Algae ID - Fuzzy purple

[nldemo]

Ello,

I'm hoping some folks can help ID this algae. It's not on any list I've seen, and I wonder if it's just because my nitrates are super high. It almost looks like little fuzzy balls on the rock work.

Let me know if more pictures would help

thanks in advance!

 

[Idoc]

Does it blow off easily with a turkey baster? If so, I would think it could be a very pretty color of cyano! Cyano does look like it has little "balls" in it sometimes...but, its actually gas produced in the cyano mats. Fluctuations in nutrients can cause cyano to take ahold and proliferate.

 

[nldemo]

I actually blasted it with a pump in hand before one of my recent water changes, and it didn't move much. It does scrape off pretty easily though, into chunks. I would scrape it all off... but it's not hard to reach down in my tank (vertical is more than my arm length). Also, those chunks once broken off are not easy to remove with the gravel vac.. so I'm worried about just leaving all that in the tank.

I could try treating for red slime though, if that's our best guess. It's been a while, I have had it in the past in both my tanks.

 

[KrisReef]

Hello, and a late welcome to Reef2Reef!

I think you are looking as cyanobacteria ("slime"). Have you been doing a bunch of water changes to lower your nitrates? If you treat for slime I would follow up with Microbacter7 to help get the microbe culture back on track in the tank.

Very beautiful set-up!

 

[nldemo]

Hello, and a late welcome to Reef2Reef!

I think you are looking as cyanobacteria ("slime"). Have you been doing a bunch of water changes to lower your nitrates? If you treat for slime I would follow up with Microbacter7 to help get the microbe culture back on track in the tank.

Very beautiful set-up!

Thanks ^_^

I was actually considering grabbing the N03 bricks and seeding them with MB7, but then saw that they require a low flow area in the sump to really operate efficiently. The only real space I have for them is right under the "wet/dry" section of the sump, pic attached.

I have treated red slime once or maybe even twice in the past in this tank (~10 years old), and that stuff always works like a real champ. Now that you said that, I'm wondering if my bacteria population is just low. I do vodka dose. Idunno Don't want to sidetrack the thread as I'm more interested in what the algae is, but I did just dose some microbe lift special blend, and microbe lift nite out 2 following bottle directions. I doubt it will do anything for my nitrates and I definitely know bottles aren't a long term solution.. but I'm just seeing what I can do to help the tank out.

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