thick dark purple algae problem!

[austin6965]

So ive had this problem for about a month and a half or so I've done water changes and tried siphoning the bigger collection of it to see if it'd get smaller and soon be gone but it still comes back . it grows on my corals and covers them killing them. How do I get rid of this problem ? And what is it besides an algae

 

[Gryphon]

Is it a reddish-purple color? Sounds like it might be Cyano from how you describe it coming back.

 

[austin6965]

Yeah reddish purple look to it as well

 

[N1Husker]

It sounds exactly like red cyanobacteria. It is not an algae, it is a bacteria. Cyano is a combination of a nutrient problem and water flow in that area. It is easy to say don't feed as much and increase water flow in that area. However, I have done that myself and sometimes it still rears its ugly head. The best stuff I have used to combat the problem is called Chemiclean. It doesn't affect anything else, just the red cyano. All of you corals, fish, inverts are totally safe, I have never lost a thing using it. You need to follow the directions to the letter, stop skimming for 48 hours, remove carbon, 25% waterchange after 48 hours, etc., etc. I have found that it takes about 3 water changes before the skimming returns to normal. One after 48 hours, another 25% a week later and another 25% a week later after the second. Sometimes, it will stop after the second, but never the first, in my experience. It is called Boyd's Chemiclean and you should be able to get this at any LFS or online store.

 

[Webos]

I'm with N1Husker, i've used chemiclean twice to get rid of my cyano problem and it works great. I found out Petco has it now or least the one here in Richland does.

 

[NC2WA]

while chemiclean is good to rid cyano, it is not a panacea...you really should be finding root cause of the problem..poor water flow, too much feeding, poor lighting or lights need to be replaced are places I would start to look at.

basically bacteria needs a couple of things to grow...lights and nutrients...you cure one of them, then cyano will go over forever..

 

[N1Husker]

while chemiclean is good to rid cyano, it is not a panacea...you really should be finding root cause of the problem..poor water flow, too much feeding, poor lighting or lights need to be replaced are places I would start to look at.

basically bacteria needs a couple of things to grow...lights and nutrients...you cure one of them, then cyano will go over forever..

I think Kirk is right. I would use it to get rid of it and look at what you are doing or not doing with your tank. the Chemiclean is something that you should do to help to get it off of your corals.
At the same time, look at your feeding habits, what type of lighting (bulb change?), and can you increase the flow to the affected area, adding powerheads, redirection of current powerheads.

 

[Gryphon]

For now to get it off your corals, do a quick RODI water dip for about 30 seconds, it'll turn bright orange and fall apart under a little flow in the tank.

 

[DonW]

Chemiclean will drop your o2 levels real quick. Cyano is easy to stave off without the use of chemicals.

Don