purple growth

[emu]

finally!!! id like to thank all you guys for helpin me out with my stupid purple coraline growth problem... im finally seeing purple growing and even green? coool

[DevinJM]

Cool, good to know that it's growing, you must be doing something right!

[tjigger]

Thats good but I hope you have a good clean-up crew to get the green algae.

[emu]

what is the green algae and whats causing it? is it bad?

[emu]

oh and btw... i noticed some... plants growing out of the rocks? they look like grass or somthing... hopefully thats good. someone help identify? or is it just plain grass

[mcdavies]

Would like to see a pic of the "grass" you are growing. If it is very fine and thick, sort of hunter green color, you may be experiencing hair algae...a REAL problem.

Typically hair algae is caused by one of two things...nutrients in the water, or your bulbs losing their spectrum. So, things you can do to manage this:

- Change your bulbs
- Check your phosphates. If >0, consider a phosphate sponge. Do water changes. Also ensure that you are using RO/DI water for top-ups.
- Check your nitrates. If >10, look for detrius in the tank / sand bed / refugium. Do water changes.
- If you are using frozen food, rinse it in RO/DI water before feeding.

If it gets really bad, you can try adding a sea hare to your tank...they eat hair algae. However, this deals only with the symptoms and not the underlying problem.

Hair algae is a complex problem...good luck...

Mark

[ihaveblackhair29]

ok ill get a pic in asap. i dont think its the light bulbs because they are new... maybe phosphates... but hopefully it isnt hair algae. i mean so far i think it looks cool.