Red Algae won't go away

Hello,

I have a 75 gallon tank. I am new to this, about 8 months or so. I obtained the tank from a friend. It was in great condition. I am concerned about the store that I buy the water and such from. They seem very easy going, and not very moved to come look at my tank. The problem started about 2 1/2 weeks ago. One of my clams became ill I guess you would call it. To make a long story short, last week I lost both of them, they were about 10-12" big. They were beautiful. I have done 5 water changes in 2 weeks. I am left with this red slime that will NOT go away. I vacume it up with a water change and it comes back. My husband worked on the tank for 3 hrs the other day, scrubbing the reef with a tooth brush. I believe this all started with him neglecting the tank when I was out of town. As sweet as he is I think he has been over feeding and not cleaning as reguraly as I do. I am now in the process of using the chemiclean. I will do another water change today. As soon as I have done a water change the red slime comes back with a vingence. I would like to find the source. We have cut back on feeding for a week or longer now. How long does it take to get the tank back up and running as beautiful as it once was? Could it be the salt water I buy from the store? Thank you for your time, and future replys.

 

Also something to consider how old the lights are. When they start to yellow the red slime can start up easier

 

What do you mean by yellow?

 

Do you have any suggestions for the commerical products?

 

bulbs are only designed to be useable in a coral tank for around a year in most cases, when they are towards the end of their functional life they begin to turn a yellowish haze, hard to tell with the naked eye sometimes but it may be time for a new set

 

Thanks.

 

before you do anything just get some flow over the areas as your first step of trouble shooting. i moved my power sweeper right over where i was having cyano problems and i never saw it again.

 

the cyanobacteria is an excess nutrient issue. i disagree with using chemicals. all you are doing is temporarily removing the symptom of the problem.
have you found out what killed the clams? are you testing your water?
what are the ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate levels?
how about the phosphate level?

i would do a series of waterchanges with R.O.D.I water and cut way back on feeding. i would find out what killed the clams, and correct that naturally.
chances are, what killed them is the source.