red/brown slime sheet on sand---how to fix?

[Sk8r]

Got a little outbreak, so far. What is an lps/sps-safe solution for this? I've heard chemi-clean, I've heard erythromycin, I've heard various home remedies.
My parameters: 250 MH, 52gal w/sump, alk 3, cal 400, mg 1250, ro/di, water change weekly, light fish load, hermits, snails, shrimp, lfs/sps/coralline.
Any suggestions?

 

[cwby416]

Chemi-clean is great product that is reef safe, I have used in the past. Try to suck out as much as possible with a turkey baster.... But it will not solve your problem, you need to find the root cause of the redslime. How is your water flow? i know thats a big reason the red slime will stick around in low circulated area's. Whens the last time you checked you RO/DI filters? Chemi-clean will definatly get rid of the redslime, but it will come right back ifyou dont fix the reason it came around in the first place...

~Randy~

 

[rudeanduncouth]

How long has the tank been setup? What are you using for substrate? I have a cyano problem one time and that is when I accidentally used silicate sand as a substrate.

 

[loohunter]

i recently switched to coral life salt from io and i now have the crud in all my tanks

 

[Sk8r]

I'm using new aragonite. The tank was set up in January using almost all very old live rock, heavily corallined, new sand. New water. The ro/di as a unit dates from February. I'm a corner 52 tank with one jet with a Y connector, aimed at the corners. I could wish for more flow but don't know how to nurse it out of the tiny sump a corner tank has.
Pre-breakout there were several situations: a refractometer off by .oo1, a topoff accident that lowered salinity drastically: I know better now; a brain glitch that left my actinics on all one night, a confounded monster worm that got onto the sump pump and when I rescued it and restored it to the main tank, my two peppermints ran off with it into the rocks and contributed his biomass to the water over a period of three days---I saw his last segment hit the overflow; also in the changing season, a wayward sunbeam had started invading the tank for half an hour until I curtained it. So I'm not faultless in this, but the slime is gaining on me. It may be part of the new tank cycling, but is there something I can do to get it headed in the other direction?

 

[bc_slc]

sounds like a combination of contributing factors. The largest factor is probably related to your water flow. This is probably part of a mini-cycle (though I hate that word) from the old rock settling in and dying off some as it adjusts to your new tank and parameters. Also, how much do you feed and how often?

A couple of ideas that quickly come to mind that would help out include would be a few extra powerheads. If you don't like the look of them, then they can be a temporary solution till things settle in and you can come up with a better long term increase in water flow.

You also could try and set up a refugium in the sump - though this may be tough with limited space in the sump. An alternative would be a phosban reactor.

Lastly, make sure you are not overfeeding, or at least are doing water changes in proportion to your feedings. Make sure you wash all foods in Ro/DI water first.

Every little bit helps.

Mat

 

[Sk8r]

Feedings---for 4 fish (ywg/firefish/chromis/mandarin,) 10 crabs, 20 snails, about half a cup to a cup of bristleworms et al.---about 1/4 to 1/8 a Formula 1 frozen food cube a day or occasional micro-pinch of flake as food for day. The stuff is jellied. Should I be washing it?

 

[RockyHeap]

Water flow in my tank rocks, and you still get cyano every once in a while, so its not current related but nutrient overload.


Maracyn II works to knock down the slimey bacteria without taking out the good bacteria in your tank........not to worry, I've seen sheets of cyano in the wild too covering yards and yards of reef.

 

[steve-s]

Feedings---for 4 fish (ywg/firefish/chromis/mandarin,) 10 crabs, 20 snails, about half a cup to a cup of bristleworms et al.---about 1/4 to 1/8 a Formula 1 frozen food cube a day or occasional micro-pinch of flake as food for day. The stuff is jellied. Should I be washing it?

Yes, soak/rinse/drain all frozen foods. It will eliminate some of the P being introduced to the tank by more than half. The amount your feeding is a little much for this group of fish. Don't concern yourself with the inverts, they will get what the fish miss and goes "through the pipes" later on. You can still feed every day, just reduce the amount by about half. Skip the flake altogether, it's lousy with phosphates and of little nutritional value overall.

Try to avoid quick fix products that only temporarily mask the problem. Albeit unsightly over the short term, fix the issues feeding the algae and be rid of it permanently.

Cheers
Steve

 

[steve-s]

Maracyn II works to knock down the slimey bacteria without taking out the good bacteria in your tank........

How does a gram negative specific antibiotic know which is which

Cheers
Steve