Cyanobacteria

[tank1483]

My tank has been up for almost 3 months. All of a sudden it is covered with the red slime. I keep checking my water parameters and it says ammonia - 0, nitrites - 0, nitrates 10-20. I use distilled water for all my topoff water and for water changes. I have an Aqua C Remora skimmer and empty the cup every 2 days. I perform 20% water changes every two weeks but it does not seem to help. I have picked off as much as I can but it comes back in a couple of days

. Not sure if this is something that every new tank goes through or if I need to do start some massive water changes to try and get nitrates to 0.

 

[meowzer]

Start with more frequent larger water changes....WHAT do you have for flow?
WHat do you feed? Have you tested your phosphates?
What type of lighting do you have, and how long do you run them?
You can remove it all you want, but...if you do not find the source of the problem it WILL return....

 

[tank1483]

Flow:
2x - MaxiJet 1200s (290GPH)
1x - MaxiJet 900 (230 GPH)
I feed Nutrimax to my three fish (YTBD, Firefish, Three Stripe Damsel) once a day.
Lighting:
260W PC (2 -10000k on 8 hours, 2 Actinic on 10 hours)
I have not tested my phosphates yet. I thought the skimmer will take care of those.

 

[meowzer]

Is nutrimax a flake or pellet? OK...What is a YTBD???

 

[drsteve2001]

Originally Posted by Tank1483
http:///forum/post/3208001
My tank has been up for almost 3 months. All of a sudden it is covered with the red slime. I keep checking my water parameters and it says ammonia - 0, nitrites - 0, nitrates 10-20. I use distilled water for all my topoff water and for water changes. I have an Aqua C Remora skimmer and empty the cup every 2 days. I perform 20% water changes every two weeks but it does not seem to help. I have picked off as much as I can but it comes back in a couple of days

. Not sure if this is something that every new tank goes through or if I need to do start some massive water changes to try and get nitrates to 0.
I looked at these skimmers online...how do you like it.? Is yours a tank mount? Reading the info..what is the differance with the one with O-ring included for drain cup?

 

[tank1483]

YTBD - Yellow Tail Blue Damsel
The Nutrimax I use is a slow sink pellet. Its nice because I can put a couple pieces in and watch the fish eat, then put some more pieces in. There is very little food left over, which I leave in for my shrimp and crabs.
I really like this skimmer. The one I have hangs on the back of the tank. Great for me since I don't have a sump yet. The O ring on the drain cup can help position the height of the drain cup to get more foam or liquid.

 

[meowzer]

Have you considered frozen foods?....sometimes pellets and flakes are full of phosphates

 

[cam78]

Try 10% water changes every week instead of 20% every two
Try feeding once every two days. Fish don't need to eat EVERYDAY

 

[drsteve2001]

Originally Posted by Tank1483
http:///forum/post/3208138
YTBD - Yellow Tail Blue Damsel
The Nutrimax I use is a slow sink pellet. Its nice because I can put a couple pieces in and watch the fish eat, then put some more pieces in. There is very little food left over, which I leave in for my shrimp and crabs.
I really like this skimmer. The one I have hangs on the back of the tank. Great for me since I don't have a sump yet. The O ring on the drain cup can help position the height of the drain cup to get more foam or liquid.
actually it says drain fitting for collection cup(some of there units have it some don't... 10 buck difference)..i though they all had a cup

what happens if there is no cup?

 

[drsteve2001]

Originally Posted by CAM78
http:///forum/post/3208167
Try 10% water changes every week instead of 20% every two
Try feeding once every two days. Fish don't need to eat EVERYDAY
glad u said that i have been feeding everyday, and cant get my nitrates under 25...not to mention having a diathom problem since switching from CC to sand 2 weeks ago not to mention a low ph of 7.8 thought water change would help but nope

 

[tank1483]

I may try frozen food. I misspoke on the name. Its actually Nutrifin Max Marine.

 

[meowzer]

Originally Posted by Tank1483
http:///forum/post/3208174
I may try frozen food. I misspoke on the name. Its actually Nutrifin Max Marine.
I feed my tanks every day...BUT I feed frozen, and don;t over feed

 

[lovelive]

Here is what I did. I did a 10% water change everyother day and I used a hose to suck the water out and as I was sucking out the water I would suck out the red slime also. Part of your problem is there is to much nutriants in the water so reducing the feedings is a good idea. It only took about three weeks and it was gone and it has not come back.

 

[jstdv8]

doubled my flow in two different tanks with cyano and no more cyano

 

[cranberry]

I'm all for upping the export of nutrients, not for restiction of them through minimizing feedings.
Bigger, less frequent waterchanges removes more nutrients than less volumes done more frequently.... there are graphs out there that show this.

 

[cam78]

Originally Posted by drsteve2001
http:///forum/post/3208172
glad u said that i have been feeding everyday, and cant get my nitrates under 25...not to mention having a diathom problem since switching from CC to sand 2 weeks ago not to mention a low ph of 7.8 thought water change would help but nope

I feed my tank every couple of days. I haven't fed everyday in a LONG time. They are fine with it. Actually my fish are more healthy than my coral.

 

[srfisher17]

There will be disagreement, but I have no problem with a ONE TIME use of a Red Slime Remover, like Blue Life. I think it is perfectly safe and the slime will probably never return; assuming you just good, basic maintenance.

 

[tank1483]

Update:
I got a phosphate test this afternoon (Seachem brand). Test results 0 - 0.01 Not sure what could be the causefor the red slime. I may try upping my flow next and going to a 2day on, 1 day off feeding schedule.

 

[rlablan]

The test will say 0 when there is cyano visibly present.
It's because the cyano is feeding off the phosphates that are present.
I made the mistake of buying a phosphate test when I had cyano. No one told me it was a waste.
Honestly, less food and more flow will be the best thing for you.
I also ended up using chemi clean. It worked great. No crash, no death of coral or fish... just make sure to follow the directions to the T.

 

[king_neptune]

I developed redslime about a month after My diatom bloom hit peak and died off.
It was getting crazy. I had someone highly recomend "Chemi Clean" redslime remover.
WOW!! it began destroying the redslime within days. After about a week it it was about %90 gone. Now there are absolutely no traces of red slime in my system, and it hasnt reared its head since. Even the uglyest spots in the sump are now free of any evidence there was every anything of the sort.
Follow the directions to a "T" and you will not regret it. I promise.