Purple stuff?

[kcurton]

How do I get rid of the purple stuff? growing in my tank? Bubbles are underneath it, eventually it rises with the bubbles. It will cover the tank if I let it, but I continue to use a brush to get it off. Next day it's back. Any suggestions?

Thanks!

[Blindmelonbob]

More flow.

[reefinmike]

an antibacterial medication such as maracyn 2 will take care of it quickly although that is a bandaid fix to a larger problem. MORE WATERCHANGES

[outy]

what you have is cyano bacteria.

if your tanks new it may pass on its own.

at this point we need more information from you about your set up and chemistry so that we can help.

[chaseracing]

There is also this stuff (the name escapes me) that will make it go away in 2 days. It is a gold powder that you put directly into the tank.

More frequent water changes with Filtered water will fix this problem in the future.

-=E=-

[kass03]

Dont just throw maracyn in there. I just read a thread about someone killing their fish due to lack of oxygen when using it.

If you use things such as this do some reasearch first as everyones tank is different and the outcome is not always good.

Theres alot of cyano threads here you can read as it's pretty common. You have to try to eliminate the cause which is usually too many nutrients such as phosphate and nitrate.

kass

[AquaReeferMan]

Chemi Clean works rather good. But then again you should find the root to your problem and fix it the right way. What are your water params? What size tank? How many fish? Reef or fowlr? How often do you feed? How often do you do water changes? How often to you clean your filters? Do you have a Skimmer? ect ect ect....

[kcurton]

I have a skimmer, change filter twice a month, and do a water change once a month with filtered water. I will check the nitrates etc today and post the results. I have six fish in a 46 gallon reef tank. I need to get rid of this stuff, it's a daily chore! Thanks for all the advise!

[LobsterOfJustice]

1. Good flow to keep things off the sand.
2. Run phosphate removal media such as phosban. I run the media eventhough I have tested my water with a salifert kit and it read 0. The Algae can be using the phosphate as fast as it's being intorduced to your system, and even small amounts of PO4 (too small to register on a kit) can fuel algae and harm corals.
3. Use RODI water. Check the TDS, your filters may need replacing.
4. Rinse all frozen food cubes before feeding.
5. Keep the sand stirred with a cucumber, conch and/or gobies.