[gerald]

i cant seem to stop the growth of this rusty looking covering on my gravel. at first i thought it might be a water flow prob. but i added a third powerhead. if i mix it up it returns within a couple of days. can anyone help me identifiy and cure my prob.
thank you in advance ..

[stephaniesquires]

What are your water parameters?? My first thought, is either diatom bloom - rusty colored looks like cinnamon was sprinkled on everything or you could have cyano bacteria. Is is slimy? Can you get a picture?

[rlcline76]

I'm guessing either cyano or dinoflagelletes.

[NATIVEVAMAN]

Gravel? You have gravel substrate?

[gerald]

I have a live sand base about one inch, and about 65lbs. of live rocks

[cbeatty]

I'm having the same issue. Strange thing is that it grows only on my sand and nowhere else. Nitrates and Phosphates aren't zero, but decent. It's a 10 gallon nano with a ton of live rock (roughly 17 lbs.), a decently functioning nano skimmer and a dual head penguin (no carbon). I do 50% water changes every 2-3 weeks and it still keeps coming back. Also just dropped in some caulerpa in from a buddy of mine to help reduce nutrient load and the stuff is now growing on it as well. Only one small oscellaris clown currently who I underfeed to encourage foraging and reduce nutrient load. Three power heads in place whic create high flow over the sand and ironically it doesn't grow where the flow is very slow on the sides/back bottom of the tank.

My practice has been to pull it in big sheets off the tank (along with the sand its stuck to) every time I do a water change and clean the tank. Again, the red slime (or possibly diatom) is growing only on the sand and the caulerpa. Had a green hair algae problem on the sand previously, now switching to this muck. Hermits and snails really don't touch the stuff but keep the live rock super clean. Any ideas as to how to get rid of it?

[Phayes]

50% water change every 2-3 weeks may be a little excessive. Are you using RO/DI water? If not, you may be adding tons of silicates and phosphates to your tank that any type of algae/diatom blooms can be feeding off of- in mass quantity.

[cbeatty]

No, I use ro/di water. Got a brittle star who digs under the rocks and stirs the sand in his little area up a lot. hard to do a small water change on a 10 gallon with a 5 gallon bucket. Just makes it easier. Might add another powerhead to flow heavier over the sand very heavily. Running out of ideas. Thanks.

[blu23girl]

chad- from what i know, i would suggest just upping the frequency of your water change... instead of doing a 50% every 3-4 weeks, do 10-20% every week, cleaning up the brown stuff each week, and just stay on top of if for a while. its going to take some time, and lots of attention to get it to go away... you need to stay ahead of it! Just my 2 cents... good luck!