Idea this please

I think this is cyno. It never leaves the sand bed, and is a light pink and green color in the morning. No bubbles, no hair. I pick it up in clumps w/ a baster, it comes up in a mat, and is back the next day. It disappears at night and is thick at the end of my light cycle.


Also someone on another forum said I'd never get rid of it without treating my tank

 

I agree with you kimberlee. Looks like Cyno to me as well. What are you phosate and nitrate levels? What kind of flow do you have in the tank.

Just pointing a powerhead in that direction might help.

 

+1 what are your water params?

Also try adding some flow to the tank

 

Flow isn't enough, adding another power head soon should bring me up to 22x my water volume. Phosphates and nitrates register 0, that's a joke their because not 0. I don't like dumping things in my tank so I refuse to use any treatment. I've been told cyno hits new tanks. DT is 7 months, but the person telling me I have to treat to get rid of it, says he never heard of that.

 

god I hate cyano I feel your pain. I battled it for a few months but beat it naturally. I always re-post my little tips below so maybe they may help you as I don't expect to ever have to deal with it again. I also feel diatoms and cyano are a rite of passage in new tanks that is unavoidable to a point.

I had bought chemi-clean to dose, but the more I read, the more I believed that dosing chemicals to rid the cyano was like many have said, using a "band aid". You will get much better piece of mind when you find out what is the cause of the cyano and along the way you will gain better tank husbandry IMO.

Here are a few things I did to rid myself of the evil red slime:

- use RO/DI water only, that tests at 0 TDS
- cut back on your feeding, I went from once a day to every three days
- rinse any frozen foods prior to feeding (in RO water if you can)
- ramp up circulation in any dead areas of the tank
- pick out any clumps of red slime you can, use baster/siphon/tongs
- double your water changes to keep Nitrate down
- clean out all powerheads/skimmer/filters etc.
- make sure your bulbs are still good
- cut back your light cycle by maybe 40%
- make sure your tank isn't overstocked
- run a phosphate remover (I use a reactor with Chemi Pure Elite)

It seems like a lot of work, but it's much better getting rid of it naturally then wondering when it may come back if you dose with chemicals.

Best of luck & it will go away even though it seems like you're fighting uphill.

 

I had it in my tank after it finished its cycle. It's red slime (cyno). I used this stuff called Red Slime Remover. Its from a company called Ultra Life. It worked perfect for me. Just make sure you read the directions carefully. You should be able to get it at your lfs. Or you can get it on ebay cheaper. When you put it in your tank, you will need to make sure you increase your oxygen or your fish can die. Put an air stone or a bubble maker in your tank for a few days, and everything will be fine. That is how I did it. Hope this helps

 

+1 to Mojoe's post! Great info, check all that he suggested. Good Luck!

 

It is Cyano Bacteria. AKA Red Slime. Syphoning the sand and having good flow should work wonders. I have tried chemipure in my 5 and 10 gallon SW tanks. It worked wonders. It kills the bacteria(still need flow) then its up to you to syphon the remains so it doesn't come up again. That's just my two cents.

 

I'm half way down Mojoes list already. I need to add another power head. Stopped feeding the tank by just throwing in food, now I rinse it and target feed everyone. I've reduced my light cycle to 6 hr of full light and 2hr w/ actinics , I did have them running a total of 10hrs. And I remove the stuff daily. Also cleaning all equipment weekly when I do my WC. I think I'm starting to see progress, lights have been on 2 hrs no sigh of the red slime

 

Congrats to you Kimberlee, glad to hear you're winning the battle K+