Red Slime stuff

[Civicman86]

I have some red slime stuff all over the gravel in my tank? What is this? Good, bad?

 

[mikebranson]

How new is your tank?
Done any recent water changes?

Could be cyano or a diatom bloom possibly.

 

[seaham358]

do a search on the site for cyno, cyno bacteria or red slime. There are tons of posts on this.
Red slime is bad and needs to be removed... try and do a search for the info.

 

[ctmedman]

I've heard quite a few people use Chemi-clean to get rid of cyano. I'm currently battling cyano as well and about to order this stuff.

 

[seaham358]

IMO try and figure out what the problem is and fix it before adding chemicals to your tank. I had cyno for months and after trying many things I finally won the battle without adding chemicals to my reef.

 

[localhost]

I took the lazy way out in my 6G nano and used Ultralife Red Slime Remover. Worked in about 3 days. Never came back afterwards.

 

[StickyTuba]

I attempted to fight the Cyano without using chemicals but to no avail.
I used the chemi-clean and then kept up on my water changes. The Chemi-clean got rid of the cyano with no problem and I have not had a re-occurrence of it at all.

I would suggest water changes every other day to start and then, if that doesn't work, I would suggest chemi-clean.

Good luck and keep us posted of what works for you.

 

[Civicman86]

How much should i change daily? its a 10g tank so maybe a gallon a day?

 

[StickyTuba]

I have a 12 gallon Nano-cube and when I was doing water changes I did about 3-4 gallons. So about a 25 to 30% water change. This is what I generally do for my weekly water changes as well and I have had good luck over the past year.

This is what I found to assist with knocking down the cyano quickest. Again, that is only my suggestion.

Good luck.

 

[Phyl]

I would agree with the 20-25% water changes daily, but making sure that your source water does not have a nitrate/phosphate problem to begin with. If you're adding to the problem with your water changes it won't help.

You need to start by siphoning out what you can, increase water flow as much as you can, stop the source of the nitrates/phosphates, do some major water changing and then use a chemical solution to cleanup the leftovers. Other sources of NO3/PO4 could be your fish food so make sure to look to your feeding habits also.

Good luck!

 

[malkore]

test phosphates.
Also, considering I run two 1200 MaxiJets on my 40gallon, I don't think you have sufficient circulation for a 72gallon.
Cyano loves to form in low/dead current areas first.

 

[ellisz]

Even if you are using your own RO/DI, tesy your source water for PO4. I found that my DI cartridge on my almost new system was not removing enough. After replacing it, Cyano went away.

Reducing your photo period and constant siphoning while battling will help as well. Old bulbs can promote algae growth as well. Not just cyano but all algae.

 

[ctmedman]

I have two Maxi-jet 1200 PHs running in my 72 gal and they are located on opposite sides of the tank pointing at each other. I have cyano growing on the substrate and rocks and want to take your advice about adding more circulation.

How should I go about this? Should I get another Maxi-jet 1200 ph and place it near the bottom of the tank or put one next to the ones already in place and get it to point down?

 

[flanque]

I think it's been covered before, but these large water changes don't have an affect on bacteria levels, right? My understanding is that free floating bacteria is minimal and most of it lives by clinging onto the rocks and filters, etc. Is that right?

 

[Fluff]

That's right flanque. The only thing to keep in mind is to be sure the salinity, temp and ph are the same.

 

[usaco]

I took the lazy way out in my 6G nano and used Ultralife Red Slime Remover. Worked in about 3 days. Never came back afterwards.

Does this stuff harm the inverts & fish?

 

[Hara]

There is a nice article on the problem of cyano in our articles section here.

Up at the top of the page, you will find a link to all the articles. I highly recommend that you browse through them.

 

[JPloman]

Chemi-clean is all good and great, but it will not keep the problem from re-occuring. Chemi-clean will just kill the cyano for the short term. The most common problems that cause cyano are using tap water, lights that are too old (the waves actually change over time), not enough water movement, and over feeding.

I have a paper I wrote on cyanobacteria, if you want it I will pm it to you, just ask.

 

[Guest]

Sounds like cyano bacteria - looks like algae, but really isn't. Some causes are: high phosphates, low water movement, and poor light spectrum. Some solutions are: turn up your skimmer so it wet skims, replace your bulbs, put a power head or two in "dead" areas, ditch any flake or pellet food, rinse your frozen food really well with old SW, reduce the amount and frequency of feedings, add a phosphate binder, and as a last resort use a product called Chemi-clean. Be sure to follow the directions and good luck!

KG

 

[Guest]

I would get three and put them bottom, middle, top. It's your decision which direction you want to point them based on livestock placement, but I'd have one point straight across, one pointed to front, and one to the rear. This will create a counter current and should eliminate any dead areas. Good luck!

KG