Help - Being overtaken!!!!

[moorea2]

My tank was perfect for as long as I can remember. In October I upgraded my lighting to metal halide and vho so I can turn it into a reef tank (there were aggressive fish prior to this) I also added some rock (not live) to the tank at that time for decoration. Slowly but surely, my tank has started to grow what I believe to be red slime - now the tank has been overtaken. It's on all the rock, floating on the top and on the glass as well! There is also a green algea on the glass, that just won't scrub off! My tank is a hundred gallon wet dry sytem with protien skimmer. Any help or advise or ideas would be appreciated, but I am specifically looking for what caused it, how to prevent it from happening again and finally what critter (and how many) I can put in there to eat it ALL up! Thanks for your time!

 

[birdy]

The first thing you need to do is test you water and post results, please test the following:
Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate, pH, Alk, Ca, Phosphate.
After you determine these levels then you have a place to start.
Do a search on Cyanobacteria and red slime, this will help you see what others with the same problem have done.

 

[skirrby]

how is the water flow in your tank?

 

[bang guy]

This is probably temporary. You should test your Phosphates to see if they are high. Feel free to siphon a lot of it out if you want.

 

[moorea2]

Hi All-
Thanks for your quick replies. I'll have to wait for my husband to get home to test the water. I can never read those things right. I've read many of the posts and think I'll start by leaving the lights on for a shorter time - the new lights are alot more powerful then the old!!! My water flow should be prety good, but if the lighting doesn't work, I might consider adding a power head.
Can someone please look at the attached picture and confirm that my problem is red slime????

 

[bang guy]

Yep.

 

[moorea2]

Hate to keep bothering you, but now that I know for sure it is red slime, and I need to cut back on the # of hours I light the tank, I have one last question. Will this get rid of the slime that is already there - or just stop it from continuing? If it doesn't get rid of the slime that is there, how do I do it. I guess that is more like 2 questions.

 

[bang guy]

No that you have a lot of light you need to be more concerned about excess nutrients. You need to find a way to remove them and/or add less. Changing water more often will help but my favorite is a large refugium.
There are also a few products that can remove the nutrients but I feel the natural method is best.
Less light isn't going to solve the problem, it will just look better temporarily.

 

[flamewrasse03]

Red stuff isn't that hard to get rid of, unfortunately that green algae is a B****. I scrubbed and scrubbed and that stuff would only spread more and more. Solution........I used a brand new razorblade.........works like a charm. Comes off in nice clean little sheets, just scoop them up with a net.

 

[moorea2]

brand new razor blade????? doesn't that go against all the warnings of not putting anything metal in your tank!!!! I'm not so worries about the green algea, my clean up crew will get it. About every six months I order a new one and it is about time. Once I get them in there, they'll do the job they were hired to do???

 

[wrassecal]

Water flow never seems to have an effect on cyano in my experience. I've got a little going right now that's right by a powerhead. I'm going to cut back on feeding, beef up the clean up to eat up excess nutrients and wait and see if it doesn't go away. You've got to find out what's feeding it an solve that problem. In the meantime, you could use a product called chemi clean from Boyd Enterprises if it's getting so bad you can't handle it. Just be sure to do the water changes recommended in the instructions if you do end up using it.

 

[misty927]

I had a problem with that green algae on the glass once in my 55 gallon. Hate to burst your bubble, but the cleanup crew won't help much. Crabbies don't touch it and the snails are just too slow (imagine that!). Plus, they miss spots. I think a razorblade is your best option. And it's not like the metal is being left to degrade in your tank...I think you'll be fine. Or you could invest in a MagFloat. You might have to scrub some spots a bit...but those things are wonderful! I highly recommend them.