Purple Haze

Robert04

Robert04

Aspiring Self Proclaimed Expert
Dec 31, 2008
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My tank is covered with this purple algae.. It's out of control.. I can literally watch it grow.. I've cleaned it up and did water changes.. I don't know where its coming from.. Its been about 2-3 weeks now that this purple gunk has been outgrowing my tank.. It grows on the sand on the rock on the corals.. its going to work its way out of my tank and swallow my room if I dont keep up with the regular cleaning. It grows so fast you can see it creeping along the tank bottom.. after a good tankc leaning takes about 48 hours and its covered again.. I use my rock cleaner to take the layer off the sand and some off the rocks or corals.. It dosnt seem to hurt anything and the corals just bloom through it.. It does not look like coraline.. it looks like someone covered my tank with purple gel sheets.... -.-
 
Robert, I think purple algae is a good thing. Someone with more knowledge will probably tell you more.
 
That is cyano I believe. Increased flow seems to help. What circulation do you have? Do you test for Nitrate & Phosphate? What type of lights and how long are they on? Algae needs 3 things... Nitrate, Phosphate, and light.
 
jackiomy said:
Robert, I think purple algae is a good thing. Someone with more knowledge will probably tell you more.
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Unfortunately, this is not a good thing. Sounds like you are thinking of coralline algae, which is a calcerous (sp?) algae, whereas this appears to be slimy. It looks to me to be some kind of cyano.

How long has your tank been set up and what is your maintenance schedule like? What equipment are you running on your tank in terms of providing flow? Are there any dead spots? Have you run a phosphate test? What is your source water, tap or RO/DI? If you are using RO/DI from your own RO/DI unit, is it perhaps time to change the cartridges?

Sorry for the barrage of questions, just trying to help you get it sorted out.
 
I have a korallia 1 and i have a 3 in my mixing bucket.. I have it aimed from one corner to the middle of the other wall and slightly downward. The 3 was in my tank original but to powerful.. Maybe I could direct it at the small power head? and ill just find another korallia 1 when i got money?
 
I have phostphate removers and my nitrates arent really high they sometimes show up but not enough to cause this bloom.. My lighting is t5's.. runs 8 hours a day. plus i do weekly water changes and clean the top layer of sand every other week..
 
Like Sev asked, what is your water source? I had a bad case on one rock and added a MJ600 pointed at it along with Algone in my filter and it was pretty well eradicated. Green and brown algae I still have aplenty. lol
 
Cool. I have a Koralia 1 and the Maxi jet 600 on a 20. I think an addition of another powerhead could help. I'm just a newb though.
 
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Goodbye cyano! adjusted flow and cleaned my filters out and couple days later :)
 
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