cyano red slime outbreak.

[marie74]

I'm new to SW. Bought a used tank off CL. It had a little bit of red on the rocks, but I had no idea what it was. Within a couple days of setting it up at home I have LOTS of red....

How do I get rid of it?

Also- the tank came with a Niger trigger- which doesn;t fit in with my idea of a peaceful tank, so I traded it for a lawnmower blenny at the LFS. He doesn't seem too happy. he was eating the red stuff... would that make him sick?

 

[apet66]

I'm new to SW. Bought a used tank off CL. It had a little bit of red on the rocks, but I had no idea what it was. Within a couple days of setting it up at home I have LOTS of red....

How do I get rid of it?

Also- the tank came with a Niger trigger- which doesn;t fit in with my idea of a peaceful tank, so I traded it for a lawnmower blenny at the LFS. He doesn't seem too happy. he was eating the red stuff... would that make him sick?

Well the red stuff is Cyano bacteria, It's caused by excess nutrients and phosphates. You can siphon it off the sand with some airline tubing. Increase your flow with power heads, Cyano hates high flow. Cut back on feedings. As far as making your lawnmower blenny sick I can't say for sure. Some fish, snails and hermit crabs love it.

 

[apet66]

What test kits do you have? What water are you using?

 

[marie74]

I haven't been overfeeding.. so either the live rock and sane that came with the tank was loaded, or I have really lousy water. I have not invested in a RO/DI yet.. I used tap treated with Seachem prime and reef crystals
I have the api saltwater test kit..
ammonia, nitrates, and trites look fine.

 

[apet66]

I haven't been overfeeding.. so either the live rock and sane that came with the tank was loaded, or I have really lousy water. I have not invested in a RO/DI yet.. I used tap treated with Seachem prime and reef crystals
I have the api saltwater test kit..
ammonia, nitrates, and trites look fine.

http://www.seachem.com/support/forums/archive/index.php/t-1890.html
Prime will not remove phosphates. I would check your local fish store to see if they sell ro/di water, most do. Until you can get a ro/di unit of your own.

 

[marie74]

does RO/DI remove phosphates?

 

[apet66]

does RO/DI remove phosphates?

http://www.reefcentral.com/index.php/rodi-faq

It sure will. Hope this link sheds some light on it for you.

 

[marie74]

Just ordered an RO/DI. Hopefully that will take care of it.

 

[apet66]

Just ordered an RO/DI. Hopefully that will take care of it.

Awesome!!! That will definitely help, in the meantime you can siphon it off the sand and rocks with airline tubing.

 

[Bray84]

To much light cus course it aswell, I'm goin throught an out break and can't find out what's coursing it but think I was over feeding as started out feeding 3 times aday as guy in lfs said to and didn't defrost the frozen b4 putting it in so now have new t5 tubes on 8 hrs aday instead of 11 hrs and only feeding 2 times aday but only pinch of flake or pellet once and frozen once aday and now defrosting b4 putting in tank and now it's not as bad but still there but next thing goin to try is more w/c in wk instead of 10-20% once a week. All my tests are good but have read that the algae hinds nitrate so could have false reading there so and more info would be great help

 

[Bray84]

Plus go loads of flow with two powerheads plus filter outlet

 

[54seaweed]

Aim your power heads more towards the sand it will help some
also big WC is another thing that will help
if your water isn't the best I would suggest buying some distilled water to use till you can get a rodi system
well water is one of your worst enemies with sw tanks
your local pet store should also have a product called phos-ban
it comes in several different ways if you have a HOB filter they sell it in filter media that can be cut down to size
it will help a lot along with water changes and lots of flow a skimmer would also help
cut back feedings to every otherday cut back time on lights to 1/2 of what you usually use

 

[Bray84]

Cheers, well it's on the rocks what's left of it so if pointed them towards the rock instead would that help. I buy ro with salt from the lfs and test are good when I test and lfs tests so think was because I was feeding to much to long. I got a protein skimmer aswell forgot to say but notice wasn't set right so must of knocked it when cleaning before but it's fine now and since I've cut back on lighting and feeding I don't get as much as b4 my glass would be covered within a week so will try more w/c over next few wks and will see before I cut back more on feeding as they are really only eating once aday as only put a little bit of flake in to fed them for bout 30 seconds and never see and left over food

 

[54seaweed]

you could get a 5 gal bucket of tank water pull each rock and scrub some off too
when I started my first tank I had that issue looked so nasty I pulled them rock scrubbed them rinsed and put back in never came back now those rock are covered in Coraline algae

 

[Bray84]

Cheers was thinking about that but don't no if was ok to doit so might give it try and see if help get rid of it. Thanks again

 

[bonniewoodruff]

I have it in my Refugium, do I need to do anything for it or leave it alone?

 

[Budda619]

I would take a day and overhaul your refugium. Scrap the glass and siphon out the cyano