Purple and Black Velvet like Algae. What is it?

[jhallewell]

Folks. Has anyone seen this in their tanks. I had some hair algae, and now it is gone but I have this blanket of bright purple and black algae. It looks very soft and when I pull it off rocks, it is snotty like. Is this cyano bacteria? I know that it is pinky purple, but I have never heard of black. Cure hair algae and now this, what next?
p.s. I'll try and post a pic this weekend.

 

[ms_ k]

Cyano can be a variety of colors, including black, green, purple, and red.

 

[jhallewell]

If it is cyano, has anyone used any of the chemical cures like Chemiclean or Ultra Redslime remover?

 

[glxtrix]

those are really only a temp cure for a problem in your tank. What are your feeding habbits, how long have you had the tank up, how often do you do water changes and do you use ro/di water or tap? All these play a role in cyno outbreaks, a lil more info and we can help you a lil better.

 

[jhallewell]

I dont feed my tank, havent for months. I use Ro/Di water for top offs. I do 50 gallons every 2 weeks. I also have two phosban reactors running 24/7 and Chaeto in my sump. I am also running a uv sterilizer 24/7.

 

[george]

Either might be a sponge growth of some sort. I believe the simple test is adhesion. If it sloughs right off with just a brisk blast of water whereas a sponge will have to be pulled or scrubbed off. The "snotty" description leans to Cyano.

Sponges are harmless, if not good. Cyano is ... cyano.