purple algae

clownfish123

Reefing newb
I have some purple algae growing on one of my tank decorations and on some of my live rock. I was wondering if that was normal and if there is a way to get rid of it. Also, is there a way to keep algae growth minimal?
 
The 3 things I understand keep algae under control are:
Water changes
Not over lighting the tank (duration)
Cleanup crew/fish that feed on it..

Other than that I will defer to the more experienced people here.

**edit
Also don't over feed your fish... That can cause algae problems.
 
What kind of purple algae - when you touch it does it feel slimy and come off easily, or does it feel hard and encrusted?
 
If it feels slimy, then it is most likely cyanobacteria - a bad algae. Cyano can be caused by (and fixed by) a few things: (1) nutrients - if your nitrates/phosphates are high, this will promote cyano - lower your nutrient levels and it will help; (2) low flow - increase flow in the areas where the cyano is growing and that should help; (3) lights - if you have t5 or MH bulbs that are old, you should consider replacing them - after 6-9 months the spectrum output of the bulbs can shift, promoting more red algae growth.

I don't know which of these areas is going to help for you, but all things to consider to help rid your tank of nuisance algae!
 
Cyano is so annoying. We had it for a couple weeks and it slowly went away but came back. We started feeding less.. half a block of brine in the morning, half a block of mysis in the evening and switched our flow around. It's very miniscule what we do have when/if it pops up now.
 
Maybe I should start a new thread for this, but it seems appropriate to put it here since everyone is so high on telling people flow is a key to getting rid of cyano. I have dealt with cyano for a while. On and off. Flow does NOT effect it. I have had Koralia 1050's blowin on it so hard and so close that it caused sand storms and it had ZERO effect on it.

Yes, I'm looking for an argument here.

In the areas of my tank where there was little to no flow I have never seen cyano on the sand or rock. Only the the open, high flow, areas. I'm not arguing that lighting, feeding and water quality are things that will reduce Cyano. I know, from my experience (yes I realize its a dip in a large bucket compared to some of you) that some things work and others, no matter the intentions, have little to no effect.

Just sayin'. Take every thing your read, my stuff included, with a grain of salt.
 
Maybe I should start a new thread for this, but it seems appropriate to put it here since everyone is so high on telling people flow is a key to getting rid of cyano. I have dealt with cyano for a while. On and off. Flow does NOT effect it. I have had Koralia 1050's blowin on it so hard and so close that it caused sand storms and it had ZERO effect on it.

Yes, I'm looking for an argument here.

In the areas of my tank where there was little to no flow I have never seen cyano on the sand or rock. Only the the open, high flow, areas. I'm not arguing that lighting, feeding and water quality are things that will reduce Cyano. I know, from my experience (yes I realize its a dip in a large bucket compared to some of you) that some things work and others, no matter the intentions, have little to no effect.

Just sayin'. Take every thing your read, my stuff included, with a grain of salt.

There are a lot of contributing factors when it comes to cyano. Flow is definitely one of them. Maybe not in your case, but in many others' case it is. That is very well known. Just because something does not hold true for you, doesn't mean that it doesn't hold true for anyone else. You cannot say:

Flow does NOT effect it.

For the vast majority of people with cyano problems, flow DOES affect it. Every tank is different, and when we give advice here, we go by what is true in the majority of cases. Your case of flow not having an impact is definitely not typical, so what you're saying is pretty dangerous and misleading to those that have cyano problems, because I guarantee you, most of them will see an improvement when they change their flow. You didn't. But most other people will. It definitely does not have "little to no effect" as you say. Anyone that has been in the hobby for a long time with lots of experience will disagree with you on that. Your tank is not typical, and your cyano is caused by something else. There is not only one cause of cyano, and not only one fix.

Again, just because lack of flow isn't a problem in your tank doesn't mean you can say definitively that flow doesn't impact cyano in anyone else's tank. That's just dumb and the opposite of the truth for 95% of people with cyano problems. If you read through a lot of threads on here, you will see where people simply changing and improving flow in their tanks caused their cyano problem to improve.

What you're saying is as dumb as saying, "I keep hearing that poor diet, lack of exercise, and smoking are causes of heart disease. Well, I've never smoked, and I have heart disease, so it's impossible that smoking is one of the causes of heart disease." There are lots of causes, just because it's not a cause for you doesn't mean it's not a cause for anyone else.

Common causes of cyano are overfeeding, overstocking, lack of flow and poor water quality. Just because you don't have one of those in your tank doesn't mean it's not still a cause in many other peoples' cases! You cannot use your one, single tank as the RULE for everyone else's tanks.
 
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I hate to argue with someone who has been so helpful to me since I've been here. I'll try my best to try not to offend you. Okay?

Saying it is dangerous for me to say its not effective is no more dangerous than people saying it is effective. Sure, if it works then okay. I have found it doesn't. Has anyone done a presice study or know of one they could point me to? One where only flow and its effect on cyano was measured?

I'm pretty sure that when people, me included, start fighting with this stuff they change more than one thing at a time. People recommend flow changes so a person does that. People say change foods so people do that. Then they read that feeding schedules are an issue so they change that. In the end they have changed everything they were doing in a very short period of time and poof, the cyano is gone and somehow, flow becomes the main answer.

As you can tell, I'm pretty frustrated with MY issues. Again, I apologize to the OP for hijacking thier thread. But I think its improtant to discuss this. No tank is typical and no tank is THAT much different that anyone elses.
 
Saying it is dangerous for me to say its not effective is no more dangerous than people saying it is effective.

To the contrary. Lack of flow IS dangerous. It can kill your livestock. Adding more flow will not hurt anything and is certainly not dangerous. And it happens to fix a lot of cyano problems.

If one of the recommendations for fixing cyano is "add more flow" and someone tries it, and it doesn't work, that hasn't hurt anything. If no one tells the person to try more flow, and that happens to be one of the causes of their cyano, then they will still have cyano and still have a problem.
 
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You are arguing against something that has been proven to be true in case after case. But what do I know, I'm only a biologist. ;)

As for your studies just one minute of googling came up with this page, which links to a few.

Cyanobacteria; Blue Green/Red Slime Algae in Aquariums & Ponds

Increase circulation and dissolved oxygen. These Prokaryote Bacteria do not do as well in a well oxygenated/circulated environments. This is often a major problem of ponds with Cyanobacteria outbreaks.

Heat/Water Flow- In high summer temperatures with poor in and out flow of water, this will induce an outbreak.

THE REDOX POTENTIAL IN AQUARIUMS (& PONDS); and how it relates to proper aquatic health

Fresh water and good Redox Balance seems to play major a role. In lakes this bloom will usually coincide with poor inflow and outflow of water. This also causes a change in trace element content as well as Redox. This can then be applied to aquariums; in maintaining regular water changes, maintaining a GH over 100 ppm (for calcium and trace elements), as well as correct Redox Balance (UV Sterilization helps here too). Applying this knowledge can be an important part of the Cyanobacteria eradication puzzle as some of my observations/experiments have shown.


Aquarium additives, such as alkalinity controllers, contain bicarbonates. Bicarbonates convert into CO2, thus adding to the carbon levels. This also explains why Cyanobacteria are a common problem in saltwater aquariums.
As with Freshwater, limiting dissolved organic carbon can help, but the bacteria-algae is capable of consuming all the carbon needed derived from CO2. It is therefore important, especially for marine aquariums, to ensure a proper gas-off by water movement and adjustments of water flow. The more oxygen created, the better the degassing effect.


Read the studies and the links to university research labs if you want to continue fighting your point that "FLOW HAS NO EFFECT."
 
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And we are not the only ones that advise increasing flow. Look up any article on any major site about cyano, and you'll see that changes to flow are always one of the recommendations. Look at the references for these articles -- scientific studies and books written by well known algae experts such as Julian Sprung.

How to Get Rid of Red Slime (Cyanobacteria) By Robert Farnsworth, MarineDepot.com Reef Squad
Controlling cyanobacteria | The Skeptical Aquarist
Red Slime Algae (Cyanobacteria) - Description, causes and cures for Red Slime Algae (Cyanobacteria)
Cyanobacteria, AKA Red Slime Algae - Aquarium Advice
Absolutely Fish
Aquarium-Related Articles
How To Control Algae in a Saltwater Aquarium - Controlling Algae in a Marine Aquarium
 
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Nonfamous - if you've been battling a red algae and have had powerheads pointed at it and its not getting better, I'm gonna go out on a limb and say you don't have cyano, but instead have red turf algae, which apparently thrives in low nutrient, high flow conditions. Read this thread and see if this resonates for you: https://www.livingreefs.com/my-witts-end-need-help-t42592.html

Get outta my head FishyReef.:mrgreen:
I'm betting on the same thing.

Nonfamous, any way you can post a picture of the stuff your fighting?
 
I am in no way suggesting that tanks don't need good flow. Maybe I'm not having a cyano issue. It just that "more flow" is getting to be the standard answer and honestly hasn't worked for me and several others. Most just give up on the threads they start about it.

I have tried everything short of starting over. I used good, quality, recommended sand and rock. I have more than enough according to the 1-2 lb per gallon "rule". I have good equipment, run only RODI and use quality supplies. I have used as much as 75x flow . My only issue has been cheap light fixtures. Even those were up graded with ATI bulbs. I have now gone another $400 deeper into the hobby for new lights.

Flow is good but it's not THE answer as it seems so many suggest.
 
Usually people are offered more info then just more flow. If upping your turnover isnt working then there prolly is another problem. Cyano is one of the oldest still living organisms on the planet, theres gonna be a little variation.

PS your high quality sand looks like crushed coral.
 
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