I have red slime

[topofsteel]

Before I thought the growth from the live rock was just spreading, but now I'm confident it's 'red slime'. I have read that it may be affected by filtration or lights. I have (2) over the back filters rated for 70 gallons each on a 55 gallon with mechanical, chemical and biological medium. For lighting I have a 4' shop light with (2) 40W regular old fluorescent bulbs, bluish in color. I have 4 damsels (didn't cycle with them, hardy first fish) 3 small hermit crabs a large Turbo snail (haven't seen it in a while) and an emerald crab. How can I get rid of it? I'll do anything! is there an additive, treatment, lighting recommendation, ideal cleanup crew anything. Thank you.

 

[j&j,s tank]

I got some stuff called CHEMI-CLEAN from the LFS cleared my problem up. Just follow the instructions thats on the bag it comes in.

 

[murph]

IMO leading causes for red slime are low dissolved oxygen content and lack of skimming.
If there seems to be a thin layer of oil like material on the surface of the water it is a pretty good indicator that there are sufficient dissolved organics in the water to promote cyano growth. Answer to this is buy a good skimmer.
Increased surface agitation with an open top to your tank will increase oxygen content of your water.
Since there are no light dependant creatures in the tank a drastic cut back of lighting hours until problem is gone can be another course of action. The spectrum of normal output fluorescents is not an ideal situation either but I would consider it last on the list of contributing factors. Answer to this is buy a 48 inch fixture with PC bulbs. Around $140 for Coralifes 130 watt fixture with mounting legs.
Even after taking care of all of the above mentioned factors red slime can still be vary difficult to completely get rid of once established so the use of products like Red Slime Remover or Chemi Clean may be the only way to get rid of it.
If these products are to be used it is important to manually remove as much of the Cyano by hand before dosing the tank. Problems associated with the use of these products is almost always related to the mass die off of large quantities of red slime that was not first removed by hand thus fouling the water and laying the frame work for the return of the problem in a short period of time.
I would also keep a large quantity of change water on hand when using these products and test daily for the appearance of ammonia and nitrite after dosing the tank. They are antibiotics and can also kill the bacteria that keeps your tank free of ammonia and nitrites. If you purchase a skimmer prior to useing these products you will have to shut it off until treatment is over with. This usually involves allowing the products to work for three or four days followed by a large water change and then you should be able to turn the skimmer back on.
Once eliminated with the use of these products and sufficient skimming is add to the tanks filtration regiment I rarely see the return of the problem in the tanks I deal with first hand.