This is algie in this picture is purple and been around for 2 weeks. It started small and now its grown other places . Not sure if it is red slime algie or what. It started a diatoms but then colored up and now dont know how to get rid of it. It now has grown hair
Is this red slime algie not sure.
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ilovereefing <3
Active Member
I can't be entirely sure from the picture, but it does look like cyano to me. Awful stuff...do you have nitrates and phosphates registering in your tank? I'd siphon that stuff out, don't let it take too much of a hold on your tank.
ilovereefing <3
Active Member
I am just getting over (hopefully) a bad cyano outbreak in my tank. I have lived with it for about 2 months. Right now, I have absolutely none in my tank. I have a 125 gallon tank with sump and 20 gallon refugium, for a total of about 160 gallons. I was registering about a 5, sometimes 10 in Nitrates (Salifert) and .02 in Phosphates (Hanna Checker). Since they were both registering on my test kits, I am pretty sure the actual levels were much higher but the cyano was using it to grow. Here is what I just did to break the cycle.
1. During my regular water change, I siphoned out as much of the cyano as I could. I used a smaller diameter siphon so water would be sucked out slower and I could spend more time sucking out the cyano.
2. The next day, I started 3 days of darkness and a Chemiclean treatment. I added a powerhead with venturi to the system for good aeration and gas exchange, and I completely covered my tank with a dark blanket. You can cover the glass on your tank with cardboard and such, but I wanted to be able to check on my tank so a blanket worked for me.
3. After the 3 days of darkness, I did a 50 gallon water change (30%) to remove whatever algae and cyano had died off and left more nutrients in the water. I turned my lights back on, but in acclimation mode to prevent light shocking my corals. I was amazed at how clean my tank was...all the cyano was gone and any other small bits of nuisance algae was completely gone.
4. Several hours after the water change, I dosed Dr. Tim's Waste Away and turned off my skimmer for a day.
5. I am installing a biopellet reactor today to keep my nitrates and phosphates down. I do have GFO running in a reactor, but lately it seems to not quite keep up with the phosphates in my tank. Even after replacing my GFO, I would still not get a zero reading on my phosphates. So I am hoping that carbon dosing with the biopellets will help grow more of the beneficial bacteria to out compete the cyano.
I cannot guarantee that this will completely take care of the problem, as I am only 4 days out from the treatment I did. The tank still looks amazing today and my nitrates and phosphates are undetectable at the moment. You need to find the source of the excess nutrients in your tank that are allowing the cyano to grow. I think that for me, it was overfeeding and over skimming. I used to skim "wet", but I may have also been removing too much of the beneficial bacteria I needed to help with denitrification. I dialed back my skimmer some to see if this helps. I also used to feed a lot, plus I feed my corals several times a week. I now feed twice a day, but I add very little food to the tank when I feed and make sure the fish eat all of it before it hits the sand, then I give a little more. If any food hits the sand, I don't add more food. I am only target feeding my corals once a week, no more broadcast feeding. Also, while changing up the flow can help for some, it did not work for me. It's possible that the cyano you are seeing is a dead spot in your tank and you may just need to make sure that there is adequate flow in your tank to keep detritus from settling there. Cyano was ALL OVER my tank, so changing the flow did nothing for me. Make sure you are keeping up with your regular tank husbandry as well. If you don't, the cyano will surely take over again.
I hope this helps you. It seems like a lot to do, but looking at my tank today, it was WELL worth the work. Good luck!
1. During my regular water change, I siphoned out as much of the cyano as I could. I used a smaller diameter siphon so water would be sucked out slower and I could spend more time sucking out the cyano.
2. The next day, I started 3 days of darkness and a Chemiclean treatment. I added a powerhead with venturi to the system for good aeration and gas exchange, and I completely covered my tank with a dark blanket. You can cover the glass on your tank with cardboard and such, but I wanted to be able to check on my tank so a blanket worked for me.
3. After the 3 days of darkness, I did a 50 gallon water change (30%) to remove whatever algae and cyano had died off and left more nutrients in the water. I turned my lights back on, but in acclimation mode to prevent light shocking my corals. I was amazed at how clean my tank was...all the cyano was gone and any other small bits of nuisance algae was completely gone.
4. Several hours after the water change, I dosed Dr. Tim's Waste Away and turned off my skimmer for a day.
5. I am installing a biopellet reactor today to keep my nitrates and phosphates down. I do have GFO running in a reactor, but lately it seems to not quite keep up with the phosphates in my tank. Even after replacing my GFO, I would still not get a zero reading on my phosphates. So I am hoping that carbon dosing with the biopellets will help grow more of the beneficial bacteria to out compete the cyano.
I cannot guarantee that this will completely take care of the problem, as I am only 4 days out from the treatment I did. The tank still looks amazing today and my nitrates and phosphates are undetectable at the moment. You need to find the source of the excess nutrients in your tank that are allowing the cyano to grow. I think that for me, it was overfeeding and over skimming. I used to skim "wet", but I may have also been removing too much of the beneficial bacteria I needed to help with denitrification. I dialed back my skimmer some to see if this helps. I also used to feed a lot, plus I feed my corals several times a week. I now feed twice a day, but I add very little food to the tank when I feed and make sure the fish eat all of it before it hits the sand, then I give a little more. If any food hits the sand, I don't add more food. I am only target feeding my corals once a week, no more broadcast feeding. Also, while changing up the flow can help for some, it did not work for me. It's possible that the cyano you are seeing is a dead spot in your tank and you may just need to make sure that there is adequate flow in your tank to keep detritus from settling there. Cyano was ALL OVER my tank, so changing the flow did nothing for me. Make sure you are keeping up with your regular tank husbandry as well. If you don't, the cyano will surely take over again.
I hope this helps you. It seems like a lot to do, but looking at my tank today, it was WELL worth the work. Good luck!
