What is this red stuff?

gratefulbreen · 04/26/2010, 07:08 PM

I just set up a 90 gallon tank that was established with water, live rock and sand. Its going through a small nitrogen cycle, the ammonia is gone, took about 5 days and now nitrite is @ 1.0 and nitrate is @ 20 PH is around 8.3. I've been noticing this red stuff in my tank, any ideas? And when do you think my nitrites will be gone so I can add livestock?

mike_cmu04 · 04/26/2010, 08:09 PM

Looks like diatoms and the red stuff is some cyano. They both are normal parts of a cycle and will go away with time and water changes. do you use tap water?

gratefulbreen · 04/26/2010, 08:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mike_cmu04

Looks like diatoms and the red stuff is some cyano. They both are normal parts of a cycle and will go away with time and water changes. do you use tap water?

yes i used tap water

mthomp · 04/26/2010, 08:30 PM

i dont think the red stuff is cyano looks like normal coraline algae growth to me.

Brndn0515 · 04/26/2010, 08:31 PM

Its cyano bacteria. It is a normal part of the tanks cycle as mentioned above. It takes hold at place in the tank that lack flow. Try adjusting your flow so that there are no dead spots in your tank. Also, because you used tap water, your phosphate level is probably high. Try running some GFO (can get from lfs) to help remove those phosphates. The phosphates in our tanks is what algae feeds off of.

gratefulbreen · 04/27/2010, 08:51 AM

Thank you very much for all the help everyone?

Vin7250 · 04/27/2010, 09:30 AM

STOP USING TAP WATER yes i was attempting to shout

get an RO/DI filter. you can get a good one for under 200$..... best investment you will make in your tank.

Lannyrx7 · 04/27/2010, 12:24 PM

melev's reef has a good cheap ro/di unit. What you have is definitely cyano, throw some sort of phosphate removing media in there and it will get rid of it also. Trust me this stuff will not just go away on it's own with tap water being used.

gratefulbreen · 04/28/2010, 08:45 AM

is it really necessary to get rid of it?

Sugar Magnolia · 04/28/2010, 08:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vin7250

STOP USING TAP WATER yes i was attempting to shout

get an RO/DI filter. you can get a good one for under 200$..... best investment you will make in your tank.

x2. Using tap water is going to cause all sorts of problems down the road. You should start doing your water changes with RO/DI water , or until you get an RO/DI system, you can use bottled distilled water.

floydie83 · 04/28/2010, 08:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vin7250

STOP USING TAP WATER yes i was attempting to shout

get an RO/DI filter. you can get a good one for under 200$..... best investment you will make in your tank.

x3 I switched from tap water to ro/di in a brackish tank as I was starting the hobby. Algae just started dying away.

Its a worth investment for a saltwater tank.

04/27/2010, 08:51 AM	#6
gratefulbreen Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Toledo, OH Posts: 5	Thank you! Thank you very much for all the help everyone?

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04/26/2010, 08:09 PM	#2
mike_cmu04 Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Shepherd, Mi Posts: 2,348	Looks like diatoms and the red stuff is some cyano. They both are normal parts of a cycle and will go away with time and water changes. do you use tap water?

04/26/2010, 08:30 PM	#4
mthomp Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2010 Posts: 766	i dont think the red stuff is cyano looks like normal coraline algae growth to me.

04/26/2010, 08:31 PM	#5
Brndn0515 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Mobile, AL Posts: 30	Its cyano bacteria. It is a normal part of the tanks cycle as mentioned above. It takes hold at place in the tank that lack flow. Try adjusting your flow so that there are no dead spots in your tank. Also, because you used tap water, your phosphate level is probably high. Try running some GFO (can get from lfs) to help remove those phosphates. The phosphates in our tanks is what algae feeds off of.

04/27/2010, 09:30 AM	#7
Vin7250 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Connecticut "The Big East" Posts: 1,144	STOP USING TAP WATER yes i was attempting to shout get an RO/DI filter. you can get a good one for under 200$..... best investment you will make in your tank.

04/27/2010, 12:24 PM	#8
Lannyrx7 Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Omaha,NE Posts: 96	melev's reef has a good cheap ro/di unit. What you have is definitely cyano, throw some sort of phosphate removing media in there and it will get rid of it also. Trust me this stuff will not just go away on it's own with tap water being used.

04/28/2010, 08:45 AM	#9
gratefulbreen Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Toledo, OH Posts: 5	is it really necessary to get rid of it?