Maracyn & my Skimmer??

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Driller31

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
Feb 24, 2010
Messages
49
Location
Grand Junction, Colorado
I went to my LFS and told them about my red slime algea problem. They pointed me torward this Maracyn Medication & said to put 5 packs in the water. Well my skimmer doesnt like it for sure, it just keeps filling the skimmer canister up, and does not seem to clear the water up at all????Please give me some advise on what I need to do?????????
 
Just to add more info to maybe help you peeps out, with the skimmer on its lowest setting it only takes like 5 minutes to fill the canister..And when I turn it off the water clears up almost instantly?????????
 
I went to my LFS and told them about my red slime algea problem. They pointed me torward this Maracyn Medication...

What EXACTLY did you put in your tank? To my knowledge, Mardel ( the folks that make Maracyn) don't make a red slime remover. And if you truly put "Maracyn" in your tank, you just dosed it with a bunch of antibiotics. Granted... red slime IS a bacteria, and an antibiotic WILL kill it off. But it will also do a number on your beneficial bacteria.

If you truly dosed a display tank with a bunch of Maracyn, I'd do a bunch of big water changes - now!
 
I agree. That was bad advice by your LFS. Maracyn is an anti Biotic used in treating bacterial infections and like Kurt said Cyano is a bacteria but it will also kill your nitrifying bacteria that is on your surfaces (LR, glass sides and equipment) that help to get rid of ammonia and nitrites. Maracyn is best used in a hospital tank and not in your main. As stated above I would do plenty of PWC`s and then find a new LFS.
 
Maybe a 33% PWC every other day. And keep a real close eye out on your water parameters as you`ll probably see a huge ammonia spike soon since your nitrifying bacteria is gone.
 
isnt there a product just for red/blue slime?

Yes there is Ultralife RED SLIME remover - Cyano Algae killer on eBay (end time 18-Apr-10 19:26:55 BST)

But you would be better off finding out what the problem is that is causing the Cyano. Not enough flow and impropper light cycle are two of the major causes of cyano.

I had a major problem until I realized my tank was getting to much sunlight from my windows. A couple of blinds later and the problem is solved
 
Well it definately cleared the red slime,...

Well... yes... it will definitely do that! But like mdaniel said, if you don't find the source of the excess nutrients that the stuff feeds off of, it will be back.

A lot of those medications *say* they won't effect your nitrifying bacteria, but whenever I've used Maracyn (in a hospital tank), I haven't found that to be the case.

I would definitely find a new fish store. That LFS gave you some really bad BAD BAAAAD advice. I would probably do 33% every day, if it was me. Just make sure you salinity and temperature of the new water match your old water. You have a refractometer? If not, this would be a good time to buy one. I'd also run a fair amount of carbon to try and suck that stuff out.
 
I had another LFS come and do a water change and check everything out. He said it would be fine, he only changed 10 gals. I have also been using saltwater on my sump refills, he did advise using purified water..My salt content or whatever that is was way high..He said everything should be fine, and to call him and he would come by and check everything again in a week..
 
Just a little point. I've found blacking out the tank for 3 days quite effective. I had some red slime in my tank and after 3 days all that was left were specs.
 
I had another LFS come and do a water change and check everything out. He said it would be fine, he only changed 10 gals. I have also been using saltwater on my sump refills, he did advise using purified water..My salt content or whatever that is was way high..He said everything should be fine, and to call him and he would come by and check everything again in a week..

Salt does not evaporate so always top off your tank with RO/DI Water. If you need to bring it down do it slowly. The higher the salinity the less O2 in the water.
 
Just a little point. I've found blacking out the tank for 3 days quite effective. I had some red slime in my tank and after 3 days all that was left were specs.

yeah that works quiet well but the problem will come right back if you do not find the cause of the problem. You do not want to run your reef tank 3 days normal light schedule, 3 days black out. to get rid of the cyano
 
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