RED SLIME AGAIN!

[openwaters]

Please help me figure out whats wrong I just dont know

. The tank is about five to six months old, I have tested for nitrates: 10ppm and phos: 0 ppm. Its not bad it seems to only grow on the sand and when I do my weekly water change I syphon it off and its back with in a 1-2 weeks again. also I am using phosgaurd by seachem. the lights are on for about 10 hours then blackout for the rest of the day. I have tryed more flow but that just causes sand storms and I think there already is good flow where It grows.
on a side not I have a torch coral that has yellow tip on the tenicals it seems healthy, open full every day but lately I have noticed that the yellow tips have started to deform, is that a sing of not doing so well?
any thoughts a welcome

 

[beaslbob]

when slime appears kill the lights for a few days until it dies off.
then adjust light duration so the cyano does not come back
Add a refugium with chaeto or other macros to consume the nutrients while the display is blacked out.
my .02

 

[openwaters]

I dont have a refugium or a place to put one yet can I just put marcos in the tank and whaat kind?
also if I adjust the lights to be on shorter wont that hurt the corals?

 

[openwaters]

Bump

 

[flower]

I made a little refugium right inside the tank with a basket I attached to the back. Cheato is the best choice of macro I have been told about so far.

 

[beaslbob]

Originally Posted by openwaters
http:///forum/post/3287842
I dont have a refugium or a place to put one yet can I just put marcos in the tank and whaat kind?
also if I adjust the lights to be on shorter wont that hurt the corals?

I do like flowers chaeto box.
the idea is the cyano dies off very fast to the corals are not affect that much. also it is not shorter lighting but a total black out. So after that you have some original duration with good corals with cyano, no light with no cyano. Somewhere between the two the corals will thrive and cyano will be held at bay.
Some even have a monthly blackout as standard operation.
my .02

 

[bmkj02]

Cheato is a bandaid for this. Wont fix the problem. I have a 125g and I got it in the beginning. Running your lights maybe too long. What kind of lighting are you using and how old are they? Are you sure you have enough flow? I have noticed that this usually happens more to newer tanks. What size tank you have and what kind of flow? On my 24g I get it once in a while. I have a bottle of Red Slime Remover and when I see it I dose and the next day its gone. I also get it when I feed too much of this homemade food I have for them.

 

[flower]

Originally Posted by bmkj02
http:///forum/post/3288048
Cheato is a bandaid for this. Wont fix the problem. I have a 125g and I got it in the beginning. Running your lights maybe too long. What kind of lighting are you using and how old are they? Are you sure you have enough flow? I have noticed that this usually happens more to newer tanks. What size tank you have and what kind of flow? On my 24g I get it once in a while. I have a bottle of Red Slime Remover and when I see it I dose and the next day its gone. I also get it when I feed too much of this homemade food I have for them.

Just some very friendly advice. I don’t mean to sound preachy but no matter how I word it…it sounds preachy…sorry.
Red slime remover is the Band-Aid, if you don’t fix the why, you will get it over and over again. If you know what is causing it, like your homemade food…stop doing that and find a better solution.
The problem with red slime remover, is that eventually if over used it will get to the point where it no longer works , kind of like a super bugs the doctors are dealing with now because of the overuse of penicillin. This happened to a few people I know.
I have always run my lights for 12 hours...10 for MH and a full 12 for the actinic. Then 12 hours with a moonlight..I have never darkened my tank to get rid of red slime algae. Water changes, manual removal and change of my bad habits of overfeeding were the cure.

 

[bmkj02]

Originally Posted by Flower
http:///forum/post/3288073

Just some very friendly advice. I don’t mean to sound preachy but no matter how I word it…it sounds preachy…sorry.
Red slime remover is the Band-Aid, if you don’t fix the why, you will get it over and over again. If you know what is causing it, like your homemade food…stop doing that and find a better solution.
The problem with red slime remover, is that eventually if over used it will get to the point where it no longer works , kind of like a super bugs the doctors are dealing with now because of the overuse of penicillin. This happened to a few people I know.
I have always run my lights for 12 hours...10 for MH and a full 12 for the actinic. Then 12 hours with a moonlight..I have never darkened my tank to get rid of red slime algae. Water changes, manual removal and change of my bad habits of overfeeding were the cure.
You are so absolutly right about the Red Slime Remover. Used too much the system get immuned to it and doesnt react. I have it on hand but used it once or twice a year when my hand slips and I overfeed. You are right again, its a bandaid but then again I already know what caused it. For others it can be a lighting issue or a flow issue as well. Total black out for a couple of days should kill it but I would probably focus on the lighting or flow being the issue and work on that at the same time. My homemade food is a receipe from Melvesreef. Im thinking the frozen fish I get from the Asian market my have something in

 

[flower]

Originally Posted by bmkj02
http:///forum/post/3288264
You are so absolutly right about the Red Slime Remover. Used too much the system get immuned to it and doesnt react. I have it on hand but used it once or twice a year when my hand slips and I overfeed. You are right again, its a bandaid but then again I already know what caused it. For others it can be a lighting issue or a flow issue as well. Total black out for a couple of days should kill it but I would probably focus on the lighting or flow being the issue and work on that at the same time. My homemade food is a receipe from Melvesreef. Im thinking the frozen fish I get from the Asian market my have something in

Whew, I was worried I would come off wrong and offend you. I sounded so preachy.
I'm too lazy to make my own food...I don't know anything about your tank size or other critters, but maybe try smaller portions and kind of feed a tiny bit at a time as the fish eat to prevent over feeding. For what gets caught in the rocks, nothing beats a serpent or brittle star fish. So maybe you can up your CUC with a few of those guys.
I'm not a big fan of lights out because of my corals, and also as soon as the lights come on the problem that caused it is still there and the stuff is back in no time.

 

[openwaters]

flower thats a nice setup you got there I might have to copy you if thats ok! also my lights are on a timer, actinic on for 11 hours and day lights on for 9 1/2 hours, I had moon lights on after that but I broke the power brick for them and yet to get a new one. Oh and the bulbs are brand new less than 2 months.
I think I am going to try a black out for a day and then after that shorten the light period by 2 hours and see what happens!

 

[mooseythemoron]

Originally Posted by Flower
http:///forum/post/3288073

Just some very friendly advice. I don’t mean to sound preachy but no matter how I word it…it sounds preachy…sorry.
Red slime remover is the Band-Aid, if you don’t fix the why, you will get it over and over again. If you know what is causing it, like your homemade food…stop doing that and find a better solution.
The problem with red slime remover, is that eventually if over used it will get to the point where it no longer works , kind of like a super bugs the doctors are dealing with now because of the overuse of penicillin. This happened to a few people I know.
I have always run my lights for 12 hours...10 for MH and a full 12 for the actinic. Then 12 hours with a moonlight..I have never darkened my tank to get rid of red slime algae. Water changes, manual removal and change of my bad habits of overfeeding were the cure.
Flower,
Is is necessary to never darken the tank?? the electricity bills will go off the roof...

 

[forcrz6]

Your get red slime for the following reasons.
Lights on too long.
Old Lights
Over feeding
No phosban reactor
not keeping up with water changes.
Not enough flow in the tank.
Any 1 of these reasons is the issue that you are getting this. I can not tell you what 1 is doing it, as only you will know.
Add a phosban reactor and also the Refuge. Drop the timing on the lights by 1 hour. Feed 1 time a day, and do not over feed. water change, water change, water change.
Trust me. Just turning out the lights for a day or 2 is not the answer. This is a bacteria, not just a algey that can be ripped out. When I started this hobby 7 years ago, I had this issue.
Turning the lights out 1 hour earlier, Adding a phosban reactor. Changing my light bulbs. Adding a refuge to my sump. and lots of water changes, got rid of it. I no longer have any outbreaks. It just takes time and fineness.
You will also notice that the Redslime starts in the dead spots of your tank. Try to get some flow in those dead spots so it does not have time to root in

 

[openwaters]

"Your get red slime for the following reasons."
Lights on too long: I will shorten the photo period by a hour.
Old Lights: New bulbs so not the problem
Over feeding: Could be it I am sucker for those cute fishy faces, lol.

No phosban reactor: I have one but its not hooked up yet but I run phosban in the HOB
not keeping up with water changes:

I have never missed a water change yet, done weekly every sunday!
Not enough flow in the tank. I would think I have good flow I even tryed increasing flow and it did not help!
So my plan is to cut back the lights and try and feed only once a day and some time this week get some cheato!

 

[spanko]

Red Slime (Cyano Bacteria)
Cyano grows on top of nutrient rich areas of low flow. There are a number of things that need to be correct or possibly corrected to combat this without the use of chemical additives. The biggest thing is to get rid of the extra nutrients.
1.Evaluate your feeding. If you are feeding more than can be eaten in about 1-2 minutes it is too much and the remainder of it is falling to the rock and sand and becoming nutrient.
2.Evaluate your flow. If you have areas in the tank where there is little to no flow this can be corrected by adding power heads or repositioning the ones you already have. You don’t need to create sand storms just have water moving over the area to keep detritus suspended in the water column for removal by your filter – skimmer.
3.Evaluate your water changes. The solution to pollution is dilution! You want to continually remove unneeded nutrients as well as replace those things that are used by the system. 10% weekly is a good change schedule. Some do 20% every other week and some vary the schedule from there, but a good start is 10% per week.
4.Evaluate your lighting schedule. About 10 hours of daylight is all that is needed.
5.If you have a Cyano outbreak do the above 4 items and:
a.At water change time siphon off the Cyano first. It will come up easily almost like a blanket.
b.After siphoning stir the affected areas a little to suspend any detritus for the water change and filtering - skimming removal.
c.Use a turkey baster on the rockwork now and at every water change in the future to again suspend the detritus for removal by the water change and your filtering – skimming.
Keeping nutrient levels low to non-existent will help to avoid Cyano outbreaks and any algae outbreaks as well as keep your tank and you happy happy.
Hope that helps.

 

[openwaters]

Thanks spanko your post is very informative, I will check my flow again to night any particular way that is better then a straw with a ribbon. also good tip on the turky baster and water changes I will start doing it that way from now on

. also how often should I feed my fish I am realy never home before 6pm and feed when i get home and before I go to bed around 10-10:30pm, is that to much?

 

[flower]

Originally Posted by openwaters
http:///forum/post/3289059
Thanks spanko your post is very informative, I will check my flow again to night any particular way that is better then a straw with a ribbon. also good tip on the turky baster and water changes I will start doing it that way from now on

. also how often should I feed my fish I am realy never home before 6pm and feed when i get home and before I go to bed around 10-10:30pm, is that to much?

I don’t have a phosban reactor and never used one. I don’t have cyano. My MH lights are on 10 hours and my actinic run a full 12..since the beginning.
The only time I got cyano was overfeeding, and high phosphates.
Now, I feed my fish ONCE each day. I also keep serpent sea stars that eat uneaten food up in the rocks, as well as cleaner shrimp. After I rinse the frozen food in RO water I feed the thawed food to my fish. Doing that eliminated the phosphate problem.
I use a wood dowel with a ribbon attached to check for dead spots in my water flow. A straw is not study, nor long enough..your hand in the tank will disrupt the water flow and you will get a wrong idea of where your water flow is.
My moonlights are to prevent fin nipping and allow me to watch my tank at night. They don’t affect the fish or corals at all. They don’t contribute to algae growth at all.