Red Velvet Covering Sun Coral

[no1bubba]

The sun was coral was beautiful when I woke up this am. when I came home from work at 7:00 PM it was covered with this velvety red stuff. Will try for a pic. Bubba

[panmanmatt]

Sounds like cyanobacteria to me.

[calabdiver]

I agree it sounds like cyano there are a few tricks to getting rid of it some are more evasive than others. least harmful way is to turn off you lights for a few days and use a product called Phosguard it acts like a sponge to get your phosphates down. Whatch your feeding as well make sure you dont over feed. The other is a chemical that you can put in the tank to kill it however its very dangerous if you dont follow the directions carefully do this as a last resort. Keep us posted hope everything goes well

[no1bubba]

Thank you for your quick reply. I had the Phosguard on hand and have just added it to the sump. What else can I expect to happen? This is the tank that I lost all but two of my fish in 4 weeks ago. It has been testing prefect by LFS and myself. Have added some chromis, out of nine, 4 have not made it and I have only been able to find one body. I would guess that is the problem. Thanks again, I did a test and the phos was 1.0, I will keep you posted. Bubba

[calabdiver]

Also get some chaeto that will help soak up the nutrients that the cyano is living on it will also keep any green hair algae down. It sounds like you tank is cycleing due to the dead fish I suggest waiting a while before putting any more fish in there. Also how big is your tank and how much live rock/Live sand do you have?

[no1bubba]

75 ga. maroon clown, coral banded shripm 12 blue leg crabs
14 red leg crabs 5 chromis, 1 6-line wrasse, red eyed hawk, 1 mandarin. 80 lb live rock 25-30 lb live sand, feather dusters
flower pot coral, sun coral, hugh leather mushroom lots of zoas
3flower anemones one with the crab in residence. I'm just about ready to make it a reef tank because I can not afford the loss or just a lion fish and a puffer. And we call this a relaxing hobby? Bubba

[calabdiver]

Well your not over loaded I was worried about you bio load but it seams fine just give it time get rid of that cyanobacteria and you will have better luck that stuff can be nasty and take over your corals. Its pretty easy to get discouraged at times but once you get the knack for it. It will become effortless lol. Also I wish you lots of luck on the Mandarin Goby I have yet to see anyone actually keep one alive. I personally have tried twice and my tank is a breeding ground for copepods but the Mandarins eat em up too fast for me to keep the farm going so to speak.

[JeF4y]

Originally Posted by calabdiver

Also I wish you lots of luck on the Mandarin Goby I have yet to see anyone actually keep one alive. I personally have tried twice and my tank is a breeding ground for copepods but the Mandarins eat em up too fast for me to keep the farm going so to speak.

Train them to eat frozen... While I still supplement pods (until the monster sump/fuge is in place in another month), ours eats Rods Foods like nobody's business...