Can anyone help with red algae?

[drummerboy]

I'm fairly new to this, but I've definitly done my homework. I have all kinds of info about green and brown algae, but can't find any on red. The reason I ask is because I bought a really nice piece of live rock with about 8 mushrooms on it, but I noticed when I got it home that it had a little spot of red slimy stuff on it. I didn't think much of it, but it's spreading rapidly. The turbo snails don't seem to want to touch it. My phosphates and nitrates are both low, and all I have is a normal florecent light (my 2 55 watt power compact should arive tomorrow), so I have no idea why it's spreading so quickly. Can anyone help? Is there anything that will eat red algae?
Thanks I appreciate it
29 gallon tank
CPR backpack skimmer
Ehiem canister filter
55 w 10000 k + 6700 k blue power compact (when it gets here)
30 lbs. crushed coral
25 lbs. live rock
8 musroom corals (both red and green)
3 blue damsels/1 yellow tailed damsel (all going back to lfs when I can catch them)

 

[striker]

What kind of water do you top off with. I had the same problem last time I set-up because I was using tap water. This time around I use distilled and haven't had any problems with it. I also noticed that you don't have any powerheads. Circulation in the tank is always important and can assist in keeping the growth to a minimum.

 

[drummerboy]

Yeah, that is something that I need to change. I use tap water, but I thought that as long as the phosphate levels weren't to high that it didn't matter. I'm going to start trying distilled water and see if that makes a difference. And yes, I forgot to add that I'm planning on purchasing a couple power heads very soon. Thank you for your help.

 

[striker]

When you get the distilled water it's always a good idea to test it too. I haven't tested mine but it's been working good for my tank. I had started out with the tap water and had the same problems but it will go away eventually. It could also be just a natural part of the cycle but I wouldn't chance it. That stuff can get really ugly. Crushed coral also gave me problems when I started but I've converted to sand and it's been great. I've heard of people having success with cc but you have to siphon it once every week or two. It is not worth the hassles IMO. Good luck.

 

[drummerboy]

Thanks again, yeah, I have to siphon out my crushed coral really often, but I figure it's just a good insentive to make frequent water changes. Now that I look back on it, I really wish that I had gone with sand, but I don't feel like ripping my entire tank apart to do so. I just found some more info on red algae too, I guess it really likes a certian lightning specrtum that is found in older bulbs (which mine is), but my new power compacts should be arriving today, so maybe that will help too.

 

[kdlbem]

When you hook up the new bulbs, you'll want to decrease the time you have them on, and bring them back up gradually since you are already having algae problems. When I upgraded to pc's from NO flo. I didn't cut the time back, and boy was my tank ugly. It took forever to get rid of the algae bloom. Oh yeah, I'd also replace the NO bulb and keep it on the tank with the pc's. You can't have too much light.
HTH,
B

 

[lordofthereef]

there is alot more stuff in tap water then phosphates to be concerned about, but lets not talk about that right now. red slime algea, not a good thing! luckily, i never had it(knock on wood), but i do know people that did. they all used a product called chemi-clean. worked like a champ for them. actually, it worked so good that it never even came back! look in to it.

 

[mlm]

Chemi clean is an excellent product, but if you continue to use tap water the problem will keep coming back. I have seen trochus snail eat red slime algea.

 

[twoods71]

Red slime / cyanobacteria can be killed easily with an antibiotic much like the product mentioned above. The only draw back is you will be killing some of the benificial bacteria as well.

 

[drummerboy]

Thanks for all your advice. I'm always very nerveous about using chemicals in my water, but I just may have to in this case. I swear if I watch long enough I can see the stuff spread. It's very frustrating, because I know for a fact that it was introduced by my mushroom rock, and it's still only spread on that rock. I was very close to attempting to remove the mushrooms corals, placing them on a new rock and removing the problem rock (I've heard that they can be unattatched and moved carefully). But they have already begun propogating (I can count 14 of them now) and I don't want to harm them. And can anyone tell me, is distilled water good enough? I was always discouraged to use it becuase I was told that it wasn't much better than tap water, and that ro water was the only way to go. I can't afford an ro unit any time in the near future, and my lfs doesn't sell it. Is distilled water really be worth it? Especially since my tank is already full of tap?

 

[lordofthereef]

you can afford the ro unit! just don't buy one with a hobby name on it. go to home depot and get one. same thing, alot cheaper.

 

[drummerboy]

thanks alot! I always wondered about that. I figured that all ro units had the same basic idea, and I wondered why the aquariums ones always cost so much more. I can definitly justify spending that much on a ro unit, I could never justify $300 though. I'll have to get myself one of those soon, thanks for your advice.

 

[i have no clue]

You mentioned that your local fish store doesn't sell ro water, have you checked your local grocery stores? One of my local grocery stores has a ro unit. I just have to bring in my 1 gallon jugs and I can get it for 39 cents a gallon.

 

[jim672]

Drummer,
I had some red algea when I began adding a calcium supplement. A friend of mine suggested the red algea could be a result of too much calcium too fast. I scaled back on the calcium, scraped the algea off the glass (it hadn't made it to any of my LR)and the red algea just dissappeared.
Are you using a calcium supplement?

 

[superdust]

Lord,
About how much does a RO unit run at Home Depot? Cheaper than what can be found on ----?

 

[drummerboy]

Acctually, yes I did just start adding a calcium suppliment, that may be part of it. I'll cut back on that for now, it's really not that necessary for my tank, I just wanted to help the coraline along. My problem is that it's not on the glass, it's all over a lr, so the only thing I can do is either kill it with chemicals, or get something that will eat it. My snails don't touch it, they graze right over the stuff. I'm going to go see if I can find a chemical tomorrow, I'll post what I used and if it worked for everybodies information.

 

[drummerboy]

Ok, I just thought I'd let everyone know that I syphoned as much of the red algae as I could out, did a massive water change with ro water that I got from the local meijer (the michigan idea of a walmart). So far it's completly disappeared, even the parts that I couldn't syphon off seem to be gone. I'm going to keep my fingers crossed, because I hope it goes away without the use of chemicals. Thanks for all your guys help.

 

[trying4reef]

Is RO water that much better than DI water?? I was split between which one to buy but I just couldn't see paying for all that water to be wasted. 100 gls used to make 10gls of water seems like a lot a money to pour down the drain. not to mention the envirmental aspects, but is it really worth all that?

 

[wamp]

Enviromental impact?
If you put it down the drain it will get treated and used again down the river.. Now the cost is anoter issue.. I like the RO/DI. it removes more impurities and thats one less thing to worry about.