[Unlved]

What is the best way to control the growth of Red Slim Algae or even remove it? please help its starting to drive me nuts!!!!

[dave00gt]

First off, you may be overfeeding your tank, so try decreasing that
maybe your filter media has a lot of nutrients

I tried battling it with water changes and siphoning out the red slime algae, but it always comes back..

try the blackfoot snails, they eat redslime algae, theyre black snails with a white round tip.

other than that , i would really reccomend a refugium with some various types of algae and snails, pods , and maybe some small hermits. its working for me. i have a standard hang on back one to make things easier and costly effective.

[Unlved]

i will try the snails. and lower the feeding, i am currently feedign them 2 times a day with as much as they can eat with in 5 mins (as all the guide lines say) i have 2 snails in the tank currently some of them have died off.

as for a refugium i dont have the room ofr one. right now... but it is something to consider once i get more room..

thanks

[alexvan]

chemi-clean from Boyd enterprises is your best bet, try all of the other enviromental changes first, but i did, and then i used chemi-clean as a last resort and it worked wonders, and there haven't been any draw backs.

[zhenya]

alexvan,

[leebca]

WELCOME !

Please don't solve your algae problem by punishing your fish. Cutting back their proper food is not the way to go.

First, read the post (I know it's long, but it IS very informative) on feeding fish:
Feeding Marine Fish and Fish Nutrition

If you're providing all the correct nutrients in the correct form, then after a while you'll find the fish will self-regulate their intake. Smaller, multiple but very nourishing meals is your goal.

The red algae you speak is usually growing because of having too much phosphorous in your system. Yes. Much of the phosphorous comes from fish foods, but that's because the fish needs it in its diet! Read food labels and avoid those with extra phosphates; and rinse foods with fresh made saltwater to get rid of the phosphorous rich 'liquor.'

Check for how other phosphorous bearing things (source water, water additives, carbon, etc.) might be contributing to the phosphorous content.

Good luck!

[bongobrian]

Lee knows his stuff, listen to him.

The red slime is often due to high levels of phosphates and/or silicates in the water column. This can come from food, but also from the water itself. Are you using R/O water? How old is the tank?

Slime algea often subsides over time. Just churn it over, siphon it out, and keep doing water changes. I also highly recommend adding a refugium eventually, it will do wonders for your tank.

Some other things to consider are water flow, lighting, and PH. Increasing the water flow in any "dead" areas to inhibit the growth of slime. Reduce your photoperiod and change your lights if they are more than 6 months old. Crank your ph to 8.5-8.6 to help control the slime. Really be aware of what you're putting in the tank. You can overdose with not only food, but also trace elements and coral supplements.

[My2heartboys]

Originally Posted by Unlved

What is the best way to control the growth of Red Slim Algae or even remove it? please help its starting to drive me nuts!!!!

First of all--in this hobby, don't let a very small patch of unwanted algea drive you crazy. If you do--you will eventually give up the hobby. I still have a couple of very small patches of red slime--but they have not grown. If the patch does not expand or smother corals--let it be. It could be your tank age or it could be another factor. If your tank is fairly well established-do a full battery of tests (ammo, nitrite, nitrate, pH, Dkh, calcium, magnesium, strontium, iron, SG, iodine, temp, and Phosphate). If something is off, then correct it and then wait to see if it has an effect on the slime.

If your tank is brand new--do not despair--this is typical. Do some water changes while vacuuming the slime off of the sand and then start by cutting your photoperiod in half. About 3-4 days of having a shortened (or no) photoperiod will knock the stuff out for you.

Hope all of this helps.

Anne

Forgot to mention that if you are using Marc Weiss's Black Powder and/or Spectra Vital then you might want to consider that this might be the source of the red slime (at least it was in my tank). If your tank is an older established tank--then another suggestion is to get a dragon goby. Best thing I ever got. Really churns the sand---and then dumps it all over my plate coral!!!! No problem, I just blow him off anytime I am near the tank.