unninair March 12, 2005 Share March 12, 2005 My tank has been running for about 5 months... I now see some Purple Film Algae covering about 3 square inch of my sand bed. I have not changed lights or other parameters. Is this normal and WILL it go away on its own? The coloration seems to disappear after the lights go out. Thanks a lot. Unni Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michaelg March 12, 2005 Share March 12, 2005 it is cyanobacter. A filamentous type algae. Tends to pop up when there is some sort of increase in nutrients or with old bulbs. Bulbs should not be shot yet (though what kind and type are they), so maybe DI resin from filtering water? Or what do you use to filter your tap water? Can be seasonal as well. Lots of people had it pop up in the fall over in VA. You can manually remove it. Seems to cycle though and not too much of a concern unless it really strongly blooms. Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grav March 12, 2005 Share March 12, 2005 Everything Mike said, plus increased flow could help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steveoutlaw March 13, 2005 Share March 13, 2005 I used to have that problem a lot. I cut my lights back to 10 hrs per day and moved the tank away from my back door. I was getting a lot of sunlight on the tank and it was growing out of control. Now I have no problems. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unninair March 13, 2005 Author Share March 13, 2005 I use PC lighting (10K- 4x55W). I will try cutting them back to 10 hours instead of 12 to see if it help. It is a 55G regular size tank. My house has well water with a sediment filter and an Iron filter (I may still have some iron in the water). I do have a BTA that is not feeling too good in this tank (tentacle seems to have disappeared) after a nitrite spike due to overfeeding while I was on travel. I believe it is just surviving on lights. I may have to move him to a QT. Unni Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unninair March 13, 2005 Author Share March 13, 2005 Removed duplicate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Yomeister66 March 13, 2005 Share March 13, 2005 Maybe this article can help you: (from one of the MACNA exhibitors to be): http://www.aquatouch.com/algae.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michaelg March 14, 2005 Share March 14, 2005 you said the anenome isn't doing well. Are you hand feeding it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unninair March 14, 2005 Author Share March 14, 2005 I used to hand feed it twice a week until I went on a 1 week trip about a month ago. During that time, my tank was overfed with flake food (unknown suspects).. Even though the parameters have since returned to normal, (No Ammonia and Nitrites) the BTA has not. It refuses to be fed any more - silverside floats away since all the tentacles are retracted. Are there any other means of feeding him? I am assuming he is surviving on light. Thanks for your help Unni Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishface March 28, 2005 Share March 28, 2005 I am having the same problem. I moved a large Rose BTA to a different tank along with the Maroon clowns that it was hosting. It is the same wattage roughly, but the main tank has MH, and new home has compact flourescent. Anyway, to your issue, I've only been doing this for a year, and Chris at Vienna arquarium is very knowledgeable. The prices are high, but for the times that you need in-depth help and experience, he's very good. His take was that sometimes the BTA's kind of go dormant when disturbed. The advice offered was to leave it alone and let it adjust and it will come around one it's own. I left a small Green BTA untouched in the main tank, it's also been acting the same way for three weeks after the move, like it was moping. I doubt there's anything in the literature on that... But Green one has just bounced back, so I hope the RBTA will also return to it's happy self soon. I hope yours does too. FF I used to hand feed it twice a week until I went on a 1 week trip about a month ago. During that time, my tank was overfed with flake food (unknown suspects).. Even though the parameters have since returned to normal, (No Ammonia and Nitrites) the BTA has not. It refuses to be fed any more - silverside floats away since all the tentacles are retracted. Are there any other means of feeding him? I am assuming he is surviving on light. Thanks for your help Unni 27738[/snapback] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steveoutlaw March 28, 2005 Share March 28, 2005 I think the problem with the Cyano is 2 fold: 1. Lights on for too long.....I have PC's on my current tank and I had that problem. I cut them back so that the actinics are on for 10 hours per day and the daylights are only on for 8 hours per day. 2. Stop using well water - use RO/DI water to make sure your not adding anything that will help the Cyano thrive. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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