red slime algae on live rock

[dragonfisher33]

how do you guys deal with red slime algae on live rock without tearing the tank part and scrub the rock one by one? i have everything under control and i know the source of the algae and have already dealt with it. now i just need to get rid of those that are on the rock. i don't have a lot, just few small spots (size of my pinky fingernail or smaller) that i can't reach. i know water change will help. but is there anything else? this is a nano tank and i prefer not to run GFO. what invert eats red slime?

 

[Jmkb02]

Siphon it out if you've fixed the problem. It will burn out and die off if there is no source.

 

[dragonfisher33]

Siphon it out if you've fixed the problem. It will burn out and die off if there is no source.

well, the problem is that it's not on the sand bed but rather on the live rock. I can't siphon it out without taking my system apart.

 

[GoldfishJoey]

I don't normally recommend scrubbing the rock unless you have several bins with saltwater to scrub them in and be able to rinse numerous times. Because cyano attaches like crazy. However, you mentioned that you don't want to break down or take out rock. I don't normally suggest to scrub a rock inside the DT but if you absolutely have to you may want to have a buddy there to help scrub while you siphon it out. That way the cyano is controlled. You may want to turn off your pumps that way it doesn't go all over the place. I would use the siphon without the attachment to get those stubborn spots on the rock. Usually, it will siphon out if you put it directly under the siphon. Good luck!!! Remember to keep up with your water changes! It is key to keeping the water pristine! Hope this helps.

 

[Jmkb02]

Well if you siphon it off the rock, it should come off pretty easily. Put your hose or siphon "tool" to use and slightly rub the rock and it should come off. It's worked for me.

 

[Willba200]

I completely blacked out my tank for 3 days. Seemed to work, although some is coming back.

 

[00youknowit00]

It should siphon off the rocks easily, especially once its thick. That's how I took mine out of my tank, worked fine for me. I used airline tubing, for what its worth.

 

[saltwaternewbie12]

I'm having the same issue and have also heard to black out the tank..... What about the corals? Will a 3 day blackout kill the corals?

 

[PurplePolyp]

I had a couple outbreaks of this. It should siphon off the rock fairly easily.

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[Willba200]

I think corals will be fine. Google it tells u more. Hope this helps

 

[Jmkb02]

If you just feed less and eliminate the source, it will go away. A blackout will help at first but it will come back. Cut back on the lighting hours, feed less and more water changes and it should knock out whatever your dealing with. Siphon your rock when you do your water changes.

 

[Ericwm]

I had a bit a while ago. I just blew it off with a power head and did a water change. I also upped my water change from every other week to every week for a month and I think that did the trick.

 

[PurplePolyp]

A lot of people may disagree with my following post, but its just a suggestion. There is an additive called ChemiClean. Its a bacteria remover and red slime is a cyanobacteria. You add it to the tank, do a water change after 48 hours, and then repeat the process. The first time I battle the red slime, it took over EVERYTHING in my tank. By the end of day 4 after starting this stuff, there was none of it left. It completely wiped out the problem. My fish and corals were not harmed at all. I actually think it helped nurse some life back in to my hippo tang.

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[00youknowit00]

Nutrient export is the #1 way to end it. Too many nutrients is why its there to begin with. Do larger, more frequent water changes and suck as much crud and cyano out as you can, clean EVERYTHING, skimmer, powerheads, filters, heater ect. Anything that's not spotless, clean it. The addition of a reactor with GFO or Phosguard will help tremendously as well, I can give you more info on how to go about that if you wish to do so. Flow comes into the mix as well, cyano tends to like lower flow areas.

Keep at it with what I said above and the problem will go away, it takes time to over come cyano, the key is patience and persistence. Blackouts, chemiclean, stuff like that is a temporary fix, it doesn't get the source, not to mention countless tank wipe out stories from using chemiclean.. cyano will not stop coming back until all the nutrients its thriving on are gone, simple as that.

 

[mrvincent]

I scrub my rocks with a new cheap toothbrush...

 

[00youknowit00]

I scrub my rocks with a new cheap toothbrush...

Only problem there is that the cyano has absorbed the excess phosphates, so unless its removed from the tank the problem is still there. Brushing it of the rock only relocates it.

 

[mrvincent]

Only problem there is that the cyano has absorbed the excess phosphates, so unless its removed from the tank the problem is still there. Brushing it of the rock only relocates it.

Then I would run a cheap powerfull HOB filter while scrubbing rocks as I do when I scrub them...

Just run it for 24 hrs...

 

[00youknowit00]

Then I would run a cheap powerfull HOB filter while scrubbing rocks as I do when I scrub them...

Just run it for 24 hrs...

Our just siphon it out, immediate removal. Even with an hob, a lot will be left in the tank

 

[mrvincent]

In my case I used a 45g filter for cleaning algae of the 20g tank... But yeah, some algae will go under rock and will remain unacessible the time it release it's nitrates/PO4.