Red Slime.... I can't beat it! - Page 2

VP · #26 05/12/2004, 12:24 PM

Several months back I changed out my sand because it was saturated with phosphate and things seemed to go a bit smoother. I changed 1/3 at a time 3 weeks in a row. Then also started to use Phosban in the chemical reactor. Have been using Phosban for several months now and I went from replacing it every week to replacing it every 4-6 weeks. Now if I can just get my coil denitrator all cycled up.

Are you getting 8-10 tds from your DI cartridge, cuz that's not good if that's true. Sorry if you already stated that I scanned the thread really quickly.

Good luck with your problem! Be patient.

bzzbee2 · #27 05/12/2004, 12:34 PM

3 is the max i ever see. in the di cart. its usually 1-2. i hvae never seen 0. not even with a new cart.

VP · #28 05/12/2004, 12:47 PM

I'm definitely not an expert on these units. I can only tell you that I have a 5-stage RO/DI unit that has consistently given me 0 tds. It's a Typhoon III from airwaterice.com and I love it. During the summer the water for our city comes from another source and they use chloramines in it and my RO/DI unit even takes out the chloramines (tested with Hach test kit). Is the tds of your tape water really high or something? Ours is around 270-370 tds.

bzzbee2 · #29 05/12/2004, 01:12 PM

ive never tested the regular water but i have been told its less than 300. I currently am brining the water to my lfs and they test it for free. My setup is a 6 stage. the sixth stage being a carbon filter.

tikki50 · #30 05/12/2004, 01:20 PM

Well I use the farmer Jack water usually 7-11 ppm. NOt the best but better than mt 97 PPM tap water.

lin28987 · #31 05/12/2004, 01:23 PM

I recomend the mexican red leg hermits. I had a serious outbreak recently and they were recomended to me by a friend. I added about 15 to my 35 gal tank, and sure enough within a week all of the cyano was histoy.

tikki50 · #32 05/12/2004, 01:57 PM

Well I have 10-12 of them and they dont touch the stuff.

bzzbee2 · #33 05/12/2004, 02:01 PM

i have about 3 of them.. and they are getting large. my blue legged seem to stay in a pack. and they attack it on rocks. but nothing else.

tikki50 · #34 05/12/2004, 02:23 PM

Hummm none of my snails have touched the stuff the only thing they do is drag there shell across it and spread it out, Thank you mister snail for spreading the disease!

bzzbee2 · #35 05/12/2004, 03:08 PM

my crabs really like killing my snails... but only the ones that have coraline alge on their shells... they like to hvae colorful shells...

tikki50 · #36 05/12/2004, 03:21 PM

I have a red legged thats been in a conch shell for sometime now and its covered in coraline I dont think he'll ever leave it. YEs I said conch its about 3" long. Im surprised he hasnt gotten a fish yet he so big.

mike 7 · #37 05/12/2004, 03:35 PM

I have a 3 year old reef tank 220 gal, I have the red stuff also, I have regualar water quality, I have changed my lighting length and increased my water changes to 10 gals per week using RO water, there has been a small decrease in the red stuff but not much to say its on its way out, I am using a Turbo Flotor 1000 hang on and I am wondering if this is not enough for skimming a 220 gal reef system. i am also using 2000ml of Rowaphos.

All corals are doing well SPS and Lps I have only 10 fish in the system and I feed twice per day, one full double block in the AM and one half block of Mysis (frozen) in the PM.

I am also at a loss as to resolve this situation, I have been battling this for the last 9 weeks.

RO Unit is 6 month old and is a 10 gal per day unit, all tests on the water coming out of this unit are fine!? Rowaphos is changed every three months and water coming out of the canister filters containing the ROWAphos is reading zero for P04.

The only thing I can think that needs improvement is water flow, i am using 2 x Ocean runner 3500 (3500 ltrs ph), 4x 802 powerheads, 2 x Ehiem canister filters running ROWAphos.

Other concerns are that I have a 2 inch live sand bed, could this be the problem, when I stir up the sand bed it gives off an off white colour, the sand itself is white with not black or grey areas.

Help please.

Regards
Mike

Swedish viking · #38 05/18/2004, 09:36 AM

You can beat the red slime. I raised the carbonat hardness to 10 - 13 and now after 2 weeks the bastards start to drop of. Try to raise the carbonat hardness with trippelbuffer or bicarbonat and test the water every day so the carbonat hardness don't drop under 10.
Good luck

DOBBY · #39 05/18/2004, 09:53 AM

use red slime remover

it worked wonders for my tank

24 hours all gone

DOBBY · #40 05/18/2004, 09:54 AM

i used red slime remover

it worked wonders for my tank

24 hours and all gone

bzzbee2 · #41 05/18/2004, 12:24 PM

well mine has stopped growing and is receding... all i did was started to use some phosphate removal media. im waiting on my phosoban. but until then im using kent's phosphate sponge. I know this stuff isnt exactly great for your tank...(if you leave it in for a long time) but not only did my red stop... but my hair dissapeared also.

mike 7 · #42 05/19/2004, 02:42 PM

Thanks for the replies, I will give these a try.

Regards
Mike

bjolly · #43 05/27/2004, 08:55 AM

I put Phos-Zorb in for my red slime problem....how long does it take to see some results?

dhoch · #44 05/27/2004, 10:01 AM

I just want to 2nd (and 3rd) what others have said.

I had red slime as part of the natural cycle of my tank. If tank is less than a year old it might be that.

I did the following things (not sure which had the final effect but I did get rid of it):

Decreased photo period
Feed less
Increased flow in the tank
I also added a polyfilter in my drip pan in the sump (this is supposed to remove phosphates, as well as some beneficial stuff as well, I don't use it now, but at the time I really wanted to get rid of the stuff).

Dave

sunnyjill · #45 05/27/2004, 10:11 AM

Red Slime is due to too much waste being produced in your tank likely due to overstocking or overfeeding. I have found Mexican Turbo Snails work best in getting rid of it.

bjolly · #46 05/27/2004, 10:16 AM

Dave, how long did yours take to start subsiding with the measures you list above?

dhoch · #47 05/27/2004, 10:20 AM

Well, I didn't do it all at once. I did all over a period of a 3-4 weeks (adding about one new step a week, but I don't recall the order). At the end it started going away pretty quickly, but as I said I don't know which of the measures really caused it to go away (more likely it was a combination).

Dave

AReeferIsExpensive · #48 05/27/2004, 11:07 AM

red-slime remover worked for me...but you kinda have to dose it once a month to keep it working. I stopped using it b/c of the microbubbles it creates, and switched to chemipure :::gets down on knees:::
THIS STUFF IS GOD!!
your hair algae and red slime will forever dissapear~
if one day you see one sight of it, just rinse tap water through the bag and itll nuke it within hours

_Sooner_2 · #49 05/27/2004, 11:20 AM

I recently had a red cyano problem in my 60gal reef. When I set it up, LFS's advised to run no skimmer, dumb me believed them.

I added a skimmer, less than two weeks later, red cyano was gone. Maybe you should just give your upgraded skimmer a little more time?

tikki50 · #50 05/27/2004, 11:42 AM

Skimming will help reduce excess nutrients which can cause hair alage and cyno. Skimming and water changes weekly and CONSTANT removal of cyno will beat out this bacteria. I would also recommend the use of Special Blend. Its a benefical bacteria that will compete with cyno and correct the tanks cycle. Its great stuff to use when you do water changes etc.

Good luck.