red/purple agae dont know what it is

[Kelso]

Hi my name is kelsea and
this algae has been growing on my live rock for a few weeks now and things in my tank arent doing well. can anybody tell me what is it and if it is good or bad for my tank?

 

[roka64]

Cyano bacteria....as you can see, it's bad.
How much/often.what are you feeding?
How long/old are you running your lights?
That is a pretty color purple....
It thrives off of excess nutrient.

 

[lmetcalf]

I had a bunch of that i my tank last week. Mine wasn't near as pretty of a colour!

I found a chemical in the LFS called "Chemiclean red slime bacteria remover"
it was 20$ and is enough to treat 300gal.

I used it and the slime looked like it was dying after 24 hours and after 48, i did a waterchange (as per the directions) and the slime was clumped and dead looking, so i sucked it out carefully. (it can easily spread if you don't take it out very carefully)

Might be worth a try if you're interested. I would also suggest restricting the number of hours your lights are on, and how often/how much you feed your fish. Also, do you have a protein skimmer to remove organic waste?

 

[thominil]

My only comment is that if you use one of the chemicals like lmetcalf mentioned, you need to be VERY careful as they are notorious for crashing tanks, most likely due to the fact that people don't follow directions step by step, word for word, but that's just my opinion.

 

[factorboa]

:O i hope i dont get that lol havent so far

 

[melosu58]

The only problem I have noticed with the chemi clean that it will work OK at the start but it does come back with a vengence. Kind of like a bandaid solution. IMO better to take care of the fuel factors

 

[Kelso]

ya my lights are on way too long, 13 hrs a day. also i feed my clown and blenny twice a day. i did add essential elements about 3 wks ago, maybe it wasnt needed. does this stuff just go away with time or does it need to be removed? also can i get it out any other way without using chemicals? thanks for the help guys. oh and yes i do have a skimmer.

 

[ezy33]

IME I couldn't get rid of it until I added a DI filter after my RO filter. The DI filter ( from E-Bay ) removes Phosphates that feed the Cyano bacteria. The Chemiclean works but like lmetcalf stated it's temporary and will return if you don't remove what it"s feeding on. Also a refugium with live plants will help remove excess nutrients.

 

[Kelso]

This cyano bacteria wont kill my fish right?

 

[roka64]

No it won't kill fish.
Reduce your lighting to 6-8 hours a day.
Feed every other day (I feed this way and even skip a day sometimes).
Siphon what you can while you increase your PWCs. The chemical solution is a temporary quick fix.
Remember, cyano is a bacteria and so is the bacteria that converts ammonia to nitrAtes....

 

[Kelso]

thanks roka, we shall see what happens.

 

[roka64]

No problem!
Looks like you 12 might be overstocked.

 

[Kelso]

What do you mean by PWC's?
Also do you think the light in the room has a big effect on the tank?
Will this bacteria prevent me from adding corals?

 

[roka64]

PWCs =Partial water changes.
Is the tank in direct sunlight, if so, possibly.
That cyano will over take everything it can, so, yes it could give corals problems.

 

[melosu58]

We have a very good article in the SW article section you should read. It talks about the cyano.

 

[Kelso]

I actually had the 12gal first. it was way too small. so i went up to a 20 and gave the 12 to my girlfriend. i wanted to get rid of the damsels anyway so they stayed in the 12. not in direct sun but the florecent light in the room prevents it from being completly dark.

 

[thincat]

That light won't matter. Do you leave that light on 24/7 or as needed?

 

[Kelso]

just as needed

 

[thincat]

Ceiling lights are to far away from the tank to penetrate the water with any useful light.

 

[Kelso]

I did a water change and cyphoned as much as i could and already its starting to grow back.
Im going to need to get some other type of filter.
Hopefully with the lights on eight hours and feeding less it will go away soon.
Thanks for all the help guys.