Red Slime

[kuja]

My red slime has gotten to the point where it has taken over the tank. My two puffball urchins (i am not sure what type of species they are, but they look like orange/black/white puffballs ^^) anyways they love the stuff, but they leave patches everywhere, so they really don't help much cleaning. I have lots of water flow and good quality water. I have tried scrubbing, but it seems to just come back and it has now spread to my subtank. I am thinking of using chemiclean red slime remover. I do have a bubbler/air stone that I can use while my skimmer is turned off. My concern is if using this chemical will effect my nitrates. I am well aware that I have to do a 25-30% water change within 48hrs. Does anyone know if my fishes will be ok for 48/hrs with my skimmer off? I have not installed my nitrate reactor, because I wanted to wait to use this chemical first. I have never used any chemical means to treat my tank issues, but it is so wide spread that I have limited options. I only currently have 3 fish in my tank a lionfish, magnificent foxface and zebra eel (3.5 feet long), and of course 2 sea urchins. Any suggestions would be great.

 

[flower]

Hi…
The problem will return if you don’t find out what is the cause.

• 
  Are you overfeeding?
• 
  Do you have enough power heads running to circulate the water?
• 
  Are you using tap water?
  Do you use frozen foods, and do you rinse it before adding to the tank?
  Phosphates are a major cause.

If you use the chemical and not address the cause, it will return and eventually become immune to the chemical. I’m all for the red slime remover AFTER you fix the problem. No your critters will not die without a skimmer, in fact we over skim and pull out the food the corals need to eat.
Look at the list, and figure out what is wrong first. Don’t bother with a phosphate test, the red slim feeds on it and you will get a false negative reading on any test. I believe the main thing red slim remover does is remove phosphates. It will lower the oxygen in the tank and if you already have bad water flow that could become a serious issue too.

 

[ibew41]

how old are your lights,can you post a pic of your tank to see ph placement.If you use chem clean follow the instructions exactly,and run carbon after.

 

[flower]

Quote:
Originally Posted by IBEW41 http:///forum/thread/383866/red-slime#post_3360178
how old are your lights,can you post a pic of your tank to see ph placement.If you use chem clean follow the instructions exactly,and run carbon after.
+1 on following instructions and using carbon after..but I wasn't aware red slime was caused by bad light..I now it contributes to hair algae. Learn somthing new everyday I guess.

 

[juliansreef2]

im struggling with cyano too. im heading off to my LFS soon to pick up a phosphate tester because im afraid that may be the relying cause to this problem. im also not sure if its my lights i have the 10.000k on for 8 hours and the actinic runs at night but tomorrow my new light will be shipped to me. its a metal halide 2 t5's and 4 blue led's. it was relatively cheap for what it comes with so im not expecting much of a difference..

 

[flower]

Quote:
Originally Posted by juliansreef2 http:///forum/thread/383866/red-slime#post_3360203
im struggling with cyano too. im heading off to my LFS soon to pick up a phosphate tester because im afraid that may be the relying cause to this problem. im also not sure if its my lights i have the 10.000k on for 8 hours and the actinic runs at night but tomorrow my new light will be shipped to me. its a metal halide 2 t5's and 4 blue led's. it was relatively cheap for what it comes with so im not expecting much of a difference..
You will get a false negative reading on phosphates, in fact if you get any reading at all when you have cyano ..it is off the chart high...I run MH lights 12 hours and I don't have cyano...too much light does not cause cyano. Turning off the lights work to kill it, but as soon as you urn the lighs back on it will return.
Phosphates, overfeeding and inadequate water circulation, if you fix these three, remove the slime by hand and do water changes you should be fine to get rid of it.

 

[juliansreef2]

thanks flower. im doing a 20% water change in a few minutes i hope that will help.

 

[flower]

Quote:
Originally Posted by juliansreef2 http:///forum/thread/383866/red-slime#post_3360228
thanks flower. im doing a 20% water change in a few minutes i hope that will help.
Remove as much of the slime by hand before the water change...a turkey baster (mark it FISH ONLY) is a really good way to suck it out of there.
If it comes back after a water change...If you have a small bucket and floss...you squirt the cyano loaded baster into the floss it will leave the water clear to return to the tank and yet remove the cyano keeping it trapped in the floss. This method works well with hair algae too.

 

[kuja]

I just got new lights about a month ago. The red slime seems to be most numerous right at the top. It does seem possible that it could be caused by the lights. All of my frozen foods are rinsed and soaked in Garlic Guard and Selcon. I have an RO unit. I don’t use power heads, I have a close loop system that directs water in all directions. The lowest water flow is in the cave, but there is no red slime in the cave. I test my water every week for everything, and everything checks out.