Why The Heck Do I Still Have Red Slime Algea?!
 

Bacislly I have been constantly battling red slime algea in my tank and nothing seems to get rid of it completely other then sucking it out when I do water changes but it always pops back up...
I just tested my water and have 5.0 nitrates and 0 phosphates (trates are usually 0, but I did a LPS feed 2 days ago).
I cant figure out why I still have cynoa popping up... I run a BRS dual reactor w/ high capasity GFO, carbon, and another reactor full of seachem purigen....
Anyone got a solution or a suggestion?

Zeozym


I had some bad cyano and nothing was fixing it until I tried dosing with Zeozym, two weeks later, no cyano, dosed for another two weeks then stopped and it hasn't been back...

Chemiclean red slime remover, completely reef safe.
Will make your skimmer explode so follow instructions, shut skimmer off, do the water change and gradually dial skimmer back to full power.
100% effective every time I use it. maybe once or twice a year.
Also makes water amazingly clear.

I think you need to look at the causes, rather than looking at a band aid to fix it like zeozyme or any other additive.

Can you explain your setup, I would like to know what type of flow do you have within your tank. Overflows, return pump, powerheads or wave makers, etc. Do you have a skimmer? What change schedule?

Many issues can be caused due to too much nutrients, poor water flow, etc.

Thanks.

Red slim
 

I had the same problem , Used red slim remover . Worked in two days.It is reef safe worked like a dream.

I agree. There is one type of Cyano that survives/thrives in low nutrient water. I have NEVER had P04 and NEVER had more than 2 to 5 N03 and I had Cyano for a few weeks.

Like Globaldesigns asked. What is your set up like? Do you have a lot of flow? Mind you, I have great flow and the cyano I had was in the parts of the tank with the most flow! Right in front of returns of my closed loop and right under my Mp20. So hard to explain things sometimes.

The way I look at it if you’re sick you take the penicillin to get rid of the ailment. Once you're disease free you make an effort to live healthier and not get sick again... Maybe I’m wrong here but Cyano seams to be allot like the common cold that even the healthiest system can catch.

Zeozym was a great penicillin substitute for my cyano sickness...

I've found cyano to pop up now and again for no apparent reason. Many reefers will tell you the same thing. When I get an outbreak of it I deal with it ASAP before it gets a real toe hold. Siphon out what you can, and it usually goes away. For persistent cyano Red Slime remover does work remarkably well.

Ditto with the ChemiClean, I would not bother wasting your precious time trying to figure out why you have it, better to eradicate it from your tank and keep all your levels in check as best you can for the future mate.:biggrin:

90g w/ 40g sump, corner overflow, 350gph return pump, 2 425gph hydro korlia powerheads, 1 maxi jet 400 for specific corals w/ higher flow, quaclear 70(330pgh) for surface turblence,. yes I have a skimmer rated for double my system. water changes r done when ever i get a N or P spike.

how often are you feeding ur tank and how much? what is your light cycle on?

they get a small squirt of artic pods in the morning and a 1/4 icecube mix at night. all my LPS are feed once a week.
actinics are on from 7am-8pm, mhs from 830am till 630pm

Interested to see how things turn out. I'm having a cyano outbreak as well in a low nutrient system mainly for sps. I've heard blacking the tank out for a couple of days might work.

all of these things will work to fix/band-aid/penicillin the problem......but if you dont address whats causing it then it will likely be back......

Agreed with above. You said you do water changes when N and P spike. How often is that?

You really need a regular schedule to maintain trace elements/parameters, etc. If you wait till your parameters are off, I think it's too late, personally.

cyano
 

i was having a problem as well for no apparent reason-i found it was my salt mix that i was using(h2ocean)

More flow wouldent hurt those k1 dont produce alot of strong flow , i tossed mine in favour of 2 k3 (1000 and something gph each) and i also have a X3 canister thats empty and this is all in a 50 , since i added the new k3s no more red slime , chem clean works great too .

No kidding? I've never had it and recently switched to H2Ocean. 3 water changes in the last 6 weeks using the new salt and it appeared.

Not sure if this helps.....I run my halides 7-8 hrs per day. If I increase this at all even 30 min......I seem to start a breakout of red slime ---bubbles start etc.
Not sure if this helps you......when I backed off the lighting it cleared up.

I too have recently switched to H2Ocean as Reefers Best is impossible to get anymore. I haven't had any issues, done 4 water changes with the new salt.

cyano
 

i really noticed it in my aqua-medic reactors.just in my nanochloropus and tetraselimis the cyano would start to grow where there shouldn't be anything but my cultures.since i switched away from h2ocean i don't have that problem anymore.and in my tank i also add sea snow,which also helps

well I use reef crystals for salt. I dose for all the essential things in my tank. And to me a spike is anything over 10 for trates and 1.5 for phosphates. I usually do 10-15g change every 2 weeks just cuz so I am in a regular changing system

Where is the mystery? Of course you're going to have algae and slime problems if you have detectable nitrate and phosphate like that. Beef up your filteration, cut back on feeding, increase the flow, remove some fish, change your bulbs (if they're old) etc... But probably more important, you need to let your tank stabalize and mature. A cyano phase is very common in relatively new systems or systems that are constantly disrupted so give it time and if everything else is as it should be it will go away on its own.

im having the same problem. I have really good flow. Could me having to change bulbs be the cause for this slime outbreak?
and my clam wont open I saw its mantle was curled up a few days ago

50g DT ,20g sump, skimmer 2 korilla powerheads both at 1200gph and a rio17
return pump

You're going to have to start from scratch. List all water parameters, type of equipment, age of tank, age and type of bulbs, any recent changes or additions. The clam is a clue that no, you are not having the same problem.

Cheminclean is not completely reef safe. It will kill some sponges. If you don't have sponges, then it's ok. Some specie of sponges live in symbiotic relation with some type of cyano and those are killed when we use chemiclean.

I have a very rare sponge in my tank than I really don't want to lose and last time I used chemiclean I almost lots it. It became all white and I only saved it by changing it into another tank.

Oh my god he lives lol

Ummm.. No. Did you check the dates ? LOL

Lol oh snap, noob mistake lol