[rgall]

I have a 75 gal, 130W actinic, 130W white power compact, prism deluxe hang on protein skimmer, 3 power heads, 1-2 months ago removed the canister filter and under gravel filter and base and replaced with 80-90 lbs of live sand(about 1 1/2 inches). I am in the process of adding my wet dry filter w/ built in protein skimmer.
I have 2 tangs, clown fish, hog fish, 1 random something fish, 2 sally lightfoots, 5 hermits, 2 feather dusters.
When I initially set up the tank I had some purple polyps that never opened, that rock is in there and has been for months with about 5 stalks that never opened while all other stalks on here died(this was about 6 months ago when water was kinda bad), kept in hoping that one day they may revive.

When I introduced the live sand the tank got covered in brown algae, thats gone.

Now I have had some thick purple algae on a rock and I cleaned it off but when I did alot of little pieces scattered everywhere. Now for about a few weeks I am starting to get bright green algae and thick purple algae on the rocks and top layer of the sand. I took a few rocks out and cleaned them off.. Do 20%-25% water changes every two weeks. Put a phos. absorbing pad in the skimmer compartment and started dosing lightly with calcium this week.

PH is good, nitrates around 5-10 tops before a water change, amonia and nitrites near 0 if not 0, alkalinity I think is high on the test kit but dont really know an acceptable level, dont have a phos test kit. I do use conditioned tap water.?

I can clean up the sand and vacum but the algae will cover it in a week? What should I do? Will it cycle its way out of my tank?

[thelastmucci]

Dude....that coraline algae that your scrapping off...that a good kinda algae....it helps with the cycle and the overall well being of your tank...why it may not be the prettiest of sights (in my eyes it looks great but what do I know) you can usually keep a DT free by just scraping the side and front panels. Hope this helps.

[Turbo]

Rowaphos is a good phosphate remover if you find that phosphate is hi but first the cause needs to be established. Too much lite can cause hi alot of alga, i was putting my lights on for 12 hours and having to clean the algae off the glass at least every other day but ive reduced the light to 8hrs and clean it once every five days now! also over feeding can cause high levels so a combination of both is the perfect algae growth recipe. Also i noticed you didnt mention that you had any crabs or snails? if you dont then i would recommend you add some as many species will feed purely on alge and they make the whole tank look more reef like so its a double bonus!

Hope some of this helps ;-)

[lynnvangsnes]

I agree with Anthony. The purple coraline algae is usually desired. If you don't have some astrea turbo snails, you might consider them. They are very helpful in munching algae...also a queen conch or two will help keep the sand cleaner.

[dinor2]

Or nassarius snails, love mine, and they're cheap!

[WILLIAM1]

And if you keep scraping the purple off in the tank it will just spread more rapidly! Your kinda seeding the tank with it.I cant get enough of it myself but, other people might not like it. I dose with calcium so I excpect it.

[stephaniesquires]

Originally Posted by rgall

When I introduced the live sand the tank got covered in brown algae, thats gone.
Now I have had some thick purple algae on a rock and I cleaned it off but when I did alot of little pieces scattered everywhere. Now for about a few weeks I am starting to get bright green algae and thick purple algae on the rocks and top layer of the sand. I took a few rocks out and cleaned them off.. Do 20%-25% water changes every two weeks. Put a phos. absorbing pad in the skimmer compartment and started dosing lightly with calcium this week.
I can clean up the sand and vacum but the algae will cover it in a week? What should I do? Will it cycle its way out of my tank?

Is the algae 'gooey' or hard? If it is hard then it is corraline algae and good stuff. If it is gooey, then not good. It sounds like your tank did a normal cycle after you added the live sand. The brown diatoms followed by green algae. A clean up crew - crabs and snails will help control the green algae. If the green algae is part of the cycle it will slow down.
However, you may continue to fight algae problems with tap water, even 'treated' tap water. There is some debate as to using tap water, generally speaking it can add to algae issues.

[rgall]

Originally Posted by thelastmucci

Dude....that coraline algae that your scrapping off...that a good kinda algae....it helps with the cycle and the overall well being of your tank...why it may not be the prettiest of sights (in my eyes it looks great but what do I know) you can usually keep a DT free by just scraping the side and front panels. Hope this helps.

This is a very very thick algae, The longer it stays on a rock the thicker it gets.. I really dont think is coraline but maybe the red slime crap

[rgall]

Originally Posted by stephaniesquires

Is the algae 'gooey' or hard? If it is hard then it is corraline algae and good stuff. If it is gooey, then not good. It sounds like your tank did a normal cycle after you added the live sand. The brown diatoms followed by green algae. A clean up crew - crabs and snails will help control the green algae. If the green algae is part of the cycle it will slow down.
However, you may continue to fight algae problems with tap water, even 'treated' tap water. There is some debate as to using tap water, generally speaking it can add to algae issues.

ITs gooey.......

[rgall]

Originally Posted by rgall

ITs gooey.......

ITs gooey.......how do i get rid of this purple gooey algae? This is what I am having a hard time finding out? I know tap water isnt as good as other sources but that is what I have and use. I know others that use it too with out problems...My main concern at this point is stopping or slowing down this gooey Purple algae... Any thoughts here.. I'm pretty sure that snails or crabs or anything doesnt feed off of this....

[lynnvangsnes]

If you could show a pic, that would help. Coraline algae is hard and crusty. Sounds like we may have to consult the Wizard.

[rgall]

Originally Posted by lynnvangsnes

If you could show a pic, that would help. Coraline algae is hard and crusty. Sounds like we may have to consult the Wizard.

Its not coraline, its not hard and not crusty. I turkey baster or powerhead will remove this algae from the rock

[stephaniesquires]

Does it look like this - and here is a cyano thread... http://www.reefbuilders.com/forums/i...obacteria.html

Sounds like cyano. Phosphates can contribute, lack of flow, overfeeding... Research some threads/info on cyano algae...

[rgall]

Originally Posted by stephaniesquires

Does it look like this - and here is a cyano thread... http://www.reefbuilders.com/forums/i...obacteria.html

Sounds like cyano. Phosphates can contribute, lack of flow, overfeeding... Research some threads/info on cyano algae...

Thanks, thats exactly what it is...

[Turbo]

Thats what i said!! if its not coraline then its unwanted and due to over feeding and too much light!
how long are your lights on for?

[rgall]

Originally Posted by Turbo

Thats what i said!! if its not coraline then its unwanted and due to over feeding and too much light!
how long are your lights on for?

actinic comes on for 9hrs white comes on for 8

[reefnoob1991]

Red algae is a cyanobacteria...so no matter how much you suck out or scrape off is there's one tiny tiny tinyyy little strand of it in there it will multiply, it even 20 minutes double the amount it has. Normally it comes from phosphates which, as you stated, use tap water. Tap water can have an astonishing amount of phosphates along with other harmful compounds you don't want in your tank. I would suggest getting an RO/DI system to remove those elements out of your water. That I believe is where your problem is starting, adding phosphate removes is fine and dandy but you can't just put a band aid over the wound you have to take out the source of the problem.