Red Stuff

[carnophage]

there is a red like slime stuff starting to grow on my sand and on some of my LR, i have a 125g reef tank, that has been setup for over a year. i have no other alge problems, did have some green growing on the glass that the snails could not get to, but it is gone away now, i did not scrape it, anyways, what do i have to do to get rid of this red stuff.

[NYIntensity]

How long has it been there? Can you post a pic? Do you have a sump/fuge?

[uscharalph]

Probably Cyano Bacteria. How old are your bulbs?

[uscharalph]

You can suck it out with a turkey baster.

[carnophage]

they are PC bulbs, been in there for about 8 months, only on about 9 -10 hours a day. i do not have a fuge yet, i have bio-balls, but i am slowly taking them out, or submerging them totally in the water.

[capn_hylinur]

it sounds like red cyano--a bacteria. It is usually fueled by phosphates and nitrates. It like low flow areas where these organics can gather.

To rid of it:
direct a power head on it
use a turkey baster to lightly baste the substrate where it is gathering--this gets it and the excess organics back into the water column where it can be filltere off.

check feeding habits---feed less but more often if you feel the need

rinse off all frozen foods with r/o water before using--these absorb organics from their breeding tanks.

consider running phosban and carbon in phosban reactors.

increase the frequency of water changes

make sure the flow rate is 20-40 times tank vol in gph in the tank itself
the flow rate in the sump should match the gph of your skimmer--otherwise unskimmed water is returned to the bottom layers of your tank.

turn the lights off in the tank for three days

these are some regular maintenance things you can do

[capn_hylinur]

Originally posted by carnophage
they are PC bulbs, been in there for about 8 months, only on about 9 -10 hours a day. i do not have a fuge yet, i have bio-balls, but i am slowly taking them out, or submerging them totally in the water.

how slow are you taking them out-this could be where the excess nitrates and phosphates are coming from to fuel the cyano

[carnophage]

Originally posted by capn_hylinur
it sounds like red cyano--a bacteria. It is usually fueled by phosphates and nitrates. It like low flow areas where these organics can gather.

To rid of it:
direct a power head on it
use a turkey baster to lightly baste the substrate where it is gathering--this gets it and the excess organics back into the water column where it can be filltere off.

check feeding habits---feed less but more often if you feel the need

rinse off all frozen foods with r/o water before using--these absorb organics from their breeding tanks.

consider running phosban and carbon in phosban reactors.

increase the frequency of water changes

make sure the flow rate is 20-40 times tank vol in gph in the tank itself
the flow rate in the sump should match the gph of your skimmer--otherwise unskimmed water is returned to the bottom layers of your tank.

turn the lights off in the tank for three days

these are some regular maintenance things you can do

If i have the lights off for 3 days, will that hurt the corals any?? is the lack of light going to kill the red slime?

[capn_hylinur]

Originally posted by carnophage
If i have the lights off for 3 days, will that hurt the corals any?? is the lack of light going to kill the red slime?

it won't hurt the corals but it sounds like you have a nitrate and phosphate problem--you need to address this food issue first or when you put the lights back on the cyano will be back.
I don't know if you have room for this setup but it works wonders for cleaning up the tank etc--70 dollars for both:

[carnophage]

Originally posted by capn_hylinur
it won't hurt the corals but it sounds like you have a nitrate and phosphate problem--you need to address this food issue first or when you put the lights back on the cyano will be back.
I don't know if you have room for this setup but it works wonders for cleaning up the tank etc--70 dollars for both:

could you repost the picture, it is not comming up. or send it to me, Thanks

[stevelkaneval]

there are cloudy and stormy days in the ocean right?

[jdmcivicek9]

haha funny story...ok not really, about the 3 day thing...i just did that to my tank starting on friday 12/21 and when i turned the lights on, on monday/today my clam was dead...sorry didnt mean to threadjack but the cyano bacteria was gone so needless to say nextime i wont leave them off for as long...good luck

[capn_hylinur]

Originally posted by capn_hylinur
it won't hurt the corals but it sounds like you have a nitrate and phosphate problem--you need to address this food issue first or when you put the lights back on the cyano will be back.
I don't know if you have room for this setup but it works wonders for cleaning up the tank etc--70 dollars for both:

repost--let me know if this works