seahorsecrazy Posted January 4, 2010 Report Share Posted January 4, 2010 My tank has an algae that I am trying to keep under control. It is a blue/black slime that covers everything and gets really stringy as it grows over the water inlets. It has covered most of the liverock and the BB and walls. I have to vacuum it every couple of days and it lifts like a layer of 'dried pva glue' in the sense that the rock and glass is perfectly clean underneath. It even has gas bubbles beneath it on the rocks and they get vacuumed up as I go along. The seahorses seem undisturbed by it and the shrimp and booboos are still happy also. Tube worms are thriving in the filter which is housed in the cupboard below the tank. Nitrates, phosphates are all oK I have heard about cooking live rock and have read up quite a bit, but do you think it will work in this case? And, if I do a few rocks at a time, arent they going to be reinfected as they are introduced back to the tank as I remove the next lot? I have tried algae remover but that hasnt even touched it - maybe the wrong type of algae. Any suggestions before I pull my tank apart? Oh yeah, and how do I go about cleaning the chiller. It is sealed, but I am cleaning the algae out of the hoses regularly, I wonder if it is inside the chiller as well? Or is it too dark for it to grow in there? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N1CK Posted January 4, 2010 Report Share Posted January 4, 2010 It sounds like its cyano bacteria (blue green algae)http://www.aquamax.de/Shop/Artikelbilder/Zusatzbilder/Algen%20im%20Aquarium_Blaualgen%20-%20Cyanobacteria_STUG_cyano1.jpg it if it a blackout should do the trick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenix44 Posted January 4, 2010 Report Share Posted January 4, 2010 if it is cyanobacteria you need to dose with an antibiotic like furan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seahorsecrazy Posted January 4, 2010 Author Report Share Posted January 4, 2010 Thanks for that, it does seem to be cyanobacteria by the link you sent. Where can I get the furan? LFS? Do you think I need to go ahead with cooking live rock or will the furan work on its own? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenix44 Posted January 4, 2010 Report Share Posted January 4, 2010 OMG. hold on. Did not see this was the saltwater section. Gah. I only read nicks post about cyano. before you dose with that, are your phosphate levels normal? and for that stringy stuff, test your nitrate/ite levels. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livingart Posted January 4, 2010 Report Share Posted January 4, 2010 it maybe caused by your topup water from the town supply are you using an RO/DI unit or bottled water? doing regular water changes? overfeeding can cause an outbreak as well i haven't used furan in a marine aquarium so can't comment try syphoning it off i have a lot of frozen mysis if you are over this way Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seahorsecrazy Posted January 4, 2010 Author Report Share Posted January 4, 2010 Thanks LA, am intending on travelling over in the next few days if thats ok. Nitrites and Phos seems ok, and topping up from sea water at high tide from Ohope Harbour. Only noticed jellyfish there, not any slime. Constantly vacuuming to try and keep it under control. Thought about the overfeeding scenario and is possible, as I have been feeding frozen mysis from LFS and they dont like it, and are letting it lie on the bottom. Shrimps are looking extremely healthy I must say. The stringy stuff is the same algae, but it is getting blown into strings where the water is getting pumped back from the filter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livingart Posted January 4, 2010 Report Share Posted January 4, 2010 stuff i have was caught live and then frozen are you washing the mysis you are using? cutting down light time may help as well Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seahorsecrazy Posted January 5, 2010 Author Report Share Posted January 5, 2010 yup, I am washing the frozen mysis before I feed it to them just to get any hiddedn extras out of them before it is introduced to the tank. All the frozen mysis I can get from the LFS are a rich pink or orange in colour, and I wonder if that is why they do not like it. Any that I have caught and then frozen have not changed colour like that so it may be something in the processing, or they have been previously thawed and refrozen maybe... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted January 5, 2010 Report Share Posted January 5, 2010 Nitrites and Phos seems ok, and topping up from sea water at high tide from Ohope Harbour. You're topping up with sea water? Your salinity must be extremely high if you're doing that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suphew Posted January 5, 2010 Report Share Posted January 5, 2010 Salt water cyano needs to be treated differently from freshwater. Cyano is a bacteria rather than an algae although for most purposes it is treated as an algae. As a bacteria it is nitrogen fixing, which means you don't need to have readable levels of nitrate for it to be a problem. Phosphate can still be a problem even below levels hobby test kits will measure. Firstly some more information. Do you have a skimmer? How often do you do water changes and were do the water come from? What water are you using to top up? How long has the tank been setup? Do you have and how much live rock? Do you have sand in the tank? What is in the filter under the tank? Sorry for all the questions but as you'll know by now saltwater tanks have a lot more variables. Unless we spot a problem with one of your answer, most likely your best form of attack well water changes and running some phosphate resin. BTW it sounds like your having a bad outbreak, but a round of cyano is a pretty normal event as a saltwater tank matures. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livingart Posted January 5, 2010 Report Share Posted January 5, 2010 i think it is an older setup suphew, she got some horses off me early last year i think Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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