Ralgo Posted May 17, 2011 Share Posted May 17, 2011 Ive been having what I thought was a little problem with some purple carpet algae. I saw a few spots building up but it wasn't until I moved a rock to a new angle that i saw how bad it was. Ive done alot of research onlne but I seem to have found too many solutions. I wanted to pick the colloective brain here on NR for more direction. Have any of you had to deal with this? How did you clean it up? As always any advise would be appreciated. Thanks in advance. Link to comment
Markushka Posted May 17, 2011 Share Posted May 17, 2011 I looks like its either cyano [bad] or coralline [good] Cyano is a nutrient & water quality problem. it'll also be on the sand bed and not only on the rocks. Coralline, on the other hand will not feel slimy to the touch and be only on the rocks and glass. Link to comment
Ralgo Posted May 17, 2011 Author Share Posted May 17, 2011 I looks like its either cyano [bad] or coralline [good] Cyano is a nutrient & water quality problem. it'll also be on the sand bed and not only on the rocks. Coralline, on the other hand will not feel slimy to the touch and be only on the rocks and glass. It's slimy alright... with small bubbles mingled in. But its not on the sand at all. I only see it on the underside of rocks as well as in crevices. Now that I moved the rock i see it on the back wall of the tank too where the rock used to rest. Link to comment
Bishop Posted May 17, 2011 Share Posted May 17, 2011 Generally, if something is only on the under side of my rock, I don't worry about it. Link to comment
Markushka Posted May 17, 2011 Share Posted May 17, 2011 Generally, if something is only on the under side of my rock, I don't worry about it. not always a good approach ime.. OP, does it come off in chunks, and form a mat of sorts? It sounds like cyano. How long has the tank been up? and posting water parameters and other tank specs would be helpful for us to help you. Link to comment
Ralgo Posted May 17, 2011 Author Share Posted May 17, 2011 not always a good approach ime.. OP, does it come off in chunks, and form a mat of sorts? It sounds like cyano. How long has the tank been up? and posting water parameters and other tank specs would be helpful for us to help you. It does come off in chunks. It feels soft and slimy outside of the water. My last set of tests over the weekend read 7.9 PH, 1.024 Salinity and 0s for Ammonia, Nitrates and Nitrites. The tank has been up since January. I don't have tests for anything other than those. For now I will be lowering the feeding amounts (except for my black and yellow sun corals), increasing the water changes from 5g to 10g per week and increased the flow to the area with a Koralia Nano. I plan to do a blackout from Tuesday though Thursday. Ill also probably take a toothbrush to the area tomorrow. Will those methods help? Link to comment
Builder Anthony Posted May 18, 2011 Share Posted May 18, 2011 No dont use a tooth brush it will send it all over your tank and get worse.At the end of your light cycle gently peel it off from the edge useing something like a tooth pick.I use a dental scraper and pull it up from one side.You should be able to get good sized chucks out.Dont mix it in your sand or you will have a real problem getting rid of it.Make sure you siphon out any that floats around then shut the lights off.Darkness will kill it off but its hard to do since yu eventually have to turn them on. Link to comment
sanchez Posted May 20, 2011 Share Posted May 20, 2011 It might be a sponge if it's growing on the underside..? Link to comment
Eole00 Posted May 20, 2011 Share Posted May 20, 2011 it's cyano. do water changes and syphon it out. decrease your light cycle and if you're feeding frozen foods, rinse them out before you feed. this will reduce the trates going into the tank which helps out the cyano. run your skimmer wet, use carbon and if the tank is by a window, block the light coming in from the window. Link to comment
brandon429 Posted May 20, 2011 Share Posted May 20, 2011 thats a pro growth of x variant of red algae, it should be removed. see the peroxide dosing thread in the diseases forum here If you drain the tank and drip peroxide across that red surface, let it sit a minute, then refill, it will die by end of the weekend, if you can remove the rocks and treat in another container it will cure it. no need to jack with tank params, this organism is based on import not bad water params. it is natural to the reef, we just don't like it in our tanks. peroxide is your cure, it will kill 100% of all bad algaes. Don't add it to the tank, treat only the spots and I guarantee it w work. please make pics for our thread, there's already about 20 people in there with these results we want more proof B Link to comment
Ralgo Posted May 21, 2011 Author Share Posted May 21, 2011 I had a coral (unattached... why do I keep doing that) fall under my rock so i had to take a bunch out to get it. I took the opportunity to scrape the algae off the back while siphoning out water and I took a toothbrush to the rock I removed.I rinsed it in the discarded water and then put em back in. All this while doing a 10g water change. It looks way better now but I do see a few specks still. I'll monitor it and let you guys know. Link to comment
Builder Anthony Posted May 21, 2011 Share Posted May 21, 2011 Ya those few specks will regrow.Thats kind of a good time to shorten the light cycle or block that sewction of the tank with something like a book at the top of the tank if you have a lid. Link to comment
Markushka Posted May 21, 2011 Share Posted May 21, 2011 thats a pro growth of x variant of red algae, it should be removed. see the peroxide dosing thread in the diseases forum here If you drain the tank and drip peroxide across that red surface, let it sit a minute, then refill, it will die by end of the weekend, if you can remove the rocks and treat in another container it will cure it. no need to jack with tank params, this organism is based on import not bad water params. it is natural to the reef, we just don't like it in our tanks. peroxide is your cure, it will kill 100% of all bad algaes. Don't add it to the tank, treat only the spots and I guarantee it w work. please make pics for our thread, there's already about 20 people in there with these results we want more proof B No NO NOO!!! thats not how you deal w/ cyano! IN any case, draining all your water is ALMOST ALWAYS a BAD IDEA. please refrain from giving such advise.. thank you. Link to comment
bitts Posted May 21, 2011 Share Posted May 21, 2011 +1. Shame on all who post misinformation, contaminating the net. Link to comment
johnmaloney Posted May 21, 2011 Share Posted May 21, 2011 you can just toothbrush it off, I wouldnt worry about draining it down and dipping unless you cant toothbrush it off. will spread throughout the tank if it wants, I would just work on the manual clean up and some siphoning. it isnt a big deal, should go away, a little cyano is bound to pop up in your tank. Try to catch the debris from when you toothbrush in a green net if possible, sometimes it sticks to the bristles for you which makes it easier, just use the toothbrush to peel it off instead of rubbing it away. Link to comment
Natural71 Posted May 21, 2011 Share Posted May 21, 2011 Siphon off as much as possible, use a tooth brush and a fine mesh net to free up and catch smaller specks. Try to get more water flow to that area of the tank. Once that is done, reduce your light cycle for a few days then retest your parameters. You may see them start creeping up from lack of uptake when the cyano is removed. If they do then my guess would be high nutrient load from overfeeding. Either way, you should evaluate your feeding regimen. Cyano is not dependent on nitrates to survive but no sense in helping them. Link to comment
brandon429 Posted May 21, 2011 Share Posted May 21, 2011 lol at markushka you are right for 9 years Ive been giving consistently bad and inaccurate advice that I wasn't using in my own reefs, sorry man. Thanks for the correction heh Link to comment
Polscot Posted May 27, 2011 Share Posted May 27, 2011 heres the deal, u can either spend months battling it and cleaning it and scrubbing and doing water changes, or...just go buy Chemi-Clean red slime remover....ive used it on 4 tank with absolutly no ill effects, people dont like using it cause its a "chemical" well if it did anything bad or unintended it wouldent be on the market right,....do yourself a favor and go buy some Link to comment
brandon429 Posted May 27, 2011 Share Posted May 27, 2011 be sure and post update pics, we want to see! it would have been 100% gone by now with peroxide use, its sad to see it hang around in the tank when its so unnecessary. post pics man! one main problem with boyds chemi clean is this is a systemic doser, its adding an antibiotic to your entire tank. One spot treating with peroxide is adding distilled water to your tank and only on the spot you want it. Nothing is better than peroxide for removal of this organism, or Id be using it. Ive used boyd's before, it does not compare to the efficacy of h202 in any way. B Link to comment
mmcguffi Posted May 27, 2011 Share Posted May 27, 2011 I see no issues with the method brandon429 mentioned--ie partially draining the tank to expose the algae infested spots, dabbing on peroxide to appropriate areas, and refilling the tank with the same water. In fact this sound like the best method to me as Im sure it would totally solve the problem. Exposing part of the reef to air for a few minutes isnt going to harm anything. No need freak out everyone. Link to comment
brandon429 Posted June 10, 2011 Share Posted June 10, 2011 no reply no pics means carpet algae got another one too bad!! peroxide wouldve fixed it man Link to comment
Ralgo Posted June 10, 2011 Author Share Posted June 10, 2011 LOL no... it didn't get me. Its been receding slowly. The areas I scrubbed didn't return. I'm keeping an eye on the feedings and such as well. Thanks for all the help guys. Link to comment
brandon429 Posted June 13, 2011 Share Posted June 13, 2011 can we get after pics? glad you got it man Link to comment
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