Red slime

trouble93

trouble93

Member
I'm starting to get red slime on the bottem of my tank. Where does it come from? and what's the best way to get rid of it?
 
jerryatrick

jerryatrick

Active Member
Cyano.... to many nutrients in the tank. Water changes and manual removal will help and it should go away over time.
 
jerryatrick

jerryatrick

Active Member
I ran into the same problem right around 5 months of the tank being set up. I hear this is quite common. I still have some red spots deep in my sand bed.
At that time I was adding phytoplankton every other day and dosing a vitamin twice a week. I was also feeding my fish/coral every day.
I am now only using phytoplankton twice a week and feeding my fish/coral every other day.
 
silverdak

silverdak

Active Member
I might have found a way to cure if faster... not as good as the chemical designed to cure it.. what it is is a chemical, actually a tablet that cures popeye, fin rot and something to do with the gills. from what i read and have been told by a bunch of different Salt water enthusiasts, is that adding as recommended will speed up the process by getting rid of the bacteria in the water. I am just waiting on a text with the name of this stuff... and it was cheap too... like $4 vs the $25 for the other stuff
 
sickboy

sickboy

Active Member
I would be interested to find out what this is, as I might give it a try. But if it gets rid of the bacteria, wouldn't you still run into the same problem of killing good bacteria and causing a mini-cycle?
 
don1234

don1234

Member
I had a pretty good amount of red slime algae growing in my DT I used the UltraLife Red Slime Remover. It works just like the instructions say. Its completely gone in 48 hours. That is my experience. 1 level tsp per each 15 gallons mixed with water removed from DT then poured back into DT. I was amazed. I think I had let the red slime build up because being new to the hobby I thought it was purple coraline algae. Completely gone now. In all of the lfs it is abour 20.00 for a really super small bottle and I can see why because it works.
 
silverdak

silverdak

Active Member
Originally Posted by sickboy
http:///forum/post/2758600
I would be interested to find out what this is, as I might give it a try. But if it gets rid of the bacteria, wouldn't you still run into the same problem of killing good bacteria and causing a mini-cycle?
ya that is my only reason for not trying it yet.. it WILL kill bacteria.... but all bacteria isn't bad either. like i said I will be looking into it and might do a controlled experiment in a 2.5G tank
 
trouble93

trouble93

Member
Originally Posted by reefer75
http:///forum/post/2758528
You can also reduce this by having better circulation. Thus no dead spots.
I have a maxi-jet 1200 and 4 smaller power heads, there are no dead spots in the tank at all. I even have 1 of the PH running under the rock work pushing through a cave.
 
sickboy

sickboy

Active Member
I hear ya on this, everyone keeps saying its because of flow, but if I added any more, I would have a tsunami setup. Flow helps, but it is from something else.
Like it was said before, it feeds off of dissolved organics, but I have cut back on feeding A LOT, and it was still there. This weekend I took all of the rock out and 'washed it' in clean saltwater and did a huge water change and it is still coming back.
Old bulbs are sometimes quoted as the problem, but mine are only 5 months old (T5s), so again......
I truly think that it just occurs in tanks sometimes, as cyanobacteria naturally occurs everywhere in nature, and we just need to find the quick fix to get rid of it. I haven't used a chemical yet b/c they are said to kill more than you intend, but I'm about there.
 
italionstalion

italionstalion

Member
i was always told this was caused due to dead spots. my buddy had some but he was also dropping photoplankton liquid into the tank. They say not to drop it in and let in float around but to give it directly to the source that needs it. He stopped doing this and slime went away. Try this
 
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