Purple algae issue

[Brian3354]

Hi everyone! I'm new to this thread and I'm looking for some answers on how to control purple algae growth. I've had my saltwater fish tank set
Up for over 2 years now with constant algae problems. It began with green and brown algae. Now it's mostly this hair like purple algae (slippery, not hard), which has spread all over my rocks, sand and glass. Any help would be appreciated! My tank is a 55 gal and I try to keep the lighting with 8 hours normally and at night I use a blue lighting. Any there any types of fish I could buy that would eat the algae?

 

[Becky]

Welcome to the forum! Have you tested the water recently?

 

[Brian3354]

Welcome to the forum! Have you tested the water recently?

Not recently. We've always had issues with high nitrates so we always buy the stuff the decrease them.

 

[salt_for_brains]

Look up cyanobacteria. You have excess nitrates that it is feeding on. Usually, likes dead areas where food and detritus settles. Increasing your flow, diligent water changes and syphoning out all you can during water changes should help. You can also shorten your light cycle. If all of that fails you can buy some red slime remover but try to get rid of it naturally before adding another chemical to your tank.

 

[monique]

test the water you are using for your water changes. it might not be as good as you think. make sure your skimmer is kept clean and is working at its best. ramp up your water circulation. turn off the nite light and make sure you are feeding good food and no more then you need to. be careful if you decide to use the red slime remover. the skimmer will go completely nuts and lots of time you will lose your inverts. expect it to take a couple months to get under control if you do it the hard way. stir up your sand to if you can when doing water changes. it stores lots of gunk in there that will contribute to your cyno problem. if you dont have corals attached you can also take out your rocks a bit at a time and scrub them off with a brush