how to get rid of purple hairy like algae? Cyanobacteria??

[nacra99]

Looks to me that it IS Cyanobacteria!
+1 to all the advise given above.
Have a pack of E-mycin ready if all fails....

[seminoleranch]

I just went threw the same thing myself and I feel your pain. I am new to salt as well but I can tell you what worked for me, first I got a good clean up crew, Turbo Snails, Hermits and cleaner shrimp to help keep the bottom clean. Every time I seen a spot of it I siphoned it out as well as a small area of the sand around it. I would pour the water off, saved my sand and let it completely dry out for many days ( I did not know how long I would have to keep doing this and did not want to lose a bunch of my sand, the drying out killed all my good stuff but it killed the Cyano as well). Last I stopped buy my water at the LFS and started just mixing my own. For a small tank it cost a little more but as soon as I done this I started noticing a big change in how fast the Cyano came back.

[dthang8]

I change out my water every other week. About 20% each time. I try to siphon off the algae on the sand as well too and of course, like seminoeranch, I keep losing sand and don't want that. And should I take out my filters on my Nano and clean them off too? I've been told not to do that since there are nutrients and whatnot in them to keep the tank healthy. And I plan on buying a powerhead this afternoon or should I wait?

[tbui1178]

I had that.. used less light and more water changes to get rid of it. I also added some cheato to the tank to take the nutrients.

[seminoleranch]

Save your sand the way I did, I would just let it dry completely out before putting it back in. Not saying this will fix your problem but it will keep you from losing your so much of your sand. How many crabs and snails do you have in your clean up crew? I was socked when I done better research at how many was recommended for my tank size. Also I was given a lot of good input on my thread about the same problem if you want to check it out http://www.houstonfishbox.com/vforum...the-sand/page3

[rage]

I change out my water every other week. About 20% each time. I try to siphon off the algae on the sand as well too and of course, like seminoeranch, I keep losing sand and don't want that. And should I take out my filters on my Nano and clean them off too? I've been told not to do that since there are nutrients and whatnot in them to keep the tank healthy. And I plan on buying a powerhead this afternoon or should I wait?

The filter on your nano? With nutrients that keep your tank healthy?
If you mean you have a filter pad and a mechanical filter?
I would clean that thing very well, if detritus is caught there, it eventually dies and produces ammonia, nitrite , nitrate.

What keeps your tank healthy is the bacteria in your live rock and the skimmer which removes xtra nutrients.

[dthang8]

Yeah, I meant the filter pads and the 3 layer filters. Ok I will do a WC tomo and clean out my filter as well. I've just sucked out some of the algae (and of course some sand with it as well). I will be drying out my sand in the sun so I don't lose anymore. Thanks to everyone for all the advise. Its kinda of pain in the rear end to keep seeing it back and hopefully it will fully go away.

[soymilk]

I usually vacuum my sand with a 1/8" air line hose. How often are you feeding and how much? I can only speak for myself but I try to only feed about 3 times a week.

Also where are you getting your water from? I noticed a lot less problems when I stopped buying my water and making my own. When I bought water, it seemed very inconsistant. Sometimes sg would be 1.018-1.027. Not to mention there would always be a mini algae bloom when right after i changed my water. Just get in the habit of doing a little bit of maintenance every day. I spend maybe 15-20 mins a day cleaning/maintaining my tank, and I try to stay consistant with water changes. I get in the routine of doing them every sat morning. Spending a little time every day vacuuming up detritus/algae is going to save you a lot of time and effort later on not to mention it keeps your tank looking great all week.

[dthang8]

Yeah, I guess I can start making my own water. But its so much easier to just buy it from City Pets cuz my Nano is only 29g. I'm wanting to move to a bigger tank (maybe a 55g) later on. But making my own water for a 55g will be a hassle. I've been told that the water that I'm getting at the water refill places are very inconsistent to mix with the salt. I don't have a water unit at home with RODI yet so I gotta buy my water (and also drinking water) at those places. I'm gonna do a WC every week (a little portion, maybe 2g each time) until this cyanobacteria is gone. Any other suggestion is greatly appreciated.

[Mzungu]

I'm gonna do a WC every week (a little portion, maybe 2g each time) until this cyanobacteria is gone. Any other suggestion is greatly appreciated.

I'd do more than 2 gallons per water change. Cyano really thrives with a lot of nutrients in the water, so larger water changes will help greatly.

If you can, either buy a test kit so you can test your water for nitrates, or bring a sample to get tested the next time you go to an LFS. Knowing your level of nitrates will help determine how much water you should be replacing with each water change.

[dthang8]

Would feeding it too much be a cause as well? I only feed the fishes 1 cube of frozen brine shrimp a day. I just cleaned out my bottom layer of filter on my 3 stage filter. I didn't wanna clean out the whole thing for fear of it messing with the chemistry and the whole tank will just die. I've already brought my water out to CP for testing about 3 days ago and they said everything is fine. And wouldn't taking a turkey baster and just "blowing" the algae off be a waste of time since it will still be in tank instead of sucking it out?

[Mzungu]

Would feeding it too much be a cause as well? I only feed the fishes 1 cube of frozen brine shrimp a day. I just cleaned out my bottom layer of filter on my 3 stage filter. I didn't wanna clean out the whole thing for fear of it messing with the chemistry and the whole tank will just die. I've already brought my water out to CP for testing about 3 days ago and they said everything is fine. And wouldn't taking a turkey baster and just "blowing" the algae off be a waste of time since it will still be in tank instead of sucking it out?

Feeding too much will definitely help the cyano. When you feed, just make sure it is all eaten within a minute or two. If there is still food floating around uneaten after that, you should probably feed less. Repeat that whenever you feed until all the food is eaten after at most 2 minutes.

When CP tested your water, did they give you the actual values? Saying "everything is fine" is not telling you anything.

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[rage]

Yeah, I guess I can start making my own water. But its so much easier to just buy it from City Pets cuz my Nano is only 29g. I'm wanting to move to a bigger tank (maybe a 55g) later on. But making my own water for a 55g will be a hassle. I've been told that the water that I'm getting at the water refill places are very inconsistent to mix with the salt. I don't have a water unit at home with RODI yet so I gotta buy my water (and also drinking water) at those places. I'm gonna do a WC every week (a little portion, maybe 2g each time) until this cyanobacteria is gone. Any other suggestion is greatly appreciated.

2g water change for a 29G tank is not going to help you much.

Let's say you do that to lower your nitrate. If you start with Nitrate of 29, replacing 2G will take it down to 27.
Whatever you want to accomplish, a little water change will accomplish just a little.

On the other hand, you don't want a huge WC that upset your environment too much either.

I think most people do 20-40% WC every time.

[dthang8]

Yeah I just did my WC today. Did about 20%. Is gonna leave the lights on for awhile till prob midnight since I notice that if I have lights on long it grows fast. I just had someone come and do my water system for the house too. So prob now I will be mixing my own water since I made sure RODI and the full shabang was installed. Cost me a s***load.

[dthang8]

man it seems that them cyano is back and ready to put up a fight cuz there seems to be even more on the sand. I just mixed up my own water 2 days ago and did another WC (but only about 3g this time). Lets hope if I keep doing a WC every other day then it will finally go away.