purple hair algae !

[hubble]

I keep getting this purple hair algae which covers the rocks and some on the sand bed. I just did a 5 gallon water change on sunday and brushed the rocks with a brush and got rid of most of it but it seemed to come back like overnight. Tank was set-up in January. What is it and how do I get rid of it?

70 gal. tank with 20 gal sump / running 2 Hydra 26 HD's
running 1 filter sock /protein skimmer /5 lbs miricle mud /2 qts marine pure
parameters
ph..........7.8
alk..........8.0
cal..........475
nitrate......0
phos........0
mag.........1440
salinity......35 ppt

[mcgyvr]

Thats cyanobacteria not algae..
Its fairly common in new tanks...
You can use chemiclean or red slime remover per directions or just siphon it out during water changes and see if that helps or doing a 3 day lights out (and siphoning)..

But its a very common "ugly" stage of a new tank.. Its usually diatoms.. then algae.. then cyano.. Those are the 3 "ugly" stages of a new tanks maturing process..
And cyano can even come up on occasion with established tanks..
Its not really a problem until it becomes a thick blanket smothering corals,etc...

TONS of posts about it if you search for cyano

[hegeh]

Try to siphon out and water change. Stop carbon dose if you are using one.

Chemiclean is the nuke for cyano. I would avoid chemicals but I just used them 2weeks ago. I was desperate as it was so bad that my tank infested with thick cyano which kills most of my sps. My tank is matured btw.

For TS case it was not so bad. So siphon it out would be good.

Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk

[tmz]

It appears to be cyano bacteria. I'd: siphon out as much as possible;puff up the sandy areas a little ; remove detritus buildups if any and use a little gfo if PO4 is high.

Chemi clean and other cyano killers can have detrimental effects on tanks as the cyano dies ;it has been associated with several crashes in several reports over the years even when used carefully.. Most of the time with careful use it does not do discernible harm.
Light depravation also stresses the other photosynthetic organisms in the tank.

[hubble]

Ok, I just did a w/c and brushed off the rocks and cleaned the sand bed. Two days later its back worse than before. I'm thinking about using some Chemiclean.

[mcgyvr]

. I'm thinking about using some Chemiclean.

Go for it.. just follow the directions and all will be fine..

[JJsReeftank28gn]

I would not do that it took done my tank and almost killed all my soft corals, its been months since i did that and i lost half of them the other half are coming back very slowly.

[mcgyvr]

I would not do that it took done my tank and almost killed all my soft corals, its been months since i did that and i lost half of them the other half are coming back very slowly.

I've used it numerous times..dozens I'm sure.. (Ultralife Red Slime Remover specifically) and have NEVER had an issue and have a mixed reef softies/LPS/SPS,etc...
https://www.amazon.com/Ultralife-Products-Slime-Stain-Remover/dp/B0002DKB6S/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1494372856&sr=8-1&keywords=red+slime+remover

Its just an antibiotic I can't see how it would/could harm corals unless you had poor water circulation/low oxygen levels already..

[tmz]

You may not see it but it has done serious harm in several reports form serious reefers with good water circulation and oxygen. I wouldn't say "go for it" regarding chemiclean or other cyano killers without caveat given those problems. I'm not sure whether RedSlime Remover it's just an antibiotic or not . Chemi-clean which is the product the OP plans to use with the encouragement to "go for it...all will be fine" is claimed not to be purely antibiotics per the product description from the manufacturer:


"Most other red slime removers use purely antibiotics, namely erythromycin to take care of the algae. The use of such substances with in your aquarium can have disastrous effects upon your nitrifying bacteria and cause your tank to crash, killing the inhabitants of your aquarium...."

In any case cyano bacteria can be eliminated without either product.

[mcgyvr]

Ok... don't use chemiclean... "Go for it" with Red Slime Remover if you want.. or siphon....

[hubble]

Well now I'm not so sure. Some people say its great and others say it wasted their tank. It's not really red slime it's hair (dark red). It's been getting worse and worse. I just did a water change and brushed off the rocks and corals and siphoned the sand bed. The next day it was back (over night). And it's getting worse, don't know how I got it, unless it came with a piece of coral I recently got. I have 0 nitrates and 0 phos, I only run a filter sock and a skimmer.

[mcgyvr]

Its cyano.. Its NORMAL... Nothing you did caused it... Nature did..
Its not tied to nitrates nor phosphates from what I've seen..

[mcgyvr]

And yes in general cyano is mostly considered a gram negative bacteria (however its not completely negative and may show positive attributes) and erythromycin is most effective against gram positive bacteria and nitrifying bacterias can be both gram negative and positive depending on the strain..

From my experiences red slime remover (From Ultralife) is mostly effective in treating cyano and from what I've seen does not cause significant issues with nitrifying bacteria..
I have experiences NO increase in nitrates after using the product..

In this hobby you will find that there is always someone that has a negative experience and somehow those few negative experiences can become the "norm" and accepted as a big issue and the truth.. I'm sure you will find far more people that have had a positive experience vs those with the negative experiences..

Same with the myth that all rock needs to be fully cured as it will contain bound phosphate that needs to be removed.. Most do not have this issue.. Some do.. and myths take over reality..

Its up to you.. But that is 100% cyano.. As stated you do NOT have to resort to "chemical" means... You can continue to siphon it out.. attempt to increase flow,etc..

From what I see that is not even close to a "bad/serious" problem.. I've had it 1/8-1/4" thick mats covering every surface of the rocks with bubbles,etc.. literally suffocating anything below it.. I've had it BAD...
I've used all methods (besides GFO as I don't think that ever the cause/solution).. But 3 day lights out works pretty well.. But it would often come right back.. Siphoning works.. but it again often comes right back..

its there for a reason.. I'm not sure on the exact reason.. Not sure anyone really is..
But do what you can.. hope it passes and decide for yourself how you wish to treat it..
Start with siphoning if you want and see how that works.. Its NOT going to go away overnight but can just go away on its own in some cases..

Good luck..

In no way am I disagreeing with tmz.. they know what they are talking about.. they just choose to avoid the chemical route.. I'm not opposed to trying it.. and have.. and have had a good experience using it per the directions.. (even a little less than instructed to use on occasion)..

[tmz]

Low nutrients ,particularly PO4, and detritus removal will cause it to wane,IME.
There is no evidence that either of the removers is erythromycin of which I am aware.
Neither of the manufacturer's claims that. One of them argues antibiotics used by their competition kill nitrifying bacteria in point of fact ;it may or may not.

Chemicals can be helpful if you know what they are and what the side effects might be ; unfortunately, in this case we don't since the product descriptions are not specific though wordy ; by marketing design I guess.

These products are used by many and with care some short term relief usually requiring periodic retreatments is an outcome; but there are a number of cases where folks who know what they are doing have had very bad experiences .

I've used it years ago but won't anymore given the history. There is no visible cyano in my system but it does show up form time to time in some tanks on separate systems when I allow nutrients to creep upalong with detritus.
If you choose to use either of these products be sure to remove as much cyano as you can before use( it may release toxins when stressed) and pay careful attention to the aeration and other dosing directions.

[hubble]

Thanks for the posts. I'll let you know the outcome, whatever I do.

[tmz]

You are welcome. Good luck

[hubble]

Well I tried the chemiclean and it seemed to help a little. After 48 hrs I did a 10 gallon water change and cleaned the tank. I siphoned out most of it and cleaned the sand bed. But the next day it is already coming back...........

[ADVRESOURCE]

When your tank matures, cyano and gha can be caused by high Tds from your Ro water.

[hubble]

TDS reads 0 on the meter

[scooter31707]

I have use Chemiclean in a reef tank many of times with no ill effects. Go for it.