crazy algea

[rasta81]

i have this algea growing like crazy and dont know what to do about it. it is kinda purple and slimey looking and very stringy what is it and how do i get rid of it

[Carbon Blue]

Im assuming what you are describing is cyano red slime algae. Possible causes are that you could be overfeeding, your tank is relatively new (6-7 months old), or you are using tap water and not RO water to top the tank off.

[rasta81]

is there a predator of this algea? what are my options for removel

[seahorse_man]

Give us some tank details:

-how much yuo feeding
-do you have a skimmer
-whats the temp get up to
-how much flow you have
-do you have lots of fish
-how often you doing water changes
-size of your tank
-when you do water changes,do you use scripps or mix........if you mix what brand salt you using
-what top off water you using and or mixing water......you using RO

???

[rasta81]

its a 7og w/ 20g sump, current skimmer rated at 150gph. i do at least 5g water change a week or 10g every 2weeks all with RODI and top off with RODI as well.i do mix my own water with coral life salt. im doing about 700gph of flow the highest the temp gets is 84. and i only have one fish so the feeding is very light no corals.

[467echo]

one cause for cyano is low flow, try increasing your flow and try to suck up as much of it as you can with a grav vacuum.

[OceanBeach1502]

Do once a week water changes and siphon it out for the actual takin water out. Keep doing this! It will go away eventually.

[Jessy]

Cyano is not an algae it is a bacteria. The main ways to get rid of this are:
1.) Lower your light cycle
2.) Lower your feedings
3.) Increase your flow to that area (a must)
4.) Siphon what you can out
5.) Use red slime remover from chemiclean. It works and its safe for a reef. I've used it before and so have others I know.

[rasta81]

what is a good light cycle and i think that i have enough flow but what is a good flow rate for my tank size

[Jessy]

what is a good light cycle and i think that i have enough flow but what is a good flow rate for my tank size
Good light cycle depends on your lights and your livestock...did I read correctly that you have no coral and only one fish? How old is your tank?

If you have no corals just leave your lights off for 3 days and you'll fix your problem.

[rasta81]

yup no corals and one fish,my tank is about 2 months old with LR that is about 8 months old, It has 20lbs of live sand mixed with about 40lbs non live sand. i have had the lights off for 4 days know and i planed on runnig my lights today. I have 2 36" T5 nova extreme retro w/ 2 10k and Coralife Aqualight 36" 2x96w retrofit w/ 1 10k and 1 Actinic