Red Slime Algae

[ElGuappo]

aside from water changes whats a good way to drop phosphate ?

[Okguy]

Stop using tap water. That is probably the main source of your problems. Also remember your tank is only 6 months old and is still reaching an equilibrium. Algae outbreaks are common during the phase. Patience is the key.

HTH

[a4twenty]

you can lower phosphates by grown chaeto in a refugium or running a phosphate absorbing media in a sock or preferably a reactor. but this treating the symptom and not the problem, you need to find the source to be successful or you will always be trying to get rid of them.

are you using RODI?
what and how much do you feed?

[ElGuappo]

i am sure im overfeeding. i have recently started to try and get fish to make the adjustments to pellets but its not going so well. bass wont touch them neither will jawfish. my tank is a red sea max i really dont have room for any add ons. there is a hole for plumbing on the back but i have no idea how to plumb a sump.

[a4twenty]

are you using tap water? or RODI?

[andresont]

On top of all of the above mentioned you can also try and use ZeoSnow 1ml per 25Gal mixed with Zeobak 1 drop per 25 gal.
You can reed about it in Zeo guide in ZeoSnow section.

[ElGuappo]

been using tap water. usally mixed weeks in advance. if i use RO or DI what extra steps deos that require? is store bought (Culligan) good enough?

[Toxik]

There are no extra steps in mixing the water using RO/DI. I bought a unit from Ocean Aquatics and it works great. It's fairly inexpensive compared to a lot of other units but does a great job.

http://oceanaquatics.com/store/produ...ximus-100-GPD/

[a4twenty]

Originally Posted by ElGuappo

been using tap water. usally mixed weeks in advance. if i use RO or DI what extra steps deos that require? is store bought (Culligan) good enough?

that is more than likely it. Culligan water is probably only RO and not good enough but a TDS test would tell for sure.

Originally Posted by ElGuappo

is there media to be replaced with that unit? my tank is only 34 gallons is this worth it? what is the cost of the media monthly? do you have any pics of this unit how big is it ? would it fit in a small cabinet?

yes there are pre-filters ( usually 2 ) to be changed every 6 months ( ~$10 - $20 ea ), the DI resin every ~6 months ( but you test for this, ~$30 - $40 ) and the membrane every 2 - 3 years ( ~ $100 - $150 ). it probably would fit in a small cabinet but it needs a water source to work, so you could keep it in the laundry room or somewhere else convenient.

if you you don't want to buy a unit, i am sure your LFS sells RODI water and with only a 34G you could bring home 5G - 10G every other week for top up and water changes. another option is distilled water but you have to make sure it has not been re-mineralized.

HTH