Purple/red algea

[The Guy]

I have a couple of areas on some of my live rock with this maroon colored algae on it, it lifts off easily but back comes back again. Is there anything I can use that will get rid of this stuff without having to upset the system :question:

[Cymaster007]

Chemi clean makes a good product. Look up the red slime remover

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[The Guy]

Chemi clean makes a good product. Look up the red slime remover

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2
Thanks got some going in my tank now, not thrilled about turning off the protein skimmer and UV while treating for 48 hours but I thought I better follow the directions and do it right. I also added an air stone as suggested on the package.
Thanks again for your help. :mrgreen:

[input80]

Yes, if it is cyano, Chemiclean worked very well on both of our tanks.

[Tom R]

If it is red turf algae then snail work very well. I like Mexican Turbo Snails.

Tom R

[asylumdown]

Can you post a picture of the algae? How you respond depends very much on what it is you're dealing with.

Cyano is a bacteria that can be treated chemically with a product like chemi-clean. Chemi-clean won't do a thing for real algaes, diatoms, or dinoflagellates though. Buying a herbivore to eat turf algae won't do a thing for cyano.

It's best to get a positive ID on what it is first.

[The Guy]

Can you post a picture of the algae? How you respond depends very much on what it is you're dealing with.

Cyano is a bacteria that can be treated chemically with a product like chemi-clean. Chemi-clean won't do a thing for real algaes, diatoms, or dinoflagellates though. Buying a herbivore to eat turf algae won't do a thing for cyano.

It's best to get a positive ID on what it is first.
Here's a picture of it. I started a Chemi-clean treatment last night, Hopefully this will get rid of this stuff. Any suggestions on what may be causing it. I am using Rowaphos and all my other levels seem good.
http://i1225.photobucket.com/albums/ee386/clownlover1/001_zpse8f8f728.jpg (http://s1225.photobucket.com/user/clownlover1/media/001_zpse8f8f728.jpg.html)

[asylumdown]

I'm not sure I'm seeing anything on that rock that looks like cyano. Is it the dark red patches that you're talking about? What's it like when it comes off? Slimy and disintegrates, flaky, or spongy?

[The Guy]

I'm not sure I'm seeing anything on that rock that looks like cyano. Is it the dark red patches that you're talking about? What's it like when it comes off? Slimy and disintegrates, flaky, or spongy?
It's slimy and breaks up easily when it comes off.

[input80]

When I had, what I thought was, cyano, it was only on the sands bed(s), never saw it on the rocks. Has it started to brown up/recede yet Laurie ?

[asylumdown]

Slimy sounds like cyano, but honestly that pic just doesn't look like it. The only thing in that image that looks 'cyano-ey' are those solid dark red/wine coloured patches, but they seem to have hard edges where the more lilac coloured coraline is growing in them. Cyano mats don't usually look like that, they'd smother right over top of everything on the rock and wouldn't leave such neat boundaries between them and the other things growing there. Though the colour and texture is very much like cyano, so maybe it's just a young patch?

Is the chemiclean having any sort of an effect?

[The Guy]

Slimy sounds like cyano, but honestly that pic just doesn't look like it. The only thing in that image that looks 'cyano-ey' are those solid dark red/wine coloured patches, but they seem to have hard edges where the more lilac coloured coraline is growing in them. Cyano mats don't usually look like that, they'd smother right over top of everything on the rock and wouldn't leave such neat boundaries between them and the other things growing there. Though the colour and texture is very much like cyano, so maybe it's just a young patch?

Is the chemiclean having any sort of an effect?

Yes I finished the chemiclean session and done the 20% water change and it's looking a lot better now, although I still have some dark purple patches on some of the rock it's not slimmy at all and is solid on the rock like coraline. I was warned that my skimmer would go nuts when I turned it back on and over skim like crazy and it is. It's filling the cup in like 3 minutes, so I leaving it off till tomorrow am. Hoping it will settle down after the water goes through the sump a few times.

[The Guy]

When I had, what I thought was, cyano, it was only on the sands bed(s), never saw it on the rocks. Has it started to brown up/recede yet Laurie ?
Ya it's helped a lot, but my skimmer is having a hissy fit.

[input80]

yup, one ofe mine went crazy for a few days after, I must have changed a total ot 50% over 3 days on that one, the other tank wasn't so bad though. I have read some people leave the skimmer running without the cup also....