help with slime

[johnnydoe]

hi all im new , im having alot of troble with red and brown slime alge . ive been doing 20 gal. water changes for the last 4 days . ok i have 75 gal. 2 mh 175 20,000 k , with moon lights , alots of rock , underneath i have a 25 gal sump tank trickle filter with bio balls on one side , 10 managroves with proten skimmer on the otherside . water flow is about 16-17 water changes a hour with a skwid for a wave motion . about 3/4 inch sand on bottom , i use ro/di water , all my test check almost prefect . salt level is 23 , temp is 79.3 , 5 or less nitrats , 500 cal. , ph good , kh good . i have some polyips , mushrooms , and some fish , lawn mower blenny , yellow tang , orange spotted goby , firefish , banded shrimp , arowhead crab , some red leg hermits , blue leg hermits and snails . i dont feed them every day just 2-3 times a week . (brn shrimp)

i dont get it , its driving me crazy . can any one help ??? please ???
i can send pictures if it will help .

[inwall75]

Welcome to Reefland!!!

Do you thaw your brine shrimp in RO/DI water to soak off the polyphosphates?

Is the cyanbacteria on the sand, rocks, or both?

[Reefland]

Hi johnnydoe,

The thing that sticks out to me in your post in the use of bio-balls in your sump. This type of media is known to trap waste and lead to excessive nutrients that will feed this algae. I would consider slowly removing all of them over the course of the next 2-3 weeks until they are completely gone. They are not helping you at all, if anything hurting. Removing this would atleast remove this from the problem solving equation.

[AquariumSpecialty]

Hi johnnydoe,

The thing that sticks out to me in your post in the use of bio-balls in your sump. This type of media is known to trap waste and lead to excessive nutrients that will feed this algae. I would consider slowly removing all of them over the course of the next 2-3 weeks until they are completely gone. They are not helping you at all, if anything hurting. Removing this would atleast remove this from the problem solving equation.

Scott...what do you think about this. It works for me...always. Use Kalk as your top off water. Also the bio ball removal is a very good idea.

[johnnydoe]

ok i will take out the bioballs , and also about the brine shrimp how do i get them out of the cup once they thaw ??

[inwall75]

Fishnet or cheesecloth

[Reefland]

Scott...what do you think about this. It works for me...always. Use Kalk as your top off water. Also the bio ball removal is a very good idea.

Well it's obviously good for calcium and alkalinity, and to increase pH if necessary. Dripping kalk at night is also helpful to precipitate phosphate and it is also said to help increase skimmer performance.

[johnnydoe]

what is kalk

[Reefland]

Kalkwasser, also referred to as Limewater. It is a calcium/alkalinity supplement that is slowly dripped into the aquarium, mostly at night, that has other benefits as described above.

[AquariumSpecialty]

[quote=johnnydoe]what is kalk

Kalk is the abbreviation for kalkwasser or lime water/Ca(OH)2. Read up on it and good luck. It's easy to work with just don't inhale the dust.
Thanks,

[johnnydoe]

is it Kalkwasser buffer ? what is the exact name on it . i dont want to get the wrong thing

[Reefland]

You should be able to go to any online aquarium store and do a search for kalkwasser and come up with the right thing.

[HIDDENREEF]

Hey Johnny-
you said that you have done 4 20 gallon waterchanges on a 75.....if that is correct then you have probably re-cycled your tank. Cyano (red slime) usually appears near the end phases of the cycling period, then will usually go away. I would reccomend keeping an eye on your ammonia and nitrite. Your hardness level should be between 9-12.

[johnnydoe]

should i do any more water changes ????

[HIDDENREEF]

Hey Johnny- I would hold off on anymore waterchanges. Keep an eye on your ammonia and nitrite. Do you have any friends with established tanks? If you did re-cycle your tank, then it might be a good idea for a friend to hold on to your inverts during the ammonia spike. Also keep an eye on your fish for labored breathing. It takes a couple of weeks for a tank to cycle..where you are basically growing bacteria to help convert harmful wastes like nitrite and ammonia into nitrate. Best of luck-