need advise on Red Slime and Bristle Worm infestation

[redslime]

there is about 120 pounds of expensive live rock and about 200 pounds of strata which has a massive infestation of both Bristle worms and massive red slime as well as massive aptasia ... they have lost a ton of nice corals and there are still some which were at one time REAL hard to find in my area.
Other contents are several eels and a few young fish.
I am thinking the whole system is about 240 gallons ...
[list type=decimal][*]If I were to microwave the live rock ... will that kill the bristle worm?
What is the best way to get the red slime out of coral colonies? Some are LARGE and compact so using a turkey baster is out of the question.
[/list type=decimal]
How can I rescue this tanks content PROPERLY?

 

[windlasher]

Originally Posted by RedSlime
http:///forum/post/3072210
there is about 120 pounds of expensive live rock and about 200 pounds of strata which has a massive infestation of both Bristle worms and massive red slime as well as massive aptasia ... they have lost a ton of nice corals and there are still some which were at one time REAL hard to find in my area.
Other contents are several eels and a few young fish.
I am thinking the whole system is about 240 gallons ...
[list type=decimal][*]If I were to microwave the live rock ... will that kill the bristle worm?
What is the best way to get the red slime out of coral colonies? Some are LARGE and compact so using a turkey baster is out of the question.
[/list type=decimal]
How can I rescue this tanks content PROPERLY?

Well you can dip the live rock in RO water and swish it around for about 30 seconds. the worms will vacate almost immediately. While you have it in there scrub the red slime off with a brush. You may have to repeat a few times overt the course of a day or two.
However if they are in the sand you wont find them without stiring up your sand which will cause other problems. the thing about bristle works is a few is usually ok, and you will probably nver see them.
As for the aptasia, joes juice and kalk paste seems to work, but search on here to find the best way for your needs.
Just try to get them out when you do / at night if you have a lot of them.

 

[fishkid13]

Spec's of the tank would be helpful. I would take all the rock out scrup and hose it down. Let it set for a few days in the hot sun, clean it again to get the rest of the dead matter off and put it pack it. If corals are on some of the rocks they you have a bigger problem. I used lemon juice for killing aptasia and it worked great. Try to get some things that would eat them naturely. peppermint shrimp etc. For the red slime, lower your lighting secdule, get more flow going so you don't have any 'dead' spots, more water changes. If you want more help that is more specifc then we need to no more about the system. How long has it been up, what are the water parameters, what is the current livestock, filtration, lights, etc..

 

[redslime]

Originally Posted by fishkid13
http:///forum/post/3072271
Spec's of the tank would be helpful. I would take all the rock out scrup and hose it down. Let it set for a few days in the hot sun, clean it again to get the rest of the dead matter off and put it pack it. If corals are on some of the rocks they you have a bigger problem. I used lemon juice for killing aptasia and it worked great. Try to get some things that would eat them naturely. peppermint shrimp etc. For the red slime, lower your lighting secdule, get more flow going so you don't have any 'dead' spots, more water changes. If you want more help that is more specifc then we need to no more about the system. How long has it been up, what are the water parameters, what is the current livestock, filtration, lights, etc..
SPECS: 220 gal tank with about a 30 gallon sump tank - there is something like at least 120 pounds of live rock (some of the expensive stuff - not the regular Fiji)
I has a pipe organ colony over 1/2 the size of a basketball which is severely infested with red slime and the one thats bigger than a soft ball (the green one) is almost dead there is some life in that one - but about half of it is dead.
Thankfully the huge green finger leather looks real good and so do the mushrooms and the GSP's look like they are growing.
Pimpled mushrooms are at least 3 inch diameter ...
The eels are health looking - the zebra eel and white spotted eels are both over 2 foot long ... also a purple and naso tang and a snowflake eel and a couple Gobi's. With the eels - shrimp is not possible - that is their primary dinner

Thats where my problem begins - my reef tank is a 90 gal - no way I can put all that in the 90 gal ... besides the 90's lighting is enough FOWLR - but that is about it.
Unfortunately - the FW 90 has my boy - he is about an 18 inch Arawana and a 5 inch Cuban Cichild room mate in it - I won't get rid of him (the local Chinese restaurant wants him for their tank

)
The big tank does also have a skimmer and pretty nice reef light with blue and white fluoresces and MH and even moon LED's.
It's a free set up ... and my 6 stage RO/DI system is an over kill for what I need - this will let the system be worth it
I am thinking that for aptasia the solution is a banded butterfly fish or maybe two. It'll have a lot of food to snack on.

 

[120reefer]

Yes water parameters would be helpful. Bristle worms and aptasia usually begin to appear when the water conditions are suitable.. when there are high DOC/nitrates.. usually caused by overfeeding or poor circulation. Lighting conditions do not matter for these two, as aptasia can live in almost ANY lighting situation. The red slime algae/cyano could be a multitude of things. Old bulbs, long light cycle, high DOC/nitrates, high phosphates, ect. For the bristle worms, I would do as windlasher stated and dip the rock in an RO/DI bath for about 30 secs, you might have to repeat this several times until they are at a managable level. Having a few is OK. For the aptasia I've heard that Joe's Juice works really well, but i've always used a boiling RO/DI water and calcium hydroxide mix injected the same way you would use Joe's Juice. For the red slime/cyano.. just syphon out what you can, along with a water change and this will hinder for now. Whatever you do, DO NOT "hose off the rock and let sit for a few days in the hot sun" unless you want to turn your live rock into dead rock. Also, doing so would most likely cause your tank to recycle, causing an even bigger problem... bye bye livestock!!! Regardless, post parameters and equipment used (RO/DI, skimmer, lights, light cycle, parameters, ect.) so we can not only take care of the problem now, but also ensure the problem does not occur in the near future

 

[fishkid13]

Answerd in read.
Originally Posted by RedSlime
http:///forum/post/3072334
SPECS: 220 gal tank with about a 30 gallon sump tank - there is something like at least 120 pounds of live rock (some of the expensive stuff - not the regular Fiji)
I has a pipe organ colony over 1/2 the size of a basketball which is severely infested with red slime and the one thats bigger than a soft ball (the green one) is almost dead there is some life in that one - but about half of it is dead.
You can leave this stuff in there. Just pull the algae off and get some aptaisa killer.
Thankfully the huge green finger leather looks real good and so do the mushrooms and the GSP's look like they are growing.
Pimpled mushrooms are at least 3 inch diameter ...
The eels are health looking - the zebra eel and white spotted eels are both over 2 foot long ... also a purple and naso tang and a snowflake eel and a couple Gobi's. With the eels - shrimp is not possible - that is their primary dinner

You have 3 large as some would call them "dirty" eaters. These guys ( I am talking about the eels) make a mesh when they eat and will often cause rites and rates to go up. I wouln't recomend keeping corals with them. Corals are very sensive to bad water qualitys. The red slime flourises when you have poor water movement (which if you are keeping corals you need plenty of water movement) and high parameters. I would do more water changes to help keep the water clean.
Thats where my problem begins - my reef tank is a 90 gal - no way I can put all that in the 90 gal ... besides the 90's lighting is enough FOWLR - but that is about it.
I would switch the good lighting on the other system to this tank and put the corals in it. The move the lights from that tank to the 220.
Unfortunately - the FW 90 has my boy - he is about an 18 inch Arawana and a 5 inch Cuban Cichild room mate in it - I won't get rid of him (the local Chinese restaurant wants him for their tank

)
The big tank does also have a skimmer and pretty nice reef light with blue and white fluoresces and MH and even moon LED's.
The skimmer could be the best but if it isn't tuned right it won't be that effetive.
It's a free set up ... and my 6 stage RO/DI system is an over kill for what I need - this will let the system be worth it
I am thinking that for aptasia the solution is a banded butterfly fish or maybe two. It'll have a lot of food to snack on.
Do you mean Copper Banded butterfly fish? I would only get on and it might not eat it.
This is what I would do:
Switch lighting over to 90gal
put corals in there.
Clean the rocks with "problems" and corals before putting into that tank
take out all of the other rock and scrub it down hose it. Let it dry for a few days and repeat.
for the eels in the tank just get some big PVC pipe and put it in the 220
All I can think of right now...

 

[alabama reefer]

Bristle worms are populating because their is plenty of food and this also helps fuel cyano. Cut back on your feeding and stay on top of your 10 or 15%water changes. If their is not enough food then the bristle worms will subside. Cutting back feeding and water changes will help with cyano along with increased flow.

 

[salami trigger]

chemiclean is the best for cyano removal...first try to get off as much as possible then dose with Chemiclean...then do a water change.

 

[loopy101]

i didnt think you could boil RO/Di water?? or atleast it isnt safe to do?
and wouldnt they be better off to do a hyper salinity dip for the live rocks to get the bristle worms to get the worms out of the rock? plus any benificial critters that may be in the rock you could save and put back into the tank.
the reason im asking is if you kill the live rock you would need to recycle the tank or atleast let the rock go through a cycle to recreate all the bacteria you killed off.

 

[mech-a-nic]

Brisal warms are not "bad" unless there so big they go after fish....1 foot or more. But A sixline will wipe them out in short order.