red slime/hair algae

julie

Member
I have a 200 gallon tank and I noticed a couple days ago, a staring of red algae in the center of the tank, on the live sand.
What would be the best thing to keep this under control?
 

nyfisherman

Member
SIPHON UP AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE TO GET IT OUT OF YOUR TANK TRY NOT TO SPREAD IT AROUND, IT MAKES IT SPREAD FASTER!! KEEP PH UP, TRY A LITTLE LESS TIME ON LIGHTS, LOWER NUTRIENTS. IT POSSIBLE YOUR LIGHT BULBS MIGHT BE GETTING OLD
 

arkman

Member
I'm at the tail end (I hope!) of a battle. check out the Cyanobacteria red to yellow link. How old are your lamps...
 

marco333

Member
try dirrecting water flow towards the site of the problem. I heard htat it grows in dead spots in your tank.
 

dive1

Member
Do water change as soon as possible....50%... Good luck.
Red Slime algae is really bacteria (cyanobacteria). This is not caused by phosphates. The natural way of ridding the tank of this is to first skim off as much as you can. Then do a 50% water change. Several smaller water changes will not work. You will never get the bacteria down low enough to catch up.. I expect the tank is less that a yr old and I has not matured all the way yet.. After the water change cut lights back to 4hrs a day for 4-5days then start bringing the lights up 1hr a day till back to normal. Also cut back on feeding some. Another suggestion is make sure you have a deep sand bed of at least 3-4in. This will let enough good bacteria grow to help prevent this problem..If you just cannot wait You can use a product called chemi-clean by boyd enterproses, inc... you can do a search on the internet for thier phone # or where to purchase. After using wait 2days then do the water change...Their are no short cuts...good luck...
 
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