Jestersix

Some burgundy algae...

I have a rock or two in my tank with some weird algae on it. It looks just like the purple coraline algae but it is burgundy. I'm worried that it might be cyano, but it hasn't grown on the sand, it just grows on the rocks. It starts out looking like cyano on the rocks and I am able to scrub it off, but after a while it encrusts the rock. Unlike the purple coraline algae, it is also slick/slippery. I read in a book that it is 'peysonnelia sp.' and the picture looks pretty accurate. It says that the algae is rare and found at depths of up to 650ft, and you would be lucky to get a hold of this algae. If that is true, then I don't want to get rid of it, but I'm worried it might be bad for my tank. Anyone else have this?
 
Uhhh... I was looking around and there is a bit of it on my other rocks. The 3 new rocks that I added last week were starting to grow it, so I removed those also. Is there a way to kill it? I have chemiclean which I have used in my 14g and it worked when the algae was growing on the sand. I used it a few weeks ago in the 34g, and none of the algae came off the rocks. It is literally encrusted on the rocks, some rocks have a bunch of splotches of it, other only have a small area. Should I try to scrape as much as it off as possible and use the chemiclean? I'm running rowaphos and rowacarbon, I have the skimmer running about 16 hours per day, and the tank gets 9 hours and 30 minutes of light each day. What can I do to get rid of it/kill it? Thanks. :(

EDIT: I do have a small doubt that this may not be your average red slime algae. As it starts, it does look like red slime on the rock, but then it fills in, gets darker and harder, and won't come off. I've looked at pictures of red slime on rocks and it doesn't look as dark or as hard to get off. Once this stuff have encrusted, it is slippery and I can't peel it off. When I treated the tank with chemiclean a few weeks ago, it didn't even harm the algae. :tired:

2nd EDIT: Look at this picture. I circled the place in red where I want you to see. It is the same stuff, just in less of a quantity. It is encrusted onto the rocks, and it is just like the purple coraline algae, but slippery and burgundy.



Attached files /attachments/sites/default/files/IMG_2654_1.JPG
 
That is why I'm confused. It is either a coralline or red slime. As it starts to grow, it is just like red slime, but then it encrusts on the rock and is slippery. So IDK at this point unless somebody can positively ID it.
 
Here's a picture of it that I just found on the internet.

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/Algae%20and%20Plt%20Pix/BlueGreenAlgae/slime_red_cyano_WWM_pic.JPG
 
Euphyllia said:
Here's a picture of it that I just found on the internet.

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/Algae%20and%20Plt%20Pix/BlueGreenAlgae/slime_red_cyano_WWM_pic.JPG

so your saying thats a pic of what yours looks like? If so the photo is titled red slime, cyano algae so there is your answer
 
I had the same algae issue on my 120; it got all over the rocks in a couple weeks.
I used chemi clean red slime remover. It was literally gone over night.
 
There are many slippery feeling encrusting red algae too. They feel slippery like a gracilaria, not slimy like cyano. If I can see the stuff in person I can tell you whether it's cyano.
 
artguzman said:
I had the same algae issue on my 120; it got all over the rocks in a couple weeks.
I used chemi clean red slime remover. It was literally gone over night.

Chemi Clean is a medication so it'll nuke cynao but doesn't stop there. It attacks other bacteria as well. It's merely a stop gap solution and you simply covered up your nutrient problem just so it can reappear again :(
 
GreshamH said:
artguzman said:
I had the same algae issue on my 120; it got all over the rocks in a couple weeks.
I used chemi clean red slime remover. It was literally gone over night.

Chemi Clean is a medication so it'll nuke cynao but doesn't stop there. It attacks other bacteria as well. It's merely a stop gap solution and you simply covered up your nutrient problem just so it can reappear again :(
+1
 
One thing people often don't realise is that if their sand bed has been loaded with nutrients (i.e. during the early overfeeding or die-off in new tanks) it takes a whole lot of months of pristine water quality and extra water changes to re-equilibrate those nutrients back out of a sand bed. So even if you killed the algae, did some water changes to remove the nutrient load, you'd still have the sand bed slowly leaching more nutrients back out into the water (same is true of live rock btw). So I don't like sand!
 
(same is true of live rock btw)

I find rock to be a larger culprit in threads like these :)

But I test and my tests are 0....

Yup, the algae is using it :)
 
I agree...The 120 had very little flow and I didn't clean off the excess food/waste when I did water changes. Lazy lol
I tore that tank down a couple days ago to make room for my new 300.
 
Back
Top