Purple Haze

[Nick NZ]

I hvae a deep purple algae that grows and covers all my coral, and sand. It does not seem to affect the fish but given a few weeks would cover everything. I have tried Algae Killer, but without success, the bristle worms in the live rock multiply like rabbits.
Is the algae controllable, or how can I get rid of it? How can I get rid of the bristle worms they appear when food is put into the water. I put 2 small cubes of frozen Mysis shrimp in per day for about 10 fish; Clowns, firefish, gobies. I would like to put some corals in. I've tried a couple of leathers, but they only survive a couple of months. HELP !
I have an Aqua One 960 and am currently using the built-in filtration. Water circulation is good and plentiful.

 

[Anonymous]

If i had to guess I'd say you're dealing with a cyano bacteria.

The fact that you see a ton of bristleworms and they seem to be multiplying suggest you're feeding too much as they are scavengers, less food = less bristleworms.

Do you just toss the cubes of mysis in? Because if you do I would suggest thawing and rinsing them as they tend to be packed with "rocket fuel for algae" which could also be adding to the problem in conjunction with overfeeding. I would even go so far as to suggest a high quality flake food, as they tend to be more nutritional diverse than mysis, and usually a bunch cheaper too, but don't overfeed!

I would suggest stepping up your water change schedule, nothing too radical mind you, but get some hose and siphon out all the algae that's covering the sand/corals/rocks when you get as much as you put the new salt water back in. Repeat this for a while, as there probably isn't any quick fix to your problem but if you keep on top of it you'll be able to overcome.

 

[Anonymous]

All good advice from SFSU there.

A picture would help verify that it's cyano-bacteria you're dealing with.

 

[Nick NZ]

Thanks for the help, I will do as you suggest.