green algae and red material on sand

[pooch]

the tank has been set up for a couple of months and now i am facing some green hair and red stuff that is growing on the sand making the tank really ugly. I am trying to battle it with a beefed up cleaning crew (turbos and hermit crabs), weekly 10 percent water changes, and I have shortened the hours that the lights are on from 15 to eight hours. Any other pro tips? TIA!

[BigAir]

Increase the flow to the areas that have the cyano growing. Also, turn off the lights all together for about 3 days.

[MustangBill]

Test your water for high nitrates and phosphates, chances are they are high. All the nuisance algae comes from to much nutirents in the water, usually from over feeding. Try to siphon as much as the red cyano out of your tank as you can and use a tooth brush to clean the hair alage off your rocks as best as you can also, then do another water change (more than 10%, 25% if you can )as all the stuff will be stirred up.

Here are some ways to help prevent future growth:
Don't over feed
If you have a lot of live stock and need to feed alot then try larger water changes (How big is your tank anyway?)
Try using an algae scrubber to take up the extra nutirent load (these work great imo)
Clean / change your filters more often

Hope this helps

[Carter o51]

Also 15 hours of light a day is a bit much. 8 hours is good but I'd say don't go back to 15 even after the algae is gone

[pooch]

Increase the flow to the areas that have the cyano growing. Also, turn off the lights all together for about 3 days.

if i turn off the lights wont that be harmful to my corals?

[Laddair]

Corals are pretty hardy creatures. Nuisance algae is very sensitive to light because they use photosynthisis for energy. Coral has bacteria inside their structures and feed that way. Even thought the bacteria population will diminish it will repopulate. I've had my tank dark for 5 days to get rid of some Dino's algae. They will recuperate after a few days and come right back. Also your phosphates and nitrates are probably high mentioned above. Go grab some GFO or some sort of phosphate absorbing material. Don't be ashamed of the bloom you are having. A new tank always blooms at one point.

[fidel]

I had an experience years ago about this bacteria it is easy to kill get Chemiclean on the bottle it has the instructions on how to use it turn off the skimmer and UV lights, carbon, reactors just leave the flow and run it for 48 hours with the treatment after that do a water change and thats it its easy and also check your nitrates its reef safe your gonna be able to see the difference