Red Slime?

I have been noticing a type of algae that started slowly in one of the corners of my tanks with lots of flow of all place and has since then begun to creep its way through my sand bed. I beleive that it is red slime, but I have not had to deal with it before so I am not sure. Its color seems to be like a darkish brown/black with a slight hint of red. It starts ou almost as just a coating on the sand bed and ends up about a 1/4 inch tall and waves with the flow. I noticed this about a week ago and did a 20% wc to try and stop it from spreading. Since then it seems like it is starting to spring up in random little patches all around the sand bed. Params are for the most part in check with minimal nitrates (not in stress level) and a small problem in evap (salinity) that is being addressed slowly as to not stress the fish. Temp is at a consustant 80 degress. Is it possible that this is due to the higher salinity? Does it sound like read slime? Has anyone had any luck with treating their tank with RED SLIME CONTROL that comes in the little container and will it effect corals?
Thanks! Fred

 

cyanobacteria is what you got, your tank is too high in nutrients and or bulbs may be out of spectrum. what are u doing as far as filtration?

 

Don't bother with RED SLIME CONTROL. There is something causing it and you need to figure that out. The only thing the RED SLIME is going to do is hide the real problem for a little bit, then the slime will be back.

Is your skimmer doing it's job. Do you have fish? overfeeding possible. How much are you doing your water changes. etc etc.

Good flow is important but you said it had high flow so that should not be the problem.

 

Check your phosphate level it is most likely too high. Start using granulated ferric oxide (GFO) to control your phosphate level. If you are using tap water switch to ro/di and increase your alkalinity to about 12 dKH.

 

I used Red Slime Remover, but only as a last resort after I had tried everything else. Since you are in the beginning stages of it, you should see success with increasing flow, running GFO, removing/siphoning the red slime out of your tank by hand, feeding less, etc.

In my experience, it got so bad that it was growing in high flow areas of the tank (even though I was running a skimmer and phosban reactor, and doing everything you should do to control it).

IMO, water changes will only do so much because you are just slightly diluting phosphates and nitrates. Also, the cyano "locks in" phos and nitrate as it grows and consumes them, so your water might test totally fine for those elements.

 

right on bro, phosphate levels is what you most likely don't have a test kit for and is most likely your problem. i treated my old tank with phosphate absorbing filter pads and later on lots of macro algae,(huge chaeto ball,and about 40 mangroves) plants love phosphates. also from your pm i am thinking your flow may not be optimized enough along with a protein skimmer might want to look at getting some of the powerheads that move a larger range of water like the hydor koralia or equivalent

and not that using the "remover" is wrong to do but as long as you can balance your system properly added antibiotics or any chemicals not naturally occuring on a reef are not necessary for a healthy beautiful system. and even if the cyano is using up ur phosphates u need to find something to use them up b4 the cyano can

 

+K a lot of times people think the RED SLIME is the problem when in actuality is an effect of the REAL PROBLEM!! It is definitely important to address what ever issue is the real culprit and get that under control then it will solve your slime issue as an added benefit

 

Sometimes you do all that, as I did in my case, and the cyano only gets worse. That's why I advised to nip it in the bud early before it gets out of control. It will hit a certain point where it begins to grow exponentially... bacteria grows faster than plants so it will use up the nutrients before your plant life will.

My "line in the sand" came when it began to grow on my corals and irritate them.

Also, I'd argue that there is nothing "natural" about keeping a captive reef in the first place. As Hobbyists we routinely maintain naturally occuring chemicals in levels that don't match that of the natural reef environment. Also, as the saying goes, in terms of total ocean volume, even keeping one coral in an olypic sized pool would be overstocking.

Exhaust the "natural" methods first, and hopefully they work. If you have to use a chemical solution, be educated as to the cause of the problem so that you can improve your nutrient export in the future (in my case, I paid the price for following bad advice when I set up my tank -- I used tap water). Also, do your research to see what ill effects using that product may have.

 

Chemi-Pure Elite got rid of my cyanoalgae fairly quickly, highly recommended!