Does Red slime remover kill coral?

[nyyanks154]

OK so even though we all know the best way to solve red slime is to attack the reasons for its growth (flow, nutrients, light) Has anyone seen any adverse effects to using Red Slime Algae remover? Anyone know if it harms any corals or inverts? :notsure:

 

[tizzo]

The harm is that it will kill all of your bacteria. The bacteria that is the red slime along with the beneficial bacteria that is the result of your nitrogen cycle. If you can test your water a lot and be prepared to do enough water changes until your beneficial bacteria replenishes itself then you'd be OK to use the remover. Your tank will re-cycle.

 

[nyyanks154]

Yeah that makes sense....anyone have any first hand experience to offer?

 

[thegrog]

YEa, don't use it!!! It simply treats a symptom, not the cause. If will benefit you more in the long run to cut off what is causing the red slime.....excess nutrients.
They can harm some corals as well so best not to use it.
Do 10% water changes with aged water (use RO/DI) twice weekly for a month, this usually will cure up the slime. Also, watch how much you feed everything.

 

[nyyanks154]

Yeah i know all that....i was just wondering if people had any real experiences using this stuff.....

 

[boat racer]

Originally Posted by nyyanks154
Yeah i know all that....i was just wondering if people had any real experiences using this stuff.....
I tried it last week after a small (few spots) outbreak real red and slimey.I had all my peramiters in check so all I could do was give it a try.It worked great.The next day all the spots were dead and never came back.It also in no way effected my Amonia.If it does effect the good bacteria then my tank was very well established and it wasnt enough to hurt it.Try it but keep your eye on your water quality(test,test,test and retest)Its the only way to stay ahead.

 

[mudplayerx]

Cyanobacteria is a gram-negative bacteria. Since it has a thin inner cell wall containing peptidoglycan (I think that's how it is spelled), the main effect of "Red Slime Remover" is probably to inhibit the synthesis of this layer of the cell.
Since bacterial cells have high inner osmotic pressure, as the cell wall gets thinner and thinner, it eventually bursts, spewing the contents of the cell into the tank water. This has two consequences that are the reasons I would never put the stuff into my tank:
#1 The reaction spews the contents of the cyanobacteria cell into the water. If you have a particularily high amount of cyano in the tank, this can foul the water, even causing drastic fluctuations in ph, or even making high nutrient concentrations even worse!
#2 The ammino acids targeted by the antibiotic in "Red Slime Remover" while unusual, are present in all bacteria that contain peptidoglycan... meaning you are wiping out almost all of your gram-negative bacteria in your tank.

 

[jswan10]

heres my first hand experience,
i used the red slime algea remover and it worked great and would use it again. killed all the red slime and caused no other harm to my tank and i have a lot of stuff. i added oxygen to the tank while i used it and 4 days later did a 20% change and everything was and still is fine and this was a month ago, everything is still growing fine.
this was done my me first hand, not a story or a "heard from" story
hope that help

 

[fishermon]

Have you checked your phospahate levels??
I have alot of red slime now & I've read that phosphates will cause this. I've been trying to get my phosphates down for a month now with not much luck. However today I bought a phospate reactor, and I'm hoping this will do the trick.
Just a thought.
I've not had any experience with any algae remover. I'm always a little leary (as I'm sure you are ) of anything that kills anything.
Good Luck

 

[nyyanks154]

FYI Phosphate test kits only test inorganic phosphate, but they dont test for the organics. Phosphate levels may read 0 in the midst of a cyano outbreak.
Just so everyone knows (and everyone knows that I know) what to do in the face of a cyano outbreak:
Phosphate and Nitrate levels contribute to an Cyano outbreak. Test and fix, but levels may still read 0.
Increasing flow helps
Decrease photoperiod and change out old lightbulbs helps.
Use RO/DI water, and do frequent water changes.
Add a phosphate sponge/media.
Im just looking for people to chime in on their experiences with red slime remover, because many people use it, and im trying to generate discussion on the subject...how well it may work, and if theyve had any bad side effects...