Red Slime Remover - BAD EXPERIENCE

[otfurball]

I have been using red slime remover for about 4 years (on and off of course). Last night I did a water change and decided to treat for the slime again. The last time I treated for slime was about 6 months ago. I used the recomended amt for my size tank, and i woke up this morning (10 hours after treatment) and my flame angel was dead and everyone else was panting. This stuff dropped my PH to about 7.8 from 8.2 in 10 hours. I did another water change at 6:15 this morning and upped the PH to 8.0 and will up it again around 6 tonight to 8.2. The panting has lessened and I got everyone to eat at about 8:30 this morning.
Again I have never had this issue in the past but thought I would see if anyone has any other suggestions for removing the red slime. I will not use this stuff again.
Sorry for the blog...

 

[drakken]

Sorry for your loss.
I've never had a problem with RSR product. I'm thinking the water change had something to do with the problem. Do you use RO water? Do you use a refractometer? Did you check the pH of your water before adding it to the tank?

 

[otfurball]

Thanks for your condolences.
Do you use RO water? Yes I do use RO water. right temp and
Do you use a refractometer? I never have, I use a hydromter - 2 of them actually.
Did you check the pH of your water before adding it to the tank? yes I always check PH before doing anything.
MY flame was 2 years old so i doubt it was old age.
any other thoughts on getting rid of the slime? I am gun shy to use this stuff again evven tho I have a 4 year track record of using it....successfully.

 

[bang guy]

I would shy away from any antibiotic in a marine system.
Cyanobacter is most often caused by excess phosphate and/or inadequate waterflow. Treating with an antibiotic is just going to mask the problem.

 

[otfurball]

anti-biotic? I am not using antibiotics....
what is cyanobacter? is that what is in red slime remover?
I was hoping to find another non-chemical way of removing the slime. can I pick it off? will that actually remove it or only trim it down to grow back again?

 

[bang guy]

Red Slime Remover is an antibiotic. Cyanobacter is the organism that causes red slime. Cyanobacter is a useful organism but when it blooms it can cover rocks and sand and look really nasty. Killing all of it will put your aquarium ecology in a tailspin and I'm pretty sure that's what killed your fish. The Red Slime Remover is perfectly safe for fish but the after effects may not be safe.
The product didn't lower your PH, the decaying Cyanobacter caused the PH drop.
My suggestion:
Find out why you're getting Cyano blooms and fix the problem. Siphoning out the colonies will help but it still won't permanently solve the problem.
How much waterflow do you have?
Are you overfeeding?
What is the Phosphate level in the water?
Tap water is a HUGE source of Phosphate.

 

[otfurball]

How much waterflow do you have? It is a 72 gallon tank with 1 power head for the skimmer and an eheim 2217 cannister filter.
Are you overfeeding? definelty not. I am very careful
What is the Phosphate level in the water? not sure, I did the emegency water change at 6:15 this morning and I did not check.
Tap water is a HUGE source of Phosphate. I use only RO water NEVER TAP.
Thanks for the education on cyobanactor. I never knew that.

 

[bang guy]

For a fish only you should have at least 720 gph of waterflow. The kicker is that you need flow in all parts of the tank, not just where the fish are. If you have a lot of live rock you'll need moe waterflow. The idea is to have no dead spots. Cyanobacter grows best in low oxygen zones so if there's a lot of waterflow the oxygen level will be too high to encourage cyanobacter.
I forgot to ask, is your skimmer operating properly? Skimmers are good at removing organic phosphate before it becomes available to cyanobacter.

 

[otfurball]

My skimmer kicks

[hr]
- I am not worried about that.
i did not realize I needed more water flow. maybe I should drop another powerhead into the tank. do you think that would help?

 

[renogaw]

I've heard nothing bad about redslime remover, and have a personally great experience with it. It does warn about the possible excess use of oxygen (which shows up as a PH drop) so you should try to aim your PH's at the top of the water as well to aerate it as much as possible. also, turn off your skimmer when you use it or it will get sucked out. this also can cause an issue because your toxins coming out of your skimmer aren't coming out any more.
water flow and watching food is all well and good and definitely need to be looked at, but if all else fails the redslime remover is a better alternative than using some harsh antibacterial products that are offered or suggested.

 

[teresaq]

I would add two power heads. maxi jet 1200s would be good. I just picked up one for around 18 bucks on line. one on each end. one towards the top, blowing the surface and one one the other end towards the middle to bottom, just so it dosent blow your sand. also i love the hydor flows for my maxijet powerheads. they give a nice circle effect, so water is blowing everywhere.

 

[f14peter]

Originally Posted by Bang Guy
For a fish only you should have at least 720 gph of waterflow. The kicker is that you need flow in all parts of the tank, not just where the fish are. If you have a lot of live rock you'll need moe waterflow. The idea is to have no dead spots. Cyanobacter grows best in low oxygen zones so if there's a lot of waterflow the oxygen level will be too high to encourage cyanobacter.
.
More flow is the way to go . . . hey, I'm a poet and didn't even know it!!!!
The only related problem I've had has been the inevitable diatom bloom common to a young tank. My flow is pretty good, and while it still needs a little tweaking, I'd still have to rate it as "Not bad." I did notice that the diatoms bloomed less severely and cleared more quickly from the areas that had the best flow.

 

[drakken]

Also, you can use Poly-Filter media in your filter. It takes out a LOT of bad stuff including phosphates.