Red Slime Problem...Frustrated!!!

[Acrylic Guy]

Can anything be done about this...Where does it come from? How do I control it?
For two years I never had a problem with it, now for 6 months it's constantly on the sand bed and now my live rock. I think it may be killing my coraline algae too. The tank looks terrible and I may throw in the towel by getting out of the hobby....HELP!

 

[fishfanatic2]

Try siphoning it out when doing partial water changes, or turn the sand over so it is 'underground'. If you have an infestation, you'll have to get rid of every little patch/cell to prevent it from coming back. That's why you should never introduce even a tiny amount of water from a suspected red slimed tank. Don't be so sure it is kiling the coralline; it might just be coating the tank, though. Don't leave the hobby, either!

 

[Reefguide]

Acrylic,

What water are you using for top-off? If your not using at least Ro that might be your problem. How about bio-load, whats that like? Also are your bulbs due for a change? some of these things are key in cyano growth. Give us a bit more info... Water flow, tank set-up, ect...

 

[Anonymous]

Red slime "algae" is actually cyanobacteria. It grows very well with dissolved organics as fertilizer. Basically, you can never kill any algae or bacteria by hoping to eliminate every cell of it, because it's just impossible. You need to get rid of what it needs to grow, in this case high levels of organics in the water. You can accomplish this with:
1) Make sure you're not overfeeding
2) Make sure your skimmer works well
3) Perform several small water changes (Some folks will say perform one large one....matter of preference IMO)
4) Siphon as much of the slime out of the tank as you can to remove it completely, along with the organics, out of the water.
5) Run some activated carbon
6) Completely optional...I have an aquacultured queen conch (Strombus gigas) that mows down cyanobacteria.

 

[Acrylic Guy]

Thanks to all who responded...I do feed on the heavy side in my agressive tank. I have a Hippo Tang, Lion fish and a Trigger. I do not do water changes and water replacement is with R/O. I have a great skimmer and a large Calurpra bed in the sump with 200 watts of P.C.'s.
I'll start with some water changes and less feeding. Thanks!

 

[Anonymous]

The red cyano also prefers areas of lower oxygen. Increasing the current in your tank will also help. Try adding more powerheads or get some larger ones.

 

[Anonymous]

When you get tired of it coming back overnight, red slime remover works extreemly well, but it's hard on the bio filter, I've used it a couple times with excellent results, corals didnt even react to the stuff.

I used the good old fw pelets for treating bacteria infections on fw fish, sense nobody stocked the powder form.

L8r mega

PS, I have an hsa 1000 on a 75g, run carbon 24/7, new lights, new pumps, ro/di, water changes didnt phase the stuff in my tank, and no amount of siphoning would do anything. But the anti bacteria meds made the stuff disapear in 24 hours.

 

[Anonymous]

When you get tired of it coming back overnight, red slime remover works extreemly well, but it's hard on the bio filter, I've used it a couple times with excellent results, corals didnt even react to the stuff.

I used the good old fw pelets for treating bacteria infections on fw fish, sense nobody stocked the powder form.
L8r mega

PS, I have an hsa 1000 on a 75g, run carbon 24/7, new lights, new pumps, ro/di, water changes didnt phase the stuff in my tank, and no amount of siphoning would do anything. But the anti bacteria meds made the stuff disapear in 24 hours.

erythromycin, right? :wink:

fwiw-the e-mycin treatment typically takes around a week to work-it prevents the cyano from metabolizing things at a cellular level-hence slowly starving it to death(thanx for the info on how it works, wade :wink: )

it will make skimmers go nuts, though :wink:

i've recommended it as a quick fix to hundreds of folks-never seen it fail-but it must be used correctly-you must wipe out all the cyano completely the first time-or it'll come back-resistant to the antibiotic

the source problem needs to be corrected, too :wink:

and fwiw-the treatment w/the e-mycin, ime, has never harmed a reef tank-i've even watched corals expand greatly,they seemed to feed off of the stuff

the treatment is as follows:

for every net 10 gal of system volume, add one 200-250 mg tablet of e.m.(from aquarium pharmaceuticals-use the 'pure e.m. tabs-comes in a blister pack of 8 tabs, iirc)

shut off skimmers, carbon

after 48 hrs-repeat the dose

within a week, the cyano should start to turn grey

after the cyano is gone-do a very large water change(50%, at least-you need to get the antibiotic out, as well as all the nutrients released form the decomposed cyano, and the other nutrients re-released back into the tank that the cyano absorbed in the first place-if you don't-you've solved nothing)

run some good high quality carbon, and restart the skimmer-but dial the air in slowly-it will still want to foam like crazy-open the air up over the course of a week, or so

then- start proper nutrient management and control through good aquarium husbandry practices :wink:

hth

p.s.-do not use mardel's maracyn products for this treatment-i've seen people lose entire tanks from the stuff-imo, mardel adds some other agents to their products that aren't listed on the label-and harm inverts

i, for the record-do not like any of their disease treatment products-if i need some product, like an antifungal/bacterial/protozooal, i always try to get a hold of the 'pure' chemical-not mixed, chelated,etc.(fwiw)