i have this purple skin type stuff on my sea sand in my marine aquarium how do i get rid of it?

4 Responses to “i have this purple skin type stuff on my sea sand in my marine aquarium how do i get rid of it?”

1. Rohn says:

   April 12, 2010 at 7:20 pm

   Coralline algae? Mary SW aquarists welcome coralline algae because of it beautiful color.
2. jojam says:

   April 12, 2010 at 7:29 pm

   That Purple stuff is known commonly referred to as red slim algae, which isn’t actually algae its cyanobacteria.
   the main cause of it is high phosphate levels in the water. To lower phosphate levels in your water you should make sure when you feed your fish you don’t over feed, and when you use frozen food that you defrost it and rise it a bit to get rid of the extra phosphate in the frozen cube. Another factor for it would be lighting. If you leave the lights on for too long the red slime will grow. You should cut down on the time for when your lights are on.

   Also, red slim is common in newer (young) tanks, its all part of the tank maturing process. My tank itself just got over the red slime attack. Don’t get impatient about getting rid of the red slim. It takes a LONG time.

   I know some people will suggest using chemicals to battle the red slime, but if your tank is new it would be wise not to. The red slime is known to come back with a vengeance if you use the chemicals to kill it the first time your tank goes through the process. Just let your tank battle it out, in the long run letting the red slime run its course now will helps keep it away.

   you can read mor about it here: http://www.reefbasics.com/cyanobacteria.html
3. Gemzie says:

   April 12, 2010 at 7:49 pm

   I am having the same problem with red slime algae at the moment and i know its frustrating trying to get rid of it. i have been told of chemicals to get rid of it apparently chemi clean is one of the best it’ll be gone in two days. But as my tank is quite new and people have advised against using the chemicals i am using a filter media that takes away the stuff that is feeding the algae and making it grow you can buy it in most lfs i think its by fluval but i put that in my filter and vacumed out as much of the algae i could and siphoned it through a coffee filter so i didnt have to keep putting clean water back in and wouldnt ya know 2 days later still going strong and hasnt come back yet yay!
   my advice would be try this first before using any chemicals in your water good luck
4. danielle Z says:

   April 12, 2010 at 8:41 pm

   It is coraline algae not slime algae. Most people wait months to actually aquire this in the tank.

   If you don’t want it, simply remove it. It will keep returning here. Mostly due to the phosphates in the tank. You can get phosphate pads and slip them into your filter. this will eventually rid all the coraline (as well as other algaes) from your tank.

   If you have tangs or other algae eating fish, it isn’t advisable to eliminate all the algae from the tank.