Red slime in my fuge - creeping into main

[austinsdad]

I've finally turned the light off in the fuge for the past 2 days. Got a 5g HOB with small pieces of tonga, caluerpra (sp??), and the usual pod population. The caluerpa (try this again) is growing fast too. Had 8 hrs of lighting on it. Had to run the lights with the main instead of opposite since the light sits above the main and bleeds into it heavy.

Had the fuge up for about a couple of months. Red slime all over the surface water in it and creeping into my tank now.

What can I do? Is there a certain water test I should've done before I asked for help? Haven't checked phosphates recently. All my tattle tale coral ain't talkin' and they're doing fine.

 

[steve-s]

Haven't checked phosphates recently.

That would be the first step. The main issue typically with fuge tanks is the lower water flow allows for accumulations of detritus and possibley low pH. All of which allow nuisance algaes to get hold. It's much more common with newer fuge set ups while the macro's are getting started. Be sure to remove any dead/dieing macro's, they will release any trapped nutrient as they rot.

Cheers
Steve

 

[austinsdad]

Thanks. I kinda thought it could be that, but I thought between the xenia, hammer, and frogspawn coral, I'd get an early warning.

Do you know of any coral I could add that'd early indicate phosphate issues?

Also, would the macros turn brownish as an indicator of dieing? I wuz looking for white. I need to prune anyway most likely.

 

[steve-s]

Do you know of any coral I could add that'd early indicate phosphate issues?

None really in sense you mean, PO4 in general does not affect the immediate health of most any corals. In fact the only thing it really does is inhibit scleractinians from properly depositing CaCO3 which will mostly just cause slow or no growth.

Also, would the macros turn brownish as an indicator of dieing? I wuz looking for white. I need to prune anyway most likely.

Brown would be a sign of decay as well as possibley another algae type trying to get a foothold. Pinch out anything that does not look healthy.

Cheers
Steve