Red Slime

[mjdf]

Well like the title says, I'm having a problem with what I believe to be red slime. M y tank is a 90g with 40g sump , 100lbs of liverock and varrious corals. It all started about 2 months ago, about the same time I replaced my lighting setup. Switched from 216 watts of T5 to 2-250 watt DE halides on HQI ballasts with 2-96 watt PC . Major difference ! Can't blame the lights for fueling this outbreak because I also had inadequet equipment.
Things I have done to rectify this problem are
Mag 18 for return with 4 locline outputs at top of tank for flow up high,
switched Prizm skimmer to ASM G-3
put a Phosban reactor in with 150grams of phosban
2 maxijet 1200's on bottom for lower flow on wavemaker powerbar
A month ago I put in some redslime remover, It all dissappeared. Now another month has gone bye and it's back and growing fairly quick. All my upgrades were done only 2 weeks ago. The tank was setup in AUGUST with all liverock and about 50% of the water comming from an established 1yr tank. I have also stepped up my water changes to 10% a week. Do I have enough flow ? Should I replace all my sand ? The sand was also reused from the old tank. 2 inches deep. Please advise me on anything I can do or that I am missing, as I feel like I am still loosing the battle. Sorry for the long thread, I had to give you guys the rundown.
Thanks

 

[daytonaconnecti]

i had a problem with red turf algea that quickly turned into red slime, i recived alot of help from here, here is my post that may help... http://www.reeffrontiers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=11311

 

[hopper]

I don't believe the myth about water flow killing off the red stuff. I have put flow directly on top of the stuff and it just waves at you and keeps on growing. Before, the Red Slime remover killed what you had in the tank at the time, but it didn't solve your problem. The stuff will just keep coming back until you figure out what is causing it. That's the fun part. I am having a very small issue with the same stuff right now after getting rid of it about six months ago. Initially it was a lighting problem. Changed the lights and it went away after a couple of weeks with new lights. Don't know what the problem is this time. I am thinking that I have been over supplementing by adding my supplements at the same time I was doing water changes. I am supplementing mid-week now and water changes are done on the weekend. Algae growth has subsided considerably and the red slime is still there but it is too soon to give a verdict.

 

[mjdf]

I will add 2 more power heads for flow and check my foods. I only feed every other day Julian Sprungs sea veggies and once a week Mysis. I have tried Ultralifes redslime remover. Worked great, all dissappeared but now it's back. I also think that product is just a bandaid slution. Maybe 2 weeks with the new G-3 and phosban reactor is not long enough to help erradicate this problem. Only use ro/di water.

 

[hopper]

Phosban reactor is a good step to try. You just have to figure out what it is the red stuff is feeding off of and eliminate that.

 

[mjdf]

Hey Hopper
I agree with you about the flow not helping. I have doubled from 10x to somewhere around 20x and it still does not seem to be helping. Do you guys think going from 216 watts to 700 watts has helped fuel the outbreak ? This problem seem to occur the same time I put the new lights in. I was carefull and took me time to acclimate the tank to them. Took 2 weeks.Do yous recomend 10% water change a week or let it take its course and maybe it will eventually go away ?

 

[tony2005]

chemi-clean is what i used to get rid of the red slime and it reef safe.if u don't get rid off the problem it will just get worse.

good luck
tony


http://www.marinedepot.com/aquarium_medications_boyd_chemiclean.asp?CartId=

 

[MikeS]

chemi-clean is what i used to get rid of the red slime and it reef safe.if u don't get rid off the problem it will just get worse.

good luck
tony


http://www.marinedepot.com/aquarium_medications_boyd_chemiclean.asp?CartId=

Be real careful with chemi-clean. It's an oxidizer. In a system with a lot of waste, this rapid oxidizing reaction of nutrients can drag oxygen levels down to dangerous levels, killing fish, corals, bacteria, ect...crashing your system.

Your best bet is to try to combat the red stuff with paitence...avoid chemical solutions to the problem...

MikeS

 

[My2heartboys]

Well like the title says, I'm having a problem with what I believe to be red slime. M y tank is a 90g with 40g sump , 100lbs of liverock and varrious corals. It all started about 2 months ago, about the same time I replaced my lighting setup. Switched from 216 watts of T5 to 2-250 watt DE halides on HQI ballasts with 2-96 watt PC . Major difference ! Can't blame the lights for fueling this outbreak because I also had inadequet equipment.
Things I have done to rectify this problem are
Mag 18 for return with 4 locline outputs at top of tank for flow up high,
switched Prizm skimmer to ASM G-3
put a Phosban reactor in with 150grams of phosban
2 maxijet 1200's on bottom for lower flow on wavemaker powerbar
A month ago I put in some redslime remover, It all dissappeared. Now another month has gone bye and it's back and growing fairly quick. All my upgrades were done only 2 weeks ago. The tank was setup in AUGUST with all liverock and about 50% of the water comming from an established 1yr tank. I have also stepped up my water changes to 10% a week. Do I have enough flow ? Should I replace all my sand ? The sand was also reused from the old tank. 2 inches deep. Please advise me on anything I can do or that I am missing, as I feel like I am still loosing the battle. Sorry for the long thread, I had to give you guys the rundown.
Thanks

OK, you can try kents Poly Ox--you dose it about 3 drops per 10 gallons so be careful with it. Also, when you dose this (2x daily) try keeping the tank dark for about 48 hours (cover it if you have to). This is what I did--still fighting the bleeping stuff--but it has been kept in check (so far). Also dripping kalkwasser will help to keep it in check (don't know why--but it does).

These things have helped--not cured the problem and I have also reduced the amount of food I am feeding the tank.

Anne