Chemi-clean

[salisbury a d]

I ordered this stuff and it came today and it is already working. I put in the first dose today and already the water is clearer and the red slime has almost completly gone away. It is reef safe too.
Adam
[ May 12, 2001: Message edited by: Salisbury A D ]

 

[burnnspy]

I recommend fixing the problem, not adding chemicals to any reef tank for any reason.
BurnNSpy

 

[salisbury a d]

What are other ways to get rid of it. I have tried reading books for ways to get rid of it, leaving it alone, and vacuming. And I am tired of looking at it for a month and a half.
Adam
[ May 12, 2001: Message edited by: Salisbury A D ]

 

[jond]

I too am having red slime algae. I am keeping my water quality good. I just wondered if there is a good way to get rid of it. I know adding any chemicals to a reef is a last resort.

 

[burnnspy]

It is not possible to have quality water and red slime algae, you have a nutrient problem in the form of nitrates, phosphates, silicates or more than one of them.
Nitrate removal:
Regular water changes
Deep sand bed with detrivores
Plenum system
Phosphate removal:
Use Ro/DI water
Use Jack Watleys Tap Water Purifier(smaller tanks)
Check additives for phosphate and eliminate them
Silicates removal:
Silicate filter
BurnNSpy

 

[salisbury a d]

Well I would have to have a silicate problem because my nitrates are at 0 and my phosphates are at .1. What is a silicate filter. Is it a unit by itself or is it a media you put in your filter?
adam

 

[burnnspy]

Tell me about your tank, whats in it and the equipment you have.
BurnNSpy

 

[salisbury a d]

What is in my tank is 20lbs of ls, 27lbs of lr, 2 percula clowns, 1 green cromis, 1 scooter dragonet, 1 jeweled rockskiper,a colony of stipped and hairy mushrooms, some kind of cup coral, 1 green lace gorgonian, a feather duster, 1 cleaner shrimp, and one Branch caulestrea. the branch caulestrea is dying from constantly being covered by the red algae. Yes I always brush it off. I have 3 powerheads. An in the tank protein skimmer, and a wet dry filter.
Adam

 

[burnnspy]

What kind of lighting do you have? Does the WD filter have any filter media in it? What nitrate test kit do you use? How big is the tank?
BurnNSpy

 

[salisbury a d]

It is a 46 gallon tank with 2 white pc lights and one atinic light. They are all 55 watts. In the wet dry is three sponges, bio balls and carbon.
Adam

 

[ironreef]

you can't measure organic po4 anyway. The alga can be using it up before you can test for it also.Using ro water? I would test your top off. I would rid the sponges also. wetdry keep them clean =bioballs but you may not even need media.carbon test that for po4 some leech it out. put some in water test the water. use only good carbon and change weekly . skimmer working good? How old is the tank and you maybe feed to much if your tanks not mature. I agree you can't have good water quality if you have cyano. Cheap test kits aren't very accurate. The tank,animals and corals, are the true indicators of a healthy tank.
[ May 12, 2001: Message edited by: Ironreef ]

 

[burnnspy]

I believe that your Nitrates are higher than your testing indicates. The WD filter will produce nitrates.
How deep is your LS? I don't think 20lbs in your tank is enough to start natural nitrate reduction. You need at least 5" for a DSB.
To fix your problem I recommend returning all fish to your LFS. Stop the feeding(DT's Phytoplankton should be okay), do a 50% water change and run your lights for 4 hrs a day until the red slime goes away.
Then remove the filtration from the WD filter and use it as a sump where you can put the skimmer. Add more LS and LR, when conditions stablize, add a few fish. This procedure requires patients, but will finish up a successful reef tank.
BurnNSpy

 

[serpent]

Well just to let everyone know, I used chemi clean in my tank and the stuff has NEVER hurt anything in my tank. It contains no phosphates,or algacides in it and it recomends a 20% water change after full treatment.(i am reading this right off the package) also the package says " safe for reef tanks, all invertebrates, desirable macro algaes, nitrifying bacteria, and fish." This was my last resort after trying everything else to get rid of red slime algae and nothing else worked, and my water quality was great! So, chemi clean is OK to use and works great.

 

[salisbury a d]

My tank has been running since my profile says. November is When I started the tank and using this bb. The fish are all healthy and I am not about to give them up. I do not see the reason to. And feeding is not the problem. Sometimes the fish go without food for a week because I do not want to over feed. I have Anbout 1.5 inches of sand. If tap water isn't good why are you telling me to do a 50%water change. If you say to buy water I am not going to buy 50$ worth of water and then go out and also buy salt and then a new protein skimmer and new lights and suppliments and food and carbon and filter media and test kits and ro water or unit and sand and live rock and more. Remember I am a 14 yr old kid that is on a bugit trying to find a job who owes his parents 700$ and has three other tanks besides a reef that all need work to.
Adam
[ May 13, 2001: Message edited by: Salisbury A D ]

 

[salisbury a d]

Trey What you said last I believe is a problem on this BB. You told the algae is not killing my coral. That leaves me Hanging wondering THAN WHAT IS? People tell each other these things and then don't tell them how to solve the problem. I know it is an expensive hobby.
BUT BurnNSPY Telling me to get rid of my fish is like telling a homeless person they can't live under a particular overpass.
Trey this was not a quik fix rout. I have had to look at this crap for the past few months now. I have looked in books for the solution, I have left it alone, and I have vacumed It and now I have gone to chemicals.
I am sorry to have ofended you good poeple and I am sorry that no one out there can help me and not just tell me what I did wrong. Sometimes on this BB I am sorry I got involved with this hobby. And I am sorry for not being a trust fund kid.
Adam
[ May 13, 2001: Message edited by: Salisbury A D ]

 

[salisbury a d]

The ls was recently put in the tank oh about a month ago. Before that i had dolimite.
Adam

 

[wolffam]

Look for R/O water at your local Wal-Mart if possible. It's an option that is less than purchasing and making your own R/O at this time. Hope this is useful.

 

[salisbury a d]

What is this water gonna cost me 20$ for a 20% water change. There are other things I need to buy. and a Ro unit is one of my goals for the future.
Adam

 

[dseiler]

You should be able to find RO water near you from around .25 to .75 cents per galon. Yes it cost a bit more than tap water, but in the long run it will still be cheaper than having the problems that you are going to constantly have to solve, and maybe even the death of your inhabitants. You can use the water vending machines if they say RO water, just make sure the nozzle is clean and they do some sort of maintanance on it. It sounds like it would be expensive, but it is probably only going to cost you 3 or 4 extra dollars a month!

 

[ironreef]

w/c = ridding bad water and replacing it will go not replacing it with bad tap. But since $$ is an issue use your make up water and put carbon in a a bag and aeriate it for a few days. If you can afford the carbon as often as needed . Just aeriate it for a few days. It will help. get rid of the sponges and keep you bioballs clean. i would ad more sand and wait a few weeks then rid you bio balls slowely. if overfeeding isn't a problem then it's water quality, overstocking or poor skimming.