like high water flow so it would be a good idea to put some powerheads on the tank

 

[Aquascaper]

Another cause of red algae is poor water flow, or dead-spots. Increasing the water flow over areas affected by red algae will help reduce the build-up but as mention already the solution is to remove it, not just move it

 

[amstar15]

i agree to fix the problem so that it does not come back. i have powerheads but they are more set up for the corals. So I do have dead spots I will look into fixing this. As far as recharging the sand-bed what is the best way to do this. where can I get things to do so? I am still waiting on my mudd filter to arrive so that should help as well. as far as phosban.. ever heard of phosban filter pads? do those work? i think I am going to use the chemi clean personally.