Removing Red Slim

[Mobious]

Hey everyone..

I could use some help and/or advice..

I have been having a red slime problem for a few months now. I cant seem to beat it.. I started out doing 20 gal a week water changes on my 75 gal tank until I found from a guy at the LFS, that doing that would only prolong this problem, so I am only doing about 7 gallons a week, per the LFS. Lately I have been reducing the lighting I have been giving my tank.. Right now I am at the point I only use my VHO actinics for about 10 hours. I have also reduced my feedings of the fish and corals.. I feed my fish 6 to 7 times a week with various foods, flake and prime reef. Dosing C-bal every other day and iodine once a week.
I am to the point I want to use some red slime remover.. Should I try it? Can anyone suggest a good brand?

Thanks

[bongobrian]

I would check your water for silicates and phosphates. Are you using tap water? if you are you would probably want to switch to Distilled or RO/DI water. Also check and make sure your skimmer is working effectively. Reducing your photoperiod might also help.. you could try reducing it an hour or two and see if it helps.

[thezookeeper]

I am curious to ask why the LFS said that doing water changes in that compacity would only prolong the problem? Red slime i.e. cyanobacteria is usually the result of high levels of nutrients such as nitrates and phosphates. Doing a few larger water changes with GOOD quality RO/DI water will help immensely according to everything I know. Overfeeding can also result in outbreaks. Regular tap water, even with something like a Tap Water Purifier will let in too many nutrients. Also, how old is your tank? Some blooms such as these can occur in unestablished tanks such as tanks less than a year old. I am having the same problem and have to manually remove patches of cyano from areas in my tank. But the tank has only been running since April. Do you use a deep sand bed? What type of filtration?

I wouldn't follow too much LFS advice until you have researched it. And you're doing the right thing by posting here!


Joanne

[scubadude]

Couldnt have said it better Joanne! Im still having some battles with redslime (cyano) but they are slowly fading away.....I also use a turkey baster and try to suck out as much as I can, then I do my water changes....Do you have a Refugium? You might want to consider putting some macro algaes in there to compete with the slime. I Have never used the slime away chemical additive, Im real leary about putting something into my tank "Man Made" unless I know exactly what it is. I think your better off trying the natural way (macro algaes) and also hand removal (turkey baster)

[Mobious]

I guess I need to buy a good RO/DI unit...I am currently using the Tap water purifier.. I change the filter every month.. My tank has been up since Feb 2001.. However prior to that it had been set up for 5 years as a FOWLR.. I had to move the tank so I did a 100% water change and seeded the tank with some new LR.. At that time I also added a Refugium. The tank did very well for several months until I had to go out of town for a week .. When I returned I had brown algea over everything.. Since then I have had a battle with Algea...

My set up :

75 Aga
2 400 watt mh 10k
2 48" VHOs 03
3-4" DSB Aragonite
150lbs LR & Base Rock
20 gallon sump
Everclear Skimmer Counter current skimmer (Rio 2500)
10 Gal Refugium powered by a MJ 600, 3-4" DSB Aragonite
Small clump of Calurpa
Return MAG 1200
In the tank I have 2 MJ 1200 on timers

[scubadude]

Originally posted by Mobious
My set up :

75 Aga
2 400 watt mh 10k
2 48" VHOs 03
3-4" DSB Aragonite
150lbs LR & Base Rock
20 gallon sump
Everclear Skimmer Counter current skimmer (Rio 2500)
10 Gal Refugium powered by a MJ 600, 3-4" DSB Aragonite
Small clump of Calurpa
Return MAG 1200
In the tank I have 2 MJ 1200 on timers

Ok now we have some input....Here is what I would do...Im not sure how many hrs. your running those 400w badboys, but I would consider cutting back an hour on them, also keep that skimmer cleaned and is there a possibility of upgrading the pump (more power, means more skimming), and one of the most important things IMO is to change that "Small clump of Calurpa" into "LARGE clump of calurpa" this will outcompete your slime for the excess nutrients, but you will still have to manually remove it too...the calerpa will just keep it from coming back. also try and do this gradually! You definately have SWEET lighting on that tank, however I believe your slime loves the lighting just as much as the corals! W/C's still would help, but i dont think its the main culprit. I do believe buying a RO/DI will improve the overall health of your tank though! HTH

[Mobious]

Right now I only use the MHs for about an hour or 2 when I am at home.. Just so I can see my tank.. Other than that they are off..

I am not sure the skimmer can handle anything more powerful.. Right now I sometimes see large bubbles in the skimmer.. Which from what I gather is bad.. I may need to up grade to a better skimmer.. Only if I had the cash.. I guess I could get another Mag 1200 .. Or try my current mag 1200 on the skimmer and see how well it works..

I will try to get more Calurpa this weekend.. I did have a large bunch but the current in my sump destroyed it.. "Opps" But now that I have a seperate Refugium I guess it would be ok.. Ohh yea something I noticed this morning.. There is red slime already growing in the Refugium.. Its only been set up for about 3 days..

Thanks for the help

[Reinhold]

I had a problem with Cyanobacter which I could not solve using every method described above. I finally treated my tank with UltraLife Red Slime Remover. My red slime went away and never came back, even though I changed nothing else in my maintenance scheme.

[ranaman]

I have used Dick Boyds CHEMI-CLEAN with good results. I think that it has the same active ingredient as the Ultra Life product. Both come as small vial of powder. Just be prepared to do a water change after use since it melts the slime in about 48 hours and the tank will need a water change then. Nutient mangement should help the problem from getting out of hand again.

[junkzoo]

i agree with all the previous posts, have pretty much the same problem since i upgraded lighting from 160 watts of normal flo's to 2-400W 10K MH's and 4-55W PC actinics on a 75.did all the aformentioned remedies,my friend and ex-partner at a LFS had me try "METAL-GONE"distributed by Hiatt Dist.Ltd..it's only been going on 48 hrs. since i added it to my Fluval, but so far the cyano has not returned like it used to the next day after manually removing it from substrate. jury is still out on this product, but so far seems to help at best,will still try to do things to curtail or eliminate this stuff from coming back,,got the good skimmer, RO/DI water,watching feeding,water changes ,did not want to add a "cure" to the tank , but it was getting out of hand, and really getting a bad mat of cyano on the sand bed and working up to the LR and stuff.good luck!

[ravenmore]

Hey guys - doing my usual song and dance on this one.

Cyano and problem algaes are not the problem. They are the symptom of the problem. The problem is excess nutrients in the system. If you're tank is new, expect it to continue until the little mini-ecosystem we affectionately call our aquariums has time to balance itself out. If your tank is mature, try some of the following:

-Try doing 50% water changes at least once per week and maybe twice per week. Continue until the problem subsides. You should get a feel for how often and how big water changes you need to do after that for your particular tank.

-Add predators and competitors. Predators are queen conchs and strombus maculutus snails(the latter are preferable in my opinion. Climb on rocks and glass better, stay small, and breed like rabbits in your tank). Competitors would be a fast growing macro algae (most available is some form of caulerpa) or even fast growing soft corals - the most algae free tank I've ever seen was a tank that had a bad mushroom problem. Mushrooms had to be scraped from the rocks on a regular basis, effectively providing a bio-mass export mechanism similar to caulerpa. Some species of xenia might also work in the capacity. Cool thing is you can sell what you export from your tank for credit at lfs'.

hth,
-Mike

[thezookeeper]

Mobious: I am elaborating on my answer as well. Mainly because I am battling this same demon as we speak. I am at the point where one of my corals is getting covered with a mat of the cyano and it seems to keep multiplying faster and faster. I have done some extensive research on this and I know my original post is absolutely correct, BUT I am going to try a product called No Cyano by Fish Vet Hobby, Inc. It does not contain antibiotics and works a little slower, but seems to have a lasting affect AS LONG AS the source of the problem is corrected as well i.e. better water quality, reduce overfeeding, etc. I was going to try Ultralife Red Slime Remover but it can have negative effects on the nitrifying bacteria which is not good. And I HATE, HATE, HATE to do this, but I cannot lose a coral or any life for that matter and think that this will work a little quicker than just relying on the water change/better water quality approach. I will absolutely incorporate my brand new RO/DI unit in the eradication of this nuisance bacteria, but think that this stuff can help. I hope this helps you and I wish you luck with your problem. Keep your fingers crossed for me. I'm not one to add anything to my tank, but feel kinda compelled with how quickly this stuff is growing.


Joanne

[schrader mo]

I started using Balls pickling lime mixing 2 tsp per gallon of water dripping it at 1 drop a sec. My red slime disappered after about 2 weeks.I dont know if this had anything to do with it but that was all I had done differant in that two weeks.

[Mobious]

Humm.. Just just bought some Pickling lime and I am going to start using it.. But I was waiting until I finish my C-Bal...

Ohh BTW.. Today I went to a LFS and priced and RO/DI unit.. I dont remember what the brand was but it was a 35gal/day version.. The price was $240.. I almost bought it.. The only thing that kept me from getting was the fact that I live in an apartment.. I know not much of an excuse but I really dont have any place to mount it and put a bin to store the water..I will talk with one of the maint guys out here and see if he can mount it under my sink for me...

[BLUESMAN]

Hit your local Lowes or Home Depot.I'm sure they would be at least 30% cheaper.I picked up my 5 stage for under $150 with shipping on e-bay.

[thezookeeper]

Mobious: Check out www.aquaticreefsystems.com. I just got an awesome deal on the 100 gpd ro/di for $239 delivered! I recommend them. HTH


Joanne