Green Slime, Brownish Red Slime and Purple Growths

[KatherineM]

Soooo, I have green slime that is growing on my sand, along with brownish slime like stuff that grows with it. Every night my turbo snails eat it all, and e
very morning its back. Im not so much concerned with what it is, as how to make it go away. I also have purple, mushroom(like mushroom corals only really small) looking things growing on my LR. It has never been there until recently, so im not sure what it is. I will attempt to post pictures here, Aquarium Adventures but i dont make any garantees about wether you will actually be able to tell what stuff is.

Thanks so much for your help

 

[Maya]

The purple is coralline algae. Good stuff. The brown looks like diatoms. Common in tanks, especially new.

 

[KatherineM]

how do i make the diatoms go away?

 

[MBliss81]

Starve it by making sure you have no nitrites or phosphates, and keep the nitrates down. Diatoms grow when your water has the nutrients to feed them (phosphates mainly). Are you using really pure RO/DI water? Getting rid of the diatoms without addressing the cause won't do you much good.

 

[MBliss81]

If your RO/DI water is good quality, another possible source of phosphates is from frozen foods. Be sure to rinse/thaw the frozen foods before introducing into your tank. That frozen water can be full of phosphates. Also make sure you're not overfeeding.

 

[cmor1701d]

Diatoms usually burn out in a new tank in a few weeks or months. Slime algae, regardless of color, is probably cyanobacteria. A sign of over-feeding and too little flow.

Check out 10 Step Plan for Nuisance Algae Control