Problem with my tank

[BioMan]

A mistake I made was letting it actually develop a "mat" it was a small size of a quarter in my 14 in an area that wasnt gettiing good flow,,I blew it apart with a turkey baster and like poisen ivy I actually spread it!
I get it in my cubes whenever I leave the white light on too long. My research in biology articles said it basically helped create our eco system millions of years ago.
I dont know of anything that eats that junk when it builds up.
Somebody told me sea apples or cucumbers do the trick but I read up on that and found out those things are poisenous especially as soon as they die.

 

[Drshare]

Pics

Sorry folks I thought when I posted from my phone that the pics were posted as well......here they are.


Ok maybe not I can't get the pics of the sand to load

 

[SirReefalot]

Cyanobacteria, or red slime algae, is one of the most hated pest algaes that occur in reef aquaria. It is very common for a cyano bloom to occur in new tanks at the 3-4 month setup and there are many other reasons it may occur to well established tanks. Longer than average lighting schedules, old/bad bulbs, bad ro/di water (filters), lack of maintenance, poor water quality, and/or overfeeding can cause a cyanobacteria eruption. Some solutions are to lower lighting time, lessen feeding, use a better quality salt mix, and as a last ditch effort, using one of the many red slime removers commercially available can rid your tank of this pest.

 

[rookie07]

I've used red slime remover a handful of times over the years and it has always worked great for me. I don't keep SPS, so I cant comment on SPS after using red slime remover, but my zoas/softies/lps are always fine after using red slime remover. I syphon out as much as possible during a water change, then I add RSR per the instructions. I repeat in 2 days if needed (this was only need once) as per the instructions. I only use RSR if I cant get rid of the red slime from syphoning and big/frequent water changes.

Best of luck

 

[jeffgreg]

i used one boyds , skimmer off tank got cloudy for a few days.

a week latter i did 25 percent water change and fingers crossed it has not returned.
But it was easy to get rid of

 

[jeffgreg]

= i am doing really well and got rid of the reg algae easy . not chemi clean , its made by boyds yes, but its specificlly for red slim algae

 

[TUSI]

Ill put my 2cents. I have noticed that most Lfs have it on change of season mainly spring and fall. I am starting to believe that it's caused by temperature change which means if you have a tank with steady temperature you have less of chance of getting slime. Thank god I never had a situation with it, only very little one time cause my chiller was loosing the refrigerant. I notice a lot that reefers have heaters in their sump, I had never owned a heater since I have built my tank. If the tank is in the house and temperature in the house is at 68 to 70 the tank will need to be chilled not heated with all pumps and lights going on.
Hope this can be helpfull cyano bacteria blooms in warmer waters more than cool water.

 

[Tonyscoots84]

Tusi what is your temp on your tank usually?

 

[TUSI]

Tusi what is your temp on your tank usually?

My temp is kept at 77.5 and when everything comes on it goes up to 78 max. I have an outdoor chiller and it holds it good. When I had an interior chiller it ran 24/7

 

[oh207]

....cyano bacteria blooms in warmer waters more than cool water.

This stood out for me. I have a 65g that has been fishless for about 3 months now. So no feeding or fish pooping. 2 weeks ago I noticed what looks like Cyano or diatoms on parts of my sand and rocks. I couldn't figure it out. Now that I read this, I recalled that I did upgrade my Eheim heater from a 150w to a 250w earlier this month. The 150w was constantly on. With the upgrade the water temp is hovering between 80 and 81.5. I need to calibrate the heater and bring it back down to 78-79.

 

[TUSI]

This stood out for me. I have a 65g that has been fishless for about 3 months now. So no feeding or fish pooping. 2 weeks ago I noticed what looks like Cyano or diatoms on parts of my sand and rocks. I couldn't figure it out. Now that I read this, I recalled that I did upgrade my Eheim heater from a 150w to a 250w earlier this month. The 150w was constantly on. With the upgrade the water temp is hovering between 80 and 81.5. I need to calibrate the heater and bring it back down to 78-79.

Don't bring it down to fast cause you will cause a bloom. Try .5 per day till u reach your desired temp and then maintain it steady and you will never have cyano bloom

 

[Drshare]

Well I left it alone did the usual maintenance and now I have what started as some brown on the sand to what looks like brown algae on the sand and rocks. Its growing long in some spots, My anemone wont stay attached to the rocks and now sits on the bottom of the tank, he eats and seems ok just wont go on the rocks. All the fish seem ok and the couple of corals we have seem to be doing good. Ph, nitrate, nitrite, and Ammonia are all good. Salinity is .021, temp is 78......I am not so sure anymore that I am cut out for this.