schenktank January 23, 2009 Share January 23, 2009 does anyone got some advice for red slime algae removal. i have heard of products like redox +, kent poly ox, and my lfs recommended arithromycin but i am still hesitant to add any chemicals to my tank. these are the water parameters: ammonia-0ppm nitrite-0ppm nitrate-5ppm phosphate-.3ppm is this high? salinity-1.025 ph-8.2-8.3 i suck at measuring calcium my test kit for it is confusing and i dont have any tests for my alk. i do frequent water changes of 5 gallons once a week and the tank is 29 gal. my skimmer is still pulling out alot of crap. will this stuff go away on its own eventually. i feed my fish every other day now but i was feeding them twice a day. is there anything that will eat this stuff? someone please help this stuff is ugly and it already started growing on a zoo frag. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djcerna January 23, 2009 Share January 23, 2009 Do many some water changes spread out for a couple of days, til the nitrates are to zero. And feed your fish only what they can completely eat in five mins. David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
schenktank January 23, 2009 Author Share January 23, 2009 i did 15 gallons...5 every other day for a week straight. my nitrates were at 20-40ppm before so i figured that was it but now the slime seems just as happy if not better and my fish eat up their food in less than 2 minutes. my lawnmower blenny does take a lot of dumps though. hes pretty big now about 4.5 in. guess he is still finding plenty of hair algae because i dont really feed him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Ward January 23, 2009 Share January 23, 2009 It will not really go away on its own. It's caused by lack of flow and nitrates. Clean as much as you can by hand. Blast it off the rocks with a turkey baster and siphon out everything you can. Siphon out the detritus in the tank. Keep up the water changes to get the nitrates to 0. The nitrates being high is part of what caused it to start. Look at increasing flow in the tank - it tends to grow in areas of low flow. What kind of skimmer are you using? If you're not using one, look into getting one. If it's a biocube or similar, look at one of the ones made to fit. If it's a standard 29, then look to a HOB - probably a Deltec MCE200 or maybe a CPR one. Add phosphate removal media and carbon. Mostly just step up your husbandry and it will eventually stop growing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zygote2k January 23, 2009 Share January 23, 2009 Lack of flow is a primary problem. Overfeeding or use of unrinsed frozen foods is another. A more efficient de-nitrification process will certainly help be it a protein skimmer or properly sized refugium. No need to go overboard with water changes, just regular 10% weekly will be fine. Don't add any chemicals to the tank in hopes of curing the cyanobacteria-you'd be treating the symptom not the cause. Some cyano can develop a tolerance to Erythromyacin too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reefmontalvo January 23, 2009 Share January 23, 2009 Also look into carbon type dosing. I used to have red slime problems like there was not end. I have it all under control now. A lot has to do with your quality of water, try using RO/DI water it will help reduce the nutrients. But you also want hermits and nassarius in your tank to sift sand and eat anything that makes it to the bottom of the tank that the fish do not eat. Lastly if you see brisstle worms in the tank leave them there they help eat any detritus that gets in the sand. A protein skimmer is also a huge part of this whole problem with out proper skimming you not really taking out the organics from the water. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Ward January 23, 2009 Share January 23, 2009 Also look into carbon type dosing. I used to have red slime problems like there was not end. I have it all under control now. A lot has to do with your quality of water, try using RO/DI water it will help reduce the nutrients. But you also want hermits and nassarius in your tank to sift sand and eat anything that makes it to the bottom of the tank that the fish do not eat. Lastly if you see brisstle worms in the tank leave them there they help eat any detritus that gets in the sand. A protein skimmer is also a huge part of this whole problem with out proper skimming you not really taking out the organics from the water. If you're new, don't do the carbon dosing (vodka, sugar, etc). You can crash the tank very easily especially in something that small. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
schenktank January 23, 2009 Author Share January 23, 2009 wow this site is awesome i really appreciate all the feedback so soon everybody. i have a turboflotor 1000 for my skimmer in a sump with chaeto growing in there too (thanks to jason) but it has only been running for about two weeks. i will keep working on my nitrates too. i can syphon it out of the bottom but it seems to like growing on my rock and is quite difficult to remove from it. i can pull most of it off but wasnt sure if thats only making the problem worse. i dont have ro/di water. im a college student and cant afford one of those. can u buy that kind of water? i buy distilled water is that ok? my salt mix is oceanic natural salt mix i dont know if that matters. when i run out i might switch to instant ocean. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MisterTang January 23, 2009 Share January 23, 2009 im a college student and cant afford one of those. can u buy that kind of water? i buy distilled water is that ok? my salt mix is oceanic natural salt mix i dont know if that matters. when i run out i might switch to instant ocean. If you're constantly buying distilled, you will probably reach the point where it would've been cheaper just to get a little RO system. I got mine from someone on this board upgrading theirs - it's just a little 35 gallon-per-day unit, but it was very cheap and is very effective. Using IO salt is akin to being a slumlord to some people, but I'm not a salt snob - I use it in mine, and I haven't had any problems with LPS, softies, or zoas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
schenktank January 23, 2009 Author Share January 23, 2009 i did notice after buggin out all night about this...that there are some spots closer to the top of my live rock that are more brownish rust colored and have air bubbles all over them. also this algae doesnt wave around much or grow long strands like the cyano. now i am worried that this might be dinoflagellates (snot algae) which i have read, can be toxic to my livestock if ingested. at first i thought this was just brown algae growing over the other algaes but now i think i might be screwed yet again. anyone ever dealt with this stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Ward January 23, 2009 Share January 23, 2009 i did notice after buggin out all night about this...that there are some spots closer to the top of my live rock that are more brownish rust colored and have air bubbles all over them. also this algae doesnt wave around much or grow long strands like the cyano. now i am worried that this might be dinoflagellates (snot algae) which i have read, can be toxic to my livestock if ingested. at first i thought this was just brown algae growing over the other algaes but now i think i might be screwed yet again. anyone ever dealt with this stuff. Every tank gets cyano, dinoflagellates, hair algae, etc. don't feel like it's something you did and it's not going to kill your livestock. if it overgrows your corals, then it can be bad because they're not getting the light they need. Buy a turkey baster. One of the cheap plastic ones from target, wal-mart, whatever is perfect. use it to blast the cyano, detritus, and whatever else has settled on the rocks off. you won't be able to pick it off the rocks by hand and siphoning it off the rocks is difficult. once it's in suspension in the water, siphon it out. you'll need to do this as a ritual with your water changes until you get everything under control. nitrates are the primary cause of all the algae, phosphates are usually secondary. never use tap water. in this area it contains phosphates and chloramines which will cause you problems. distilled water is OK, but keep an eye out for a used RO unit. You may also be able to find someone near you that will sell you RO water - I know I will, but I'm in downtown DC so I may be too far from you. The LFS's that sell it in this area charge about $1/gal - but you can get it from them. I think the price is pretty high, so I bought an RO system. 2 weeks isn't long enough for the fuge to start working. just give it time. remember nothing good ever happens fast in this hobby. keep up the water changes, keep up your husbandry. scoop out any uneaten food after about 5 minutes. rinse frozen foods before you feed them. Add GFO (granular ferous oxide - for phosphate removal) and change it every month or so. Alternately, you can start dripping kalk with your topoff water. kalk binds to the phosphate molecule and causes it to precipitate out - making it unavailable to the algae. You can do this without a kalk stirrer or ATO (auto top off), it's just more labor intensive. remove the detritus, remove all the algae you can. it will get better, just stick with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rrubberbandman January 28, 2009 Share January 28, 2009 I once had red slime in my 20 gallon.........i fought it for @ 3 weeks....then finally added red slime remover by ultralife.....it made my slime die in 3 days and it hasnt shown up in again in 4 years.....just some fyi the tank was only a FOWLR at the time.....i noticed no ill effects...to my pod population or my corraline algae growth....it did lighten up a bit in color though. Where does your slime tend to grow? saND or rocks or both? Bryan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
schenktank February 6, 2009 Author Share February 6, 2009 both the rocks and sand bed. i think starting my tank without a protein skimmer for 5 months just let too much organics build up in my substrate . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
schenktank February 6, 2009 Author Share February 6, 2009 both the rocks and sand bed. i think starting my tank without a protein skimmer for 5 months just let too much organics build up in my substrate . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sugar Magnolia February 6, 2009 Share February 6, 2009 Are you running any type of phophate removing media? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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