Black Algae

rohnds

rohnds

Large Fish
#1
Apr 23, 2005
408
1
0
Austin, TX (born NYC)
#1
It seems that my LRs are turning black .. it looks like some kind of algae since the blue legs are eating them.
I have 120W of light. I have cut that down to 80W/day since I saw the black algae. My NH3=0; NO2=0 and NO3=5ppm. I have yellow tang, 3 damsels, 1 clown abd 1 royal gramma, along with 1 shrimp, 1 emerald crab, 100 blue legs.
My Ca=390, and no PO4 since I use RO water. I have my lights turned on for about 10 to 12 hours a day.
I also a couple of soft corals and LPS.

I have diatomic a month ago and is not almost completely one. There are also one or two patches of red, which I believe is cyano algae.

What can be causing black algae.

Rohn
 

SALTY WATERS

SALTY WATERS

Large Fish
#3
Feb 6, 2005
893
2
0
47
Waterloo, ON Canada
#3
It all looks like Cyanobacteria to me from the picks.
One thing with going by your test results of your phos, nitrate etc. when you already have a bloom, is that the cycano is going to be absorbing it very fast and will then be giving you low readings.
I would remove as many peices of LR as possible into a bucket of SW and give them a good rinse removing the cyano. As well any rock that can not be removed I would just turn off all water flow and give them a blast with a turkey baster and then syphon the cyano out. I would then perform 2 big water changes.
And cut back on the lighting and feeding for a week or two.
 

rohnds

rohnds

Large Fish
#5
Apr 23, 2005
408
1
0
Austin, TX (born NYC)
#5
I am not worried about cyano bacteria. Matter of fact there is only one or two spots (about 1/4 in) of cyano in the entire tank (70gal loaded with LRs). There are more of the black stuff on every rock. And it is getting ugly.
I am not even sure if that a cyano or coralline

Rohn
 

rohnds

rohnds

Large Fish
#8
Apr 23, 2005
408
1
0
Austin, TX (born NYC)
#8
I took your advice and took the rock (matter of it is a large sea shell) that conatined the cyano spot and started cleaning it. I shut off all the light, except for one 40W.

My tanks has being setup since late july.

Rohn
 

SALTY WATERS

SALTY WATERS

Large Fish
#9
Feb 6, 2005
893
2
0
47
Waterloo, ON Canada
#9
okay that make sense then, it's still newly set up. Blooms like this will come and go in the first few months of a new system.

I would also recommend getting a crew of snails like some Cerith and/or nassarius (for the substrate) and some Trochus and/or Astraea (for the LR/glass) and maybe some Turbos as well.
 

Lorna

Lorna

Elite Fish
#10
Mar 3, 2005
3,082
4
0
NE Indiana
#10
increase the water flow to those areas also...... will help. Oh and I agree it is probably cyano.....as it is a blue/green algae it can come in any colour......I have had black/green and also red......so it can be any
 

rohnds

rohnds

Large Fish
#11
Apr 23, 2005
408
1
0
Austin, TX (born NYC)
#11
I started cleaning the each rock a time. I had success in getting rid of the a ciouple of red spots but I simply cannot get rid of the black algae no matter how much I scrub. It is not like any alage I Know where they simply come off the glass of rock when you sbrush them off with a toothbrush.
The black stuff is only on the rocks and not on the substrate or the glass.

Thanks for the advices,

Rohn
 

You must log in or register to reply here.