# red spots on marine tank glass?



## fantapants (Jan 4, 2008)

I have had my marine tank up for about 2 months now. I have live rock , a small CUC and a single clown fish. All of a sudden i have a population of red dots on the glass and they wont come off. I have some cyano on the bottom of the sand in places and the dots are the same sort of colour as that. Any ideas what they are and can do to get rid of them?


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## Shell195 (May 31, 2007)

Took this

Well, if it's rusty brownish red and you also are getting a light coating on the glass, then I'd hazard a guess at diatoms. This dusty looking brown algae feeds off silicates and is common in new systems. Usually it will pass in fairly short order if the water that is going in the tank is free of silicates. Are you using some type of water filtration?

If it's deep red and looks like maroon velvet then it's most likely cyanobacteria, another common nuisance in new (and not so new!







) tanks. Cyanobacteria is always present to a small degree in our systems and is an important part of the food web. When conditions get out of kilter, the cyano can become more dominant and florish. An overabundance of nutrients and lack of circulation seem to be the two main culprits in the overgrowth of cyano.



off here The Reef Tank for you


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## Tomcat (Jul 29, 2007)

You dont mean Flatworm do you?

If so, get a length of Air line, and use it as a syphon to suck them off.


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## fantapants (Jan 4, 2008)

Im pretty sure its just diatoms, i dont know why i said cyano on the first post, i got my brain in wrong lately!

Thanks shell, i think i have it sorted.


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