Please help

[octoman]

Hi everyone. I'm very new to forums but i have had my salt water fish for quite sometime now. I started out with fish only aqurium for years and lately I have been introducing live corals into the scheme of things. 6 months ago I added a frag of zenias which now have populated quarter of my tank. I started with i few mushroom and have now covered one of my bigger rocks. Then I introduce a pinktip anemone which is now thriving. 2 weekend ago I bought a frag of zoos and started seeing this. What the heck is this? Purple slimmy algae. Is this normal? is this distructive?

close up

 

[kynekke]

Looks like Cyano.. do a search and you'll see lots of pictures to compare it with and lots of remedies.

 

[markanderson]

It looks like cyanobacteria, or red slime algae. Its color ranges from maroon to red to purple. A lot of tanks have this problem, and your probably seeing a surge in it because of the new lighting for you corals. Checked you nitrates and phosphates as these will encourage its growth, and try repositioning your powerheads. Red slime algae tends to grow were there is a low current. Also emerald crabs eat this so you may want to add a couple of them.

 

[oceansidefish]

Yep thats the red slime ooooaaaaahhhhhh. It could be from overfeeding and high phosphates so get you water checked to see what your levels are. Best way to get rid of it...As I would recommend you should before it takes over your tank is Chemclean. 15 bucks at your local LFS. Make sure you follow the directions to a T

 

[octoman]

Originally Posted by markanderson
It looks like cyanobacteria, or red slime algae. Its color ranges from maroon to red to purple. A lot of tanks have this problem, and your probably seeing a surge in it because of the new lighting for you corals. Checked you nitrates and phosphates as these will encourage its growth, and try repositioning your powerheads. Red slime algae tends to grow were there is a low current. Also emerald crabs eat this so you may want to add a couple of them.
i thought this problem only occurs with new tank cycling.

 

[oceansidefish]

Not necessarily...If you are adding corals you are introducing alot of new things into your tank that were not there before

 

[m0nk]

Originally Posted by octoman
i thought this problem only occurs with new tank cycling.
Nope, it's more likely to happen with newer tanks but existing tanks get it as well. The best bet is to find the source and deal with that. If you don't get the source cleared up you'd be treating with chemicals constantly, which imo is bad. Light and overfeeding are the two biggest causes, and often happen together. Best of luck!

 

[markanderson]

Originally Posted by octoman
i thought this problem only occurs with new tank cycling.
its a problem that frustrates every hobbyist no matter how old the tank is. Often times tanks will have a sudden unexplainable cyanobacteria burst.

 

[octoman]

Originally Posted by markanderson
its a problem that frustrates every hobbyist no matter how old the tank is. Often times tanks will have a sudden unexplainable cyanobacteria burst.
It furstrates me now. I feel like scrubing it off and hope it doesnt come back

 

[oceansidefish]

Scrubbing will do nothing.... Chemclean is the best sure way to axe it

 

[octoman]

Originally Posted by Oceansidefish
Scrubbing will do nothing.... Chemclean is the best sure way to axe it
I hate using chemicals. I hope this doesnt turn out like my featherduster infestation. I had to literally break every single tubes off to minimize the growth

 

[markanderson]

I don't like using chemicals either. It just treats the symptoms of your problem rather then the problem itself.

 

[oceansidefish]

Correct you must also fix the CAUSE of the problem....However since it is usually overfeeding, you are not going to starve your fish to get rid of everything its living on....Get your phosphates checked along with everything else, but fixing the problem won't make it go away now.

 

[oceansidefish]

Correct you must also fix the CAUSE of the problem....However since it is usually overfeeding, you are not going to starve your fish to get rid of everything its living on....Get your phosphates checked along with everything else, but fixing the problem won't make it go away now. Cyano is a bacteria not an algae... Chemclean is basically like an antibiotic