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thegyft07
12/03/2008, 12:43 PM
The purple algae in my tank looks like hair. But i know its not coraline. can anyone ID this stuff? Is it Bad? How do I get rid of it? and what caused it?

jasonrp104
12/03/2008, 12:45 PM
Sounds Like hair. I put a turbo snail in my tank when I had a fairly major outbreak and it ate it all in a week. Then my hermit ate the snail :mad2:

Salamander
12/03/2008, 01:34 PM
Can't tell without a picture. From the description if could be a few things.

Likely its growth is the result of a lack of nutrient export. To help control it, get your phosphate and nitrate in check to start.

Xenia_Princess
12/03/2008, 02:20 PM
It almost sounds like cyanobacteria...Which is commonly caused by using straight tap water without running it through a filtration first. The best thing to do is to do a water change with RO water.

thegyft07
12/03/2008, 05:55 PM
lol xenia... I did use tap water. thinking that what everyone else said about it was exaggerating.

so ro water will cure this and getting the nitrate and phosphate level down?

I have the RO water and I can do a change. but my tank is not showing signs of the cycling process being complete yet. ammo .25, nitrite 1.0, and nitrate 40.

Until these reach zero. would I be able to do a water change without messing up the cycling process?

What should I do?

thegyft07
12/03/2008, 05:56 PM
also... how else can I get rid of all this stuff. it is definatley the bacteria you named I'm sure of it. used nothin but tap water.

sir_dudeguy
12/03/2008, 06:02 PM
ok...so the tank is not cycled yet...and you're trying to get rid of algae? why? thats part of the cycle, you're not gonna get rid of it before the cycle is complete. And no, using RO water will not be an absolute cure. Is it good, yes! but It may or may not be a problem at this point. I ran a tank very successfully for over a year and i fill the thing with dang hose water and never used RO to top off lol. So in my experience, ro is not completely necessary...but HIGHLY recommended. I wouldnt suggest doing what i did, just sayiing that it can be done.

kevin2000
12/03/2008, 06:08 PM
Turn off the lights and throw a towel over the tank. Just let mother nature due her work and let the tank be for a few weeks.

Patience goes a long way in this hobby and cycling is just the first of many test of patience.

sir_dudeguy
12/03/2008, 06:10 PM
and pat your head and rub your stomach while hopping on one foot....

xian
12/03/2008, 06:17 PM
FWIW there is coralline algae that is hairy in appearance

thegyft07
12/03/2008, 08:23 PM
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13868813#post13868813 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by xian
FWIW there is coralline algae that is hairy in appearance

There is....hmmm. Maybe it is corline, but I used all tap water and I'n pretty sure that this is a bacteria and not an Algae. Do you have pics of this coraline hair algae for say

crvz
12/04/2008, 07:31 AM
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13869818#post13869818 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by thegyft07
There is....hmmm. Maybe it is corline, but I used all tap water and I'n pretty sure that this is a bacteria and not an Algae. Do you have pics of this coraline hair algae for say

Might you have pics of the problem you've got? Be easier for us to give suggestions...

If you're still cycling the tank, I wouldnt be overly worried about it. Regarding RO water, the use of it will surely help eliminate much of the nutrients that fuel all algaes, but there's no "cure" for having algae in the tank. Algae isnt a disease, but it can be managed.

vetdog
12/04/2008, 07:33 AM
have you looked for a picture of cyano? is it slimy?

thegyft07
12/04/2008, 09:46 AM
Yep, all the pics I've see reflect what i have it is indeed cyano from to much nutirition in the water. I used straight tap water so thats where it came from.

I'm topping of with RO and I plan on using that from now on. and when the tank fully cycles I'll start doing weekly water changes with RO to rid the tank of it and avoid Flake foods with high phosphates. Also will be getting a Protien skimmer for christmas.

Any extra suggestions. I dont want to use medication on the tank I here they can have negative results at times.

gregod
12/04/2008, 10:01 AM
just let your tank cycle for now. After it cycles you will be able to get a better idea of what you need to do to control the algae.

EdKruzel
12/04/2008, 10:14 AM
I'll assume you have lights on the tank, leave them off during the cycle. When the time comes to start illuminating the tank, start with only a few hours a day for 5 or more days gradually building them up to your desired length of time (8-10-12hrs).

Flightpipe
12/04/2008, 10:35 AM
Watch your cycle with your test kits and read up while your waiting. the biggest thing is not to rush anything.

I originally filled mine with tap right from the hose and the water in P cola is gross! I had an out break just like you give it time with the cycle and RODI water changes and all will be well. You may also want to look into a phosphate remover once your tank is fully cycled.

thegyft07
12/04/2008, 10:39 AM
Okay. Turned off all lights. and getting rid of damsel fish. do you think this stuff will die befor the cycle ends or just continuosly grow.

chieuxuan
12/04/2008, 06:53 PM
why are you getting rid of the damsel???? the fish is in the tank is part of the cycle also.

jenglish
12/04/2008, 07:26 PM
I think damsels are not the best way to cycle a tank anyway. Get a bottle of unscented ammonia. :) You may have already introduced enough ammonia to see nitrogen cycle started. Or if you don't want to go get ammonia.... we all make our own ammonia :)

thegyft07
12/04/2008, 11:25 PM
LOL Jenglish... are you suggesting I pee in my aquarium water to create ammonia? if so thats hilarious, but no thanks I'll buy ammonia from here on out thank you.

Any way.......


I decided to buy some fish medication, I lost my patience.

The medication does not recycle the tank and is actually used to rid the tank of fish disease, but it has a small ingredient in it that will also rid a tank of cyano bacteria. In 24 hrs. Its called erythromycin . Dosed at half the recommendation it will kill off any cyano bacteria in a 55 for 6 mo. By that time the tank will be fully cycled and the monthly water changes with ro water will have removed all the excess nutrients in my tank, plus I'll have my red sea protein skimmer for some time then. Thank you all for your input. I will be incorporating all of this information.

PS. I'm keeping the lights off as instructed until I'm ready to start the illuminating period and then I will build up my lighting hours.

Thanks again.

Shmax
12/04/2008, 11:39 PM
Erythromycin is an effective cyano medication, however, it is not discriminate. It absolutely has an effect on the beneficial bacteria you're waiting to cultivate to complete your cycle. I know it's hard, but you're going to have to have patience! That cyano explosion is NOT the last horrific ugly mess you will see in that tank. Just you wait until your diatom bloom! Trust me, some time in the near future, about a week or two after your light cycle resumes, your tank is going to be COVERED in diatoms. Mine were a lovely gold-tan-brown color that almost made the rocks/sand/glass look like somebody spray painted it awful. That's another situation where you have to fight the urge to find remedy, and realize that time is your friend. SLOW DOWN! If there's any one thing I've learned in this hobby, it's that nothing that changes fast changes for the better. Fight the urge to use chemical remedies for anything! Take time, research the issue, and take the slow natural way of remedy! You will find it works a whole lot better, with a lot less stress.

crvz
12/05/2008, 05:41 AM
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13878173#post13878173 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by thegyft07
I decided to buy some fish medication, I lost my patience.


I do hope you find it soon. Those with success in the hobby have figured out that patience is the only way to go... nothing good happens quickly in a marine aquarium.

thegyft07
12/05/2008, 09:54 AM
lol. I have it. I just donthave patience with pest.... I'll do what needs to be done to rid my self of those before I lose patience with beneficial things. that bacteria was going to get far worse before it starved. As stated i made the mistake of using all tap water. I now know that somethings cannot be rush as that mistake cost me this pest. To avoid this in the future I'm going to listen to my fellow aquarist when preparing to do something new.

Thank You all.

EdKruzel
12/05/2008, 10:05 AM
Leave the lights out and get a protein skimmer going and that cyno will be gone in no time at all. You can go to your local fish store and purchase a bottle of live bacteria to help speed the cycle. With the use of bottled bacteria, live rock and sand, adding things like table shrimp or damsels is just ridiculous.

jenglish
12/05/2008, 02:20 PM
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13880021#post13880021 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by EdKruzel
Leave the lights out and get a protein skimmer going and that cyno will be gone in no time at all. You can go to your local fish store and purchase a bottle of live bacteria to help speed the cycle. With the use of bottled bacteria, live rock and sand, adding things like table shrimp or damsels is just ridiculous.

I would still rank ammonia addition over bottled bacteria, thats JMHO. I'm just suspicious of all miracle in a bottle type products and questioning whethor that actually speeds up a cycle. If there were just bacteria in the bottle would they still not need food to get established and thrive?

and to respond to an earlier comment, it is technically still adding nutrient to the water column to pee in your tank:) Not the route I would go personally, I don't think I could ever get my gf to touch the tank after that! And for some people they have to worry about how... um... clean their urine is of other toxicities.;)

Shmax
12/05/2008, 07:40 PM
I have always thought of those bottled bacteria as a little far fetched. Nitrifying bacteria need oxygen and food like any other living creature.... so how would we expect them to be alive on a store shelf for months. Or even in the fridge for that matter.

EdKruzel
12/06/2008, 08:02 AM
Bacteria and other small life forms are pretty miraculous and can easily be kept in stasis for unknown amounts of time. Once formed and in a reproductive state they will need nutrients, but that's where your decay on the live rock comes in.

Initially the decay from the dead stuff on the rock breaks down and forms ammonia, which helps develop bacteria, that bacteria converts to nitrite which helps form another type of bacteria (nitrosoma and nitrobacter) which causes, for most hobbyists the last step of your bio cycle, nitrate. To reduce nitrate we conduct water changes. If you use a denitrator or have a DSB, there are further bacteria in the low oxygen areas known as anaerobic bacteria that further breaks down nitrate to free form nitrogen, which simply forms air bubbles that lift from your system and harmlessly enter our air.

For you nah-sayer's I'll give you another example or two. A family friend ordered "sea monkeys" (brine shrimp eggs) from the back of a magazine when he was a kid (1940's). Some 50yrs later after his mother passed, he found a box of his old junk in the attic to include the sea monkeys. 48hrs later (and over 50yrs) the brine shrimp hatched. Even more astounding is Album Park in El Paso, TX. The park has a spill way that is for excessive rain; being the desert this only occurs every 7yrs or so. When it does there are blooms of brine shrimp and tiny cousins to the horseshoe crab. Both of these have been dated back as desendants of prehistoric times when that region of the contenant was ocean.

In this day and age with all the miracles of nature, I'd have no problem believing they could bottle bacteria.

Shmax
12/06/2008, 02:07 PM
Yeah I guess I never thought of it that way. There are also those frogs in the desert in Africa in the dry river beds that only surface during the heaviest of rainy seasons. They go months, even years before emerging from the mud. I've never used those bottled bacteria for saltwater tanks... always tried to cycle as naturally as possible. I did however experiment with Cycle and Bio-Spira back in my freshwater days. To be honest I didn't see any difference in cycle time using those products versus good old fashioned danios.

johnmaloney
12/06/2008, 03:13 PM
is it that wirey purple macro that everyone in the hobby seems to be getting on frags lately? Hypnea sp.? That stuff is nasty. If it is cyano, just take care of the tank and it goes away, cyano is easy to get rid of.

johnmaloney
12/06/2008, 03:15 PM
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13885960#post13885960 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by EdKruzel
[B
In this day and age with all the miracles of nature, I'd have no problem believing they could bottle bacteria. [/B]

:)