Bacteria or Algae

My tank is about a month old and now has no ammonia or nitrites and very low nitrates two PC lights I have 3 various damsels 2 chromis 7 hermits and 12 turbo's I am having a problem with this red algae or bacteria it doesn't like water movement and grows like mad all over my tank except where the snails go they won't go in the sand so it's all over the sand.  I tried a powerhead but it just blew my sand around and grew the red stuff everywhere else does anyone know any good methods to removing this stuff I have done water changes and am trying not to overfeed but the stuff won't go away.  here's a pic for yall.

Hmmmmm...  I am having the same problem.  Our outbreak "went away" but it is back again.  There are a couple things that I can think of that may have cause the reoccurance.

1. The sun came out from behind the clouds.  As soon as the good weather started, our cyano bloomed
2. Our sand sifting goby died.
3. I discovered that your actenic light have not been shutting off at night.

All of these happened at the same time so I don't know who the primary offender is.  Maybe getting some sand sifting creatures can help you.

I just checked my water no nitrates and no phosphates I Have a Kenya Tree that is doing quite well I tried the lights out for two day's it didn't get me very far I have been pulling it out by hand day in and day out but it comes right back the next day Macro's are comming this weekend if anyone has any macro's they could share I would be greatful.  Has anyone else had a sand sifting gobie added to fix the problem???

I need to harvest some of my calurpa.  Let me know if you want some.  Also, there was someone else wanting Calurpa...Whoever wants some can have some.  Best to send me an email since I don't check my messages very often.

Here it is: [email protected]

The best way to rid your tank of cyanobacteria is to stop feeding completely for a couple days until it goes away. Don't worry, a reef tank can easily handle up to a week of no feeding and sometimes looks better after fasting! Feeding the tank is the major source of nutrients that feed cyanobacteria, both directly and indirectly.

Alternatively, turn off all lights or use only blue lights and reduce feeding for a week or so. For a really nasty problem, turning off the lights and covering with a dark sheet to completely block out all light for a few days can often solve the problem.

Rfoote recently did something like this for nusiance algae, per my story in the next to last Sea Star Online (Feb. 2002). Ryan, would you mind sharing your experience?

The use of a refugia/algae scrubber helps immensely. Cyanobacteria is an algae-bacteria combination organism that generally is the first and fastest thing to grow when there is a suddden increase in nutrient levels. For instance, a dead fish can cause a sudden appearance of "cyano". Just work on reducing nutrient levels.

Cyano is very abundant in the world and is thought to be a major source of the worlds O2. Just thought I'd add that bit of trivia to help alleviate your concern regarding this sudden bloom. It's not all bad and will go away in time, sometimes without doing a thing!

Isn't cyanobacteria the oldest recognizeable organism on earth? I seem to remember a show once that stated that cyano first formed in the earth's toxic oceans and grew to the extent to which it converted the entire atmosphere to a more hospitable environment. I watch way too much discovery channel.

This is kind of funny because Jake and I were talking about this stuff last night.  Jake reminded of a guest speaker we had before who said that he was pretty sure God was cyanobacteria. 

The scary thought is.... what if he was right? 

Adam

Just when I think I've heard everything!  Some posts are just SO amusing.  My mom keeps asking if I have a wet/dry vacuum yet.  Now I'm imagining the great Creator turning away from gazing at the stars, saying "Aw Geez!  The great sump on Earth is overflowing again!  Guess we'd better turn that into a glacier or something!"

Renee

I like that Weimers,

Maybe Venus and Mars were set up as a couple of shop vacs for the Earth.
Venus Atmospheric composition:   96.5% Carbon Dioxide (CO₂), 3.5% Nitrogen (N₂)
Mars Atmospheric composition:  Very thin. Carbon dioxide gas (CO₂) - 95.3% and Nitrogen (N₂) - 2.7%

sounds about right to me.

Hey!  how about this...
Maybe God used Mercury to do atmosphere changes (water changes)
Mercury Atmospheric composition:
42% Oxygen (O₂), 29% Sodium (Na), 22% Hydrogen (H₂), 6% Helium (He), 0.5% Potassium (K)
   ....well that one doesn't sound quite right.  oh well

Adam,  that reminds me of a sci-fi book I read years and years ago.  Something about the mitochondria in our cells having a collective intelligence, and that is what really ran the impulses of the host organizm.   hmmmmmmm.  Can't remember the book.  Heck I can't even be sure if that was in the story or if it is just a distorted memory from a childs understanding of the consept.

Oh and I'm stoked it is a little brown now not all red and there is some green in my sump so I'm very excited not to have all red in my new tank