Sick of Red Slime

[jxm213]

Ok...i have been dealing with red slime for some time now...i am searching for a solution...

I have two tanks hooked to the same sump...29 and a 36 gallon...PCs above each (2x65), I have a decent skimmer, and i do bi weekly rodi water changes...

I am running out of ideas...

For awhile i thought my test kits were bad...i kept testing but nitrates and Phosphates kept comming out zero...so i took some water to salty critters and they came to the same conclusion...

I left my lights off for about three days and the red slime went away...but now its back...

I decreased how long my lights stay on...it is not getting better...

I know its not nitrates or phosphates...What else could cause red slime...Any other ideas for how i could eliminate it?

thanks in advance for any advice...

[ihavfishues]

It hought mine was gone, too, but I'm still battling it, myself...

will keep checking back to see if you get responses...

:D

[capncapo]

Bacteria cause red slime.

[jxm213]

Bacteria? What can i do about that...is there a specific bacteria...how can i check for it?

[capncapo]

No need to check. You got em'.

do a search on "Cyano".

[Blazer88]

Increasing flow in my tank helped the situation, as well as adding a fuge.

[xinumaster]

There is a thread about "MARDEL" brand which is a maracyn tablet; search for it in rc. I use mardel to get rid of red slime and in 2 days was totally gone. It was been 3 months now since I does my tank with maracyn and it never came back.

[Blazer88]

I would try to attact the cyano at the source before doing any chemical treatment, but that may just be me.

[scooters reef]

More water flow! I second Blazer88's suggestion.

[TWINPEAKS]

I also have a red slime problem all water conditions test zero except ph,alk,cal.of course.I've tried sucking it out with water changes,short light cycles,less feeding(once every other day)the stuff will even grow where my pump output is on it directly.I've raised the temp and lowered it,ran charcoal and a phos. pad none of this has worked anyone have any other ideas as chemi-clean looks like the next step.
How accurate are phos. test anyway as I've heard that most of the phos. is in the sand not the water?

[barnacle bill]

chemi-clean. That is all.

[bertoni]

Sometimes Chemi-Clean or similar chemicals gives a long-term result. Often, they don't. That was my experience.

The reason your test results were always zero is that the cyanobacteria are consuming the nitrate and phosphate as fast as it's released. So, approaches to try:

1) Reduce feeding, if appropriate
2) More flow can favor other organisms
3) Better skimming can remove nutrients
4) A macroalgae area for growing and harvest out nutrients
5) PhosBan or the like to try to starve the cyanobacteria

This article has a lot of ideas to consider, although it's written in terms of nitrate problems:

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/august2003/chem.htm

[lossman]

We tried all the methods that bertoni recommended and the cyano still grew like crazy. It grew on the chaeto in the sump.....it grew on the outflow of the powerheads...it grew on the outside of the filter socks in the sump.....it just plain grew anywhere and everywhere!!!

We finally used Chemi-clean, which worked. Unfortunately, here we are a few months later and the red slime is back growing in the fuge. Unless it gets way out of hand, I am going to ignore it and consider it a part of our tank cycling process. I'll suction out the larger clumps when we do our regular water changes but trying to eliminate it completely is way too frustrating!!!

[Blazer88]

How old is the tank? I had red smile growing in my last tank and it was killing me. I added a fuge and it stopped growing in the main tank and was growing like crazy in the fuge, which was easy enough to siphon out and use as a nutriet export. Eventually it went away without chemical treatment. If you chemically treat it, it may or may not work. But unless you actually fix the problem, it's going to come back. Have you tested different parts of your tank for water quality? Take samples from your fuge, sand bed, rocks, ect, and see what the reading come out as. Using RO/DI water? There are a ton of options other than using chemi-clean.

[psuedopimp]

Chemi-clean worked very well for me the first time I used it. However I didn't do a water change like it recommends and I didn't address the nutrient problem and know I am battling hair algae. Then I try to battle the hair algae and the red slime came back. The red slime actually looked like it was eating the hair algae, so I left it for a while, then I treated with chemi-clean and all the red slime is gone for now but the hair algae is back. I think the water from the store may be the source of the problem.

[jxm213]

My tank is is over a year old...

But i moved apts within that time...the red slime appeared after that...but my nitrates and phosphates stayed at zero...

I want to avoid using chemi clean if at all possible...

[lossman]

We've got a fairly young tank, that's why I am not over stressing on the cyano. When it got overwhelming in the main tank and just ate the chaeto in the fuge, that's when I said enough and used the Chemi-clean. As the tank ages, it goes through one algae bloom after another. So far, this one is mild so I'll just watch and wait. :)

[bertoni]

Yes, I think sometimes the Chemi-Clean can help give the other organisms in the tank a chance to get going. There's not many guarantees in this hobby.

[Steve_B]

Originally posted by xinumaster
There is a thread about "MARDEL" brand which is a maracyn tablet; search for it in rc. I use mardel to get rid of red slime and in 2 days was totally gone. It was been 3 months now since I does my tank with maracyn and it never came back.

The petsmart near me only sells maracyn for freshwater. Will it work in saltwater? I have been fighting red algae to no avail for some time. It seems that if you have even the smallest amount it multiplies VERY fast. It started in one of my tanks, and I did a 75% water change, which eliminated it. The tank that I did the big water change in started with a spec of it and within days it multiplied by probably 500%. The tank I can't control it in is a 225 and big water changes are a real job.
I made a 50% water change in my 225; used nitrate and phosphate absorbent after the large water change and then used Chemi -clean. I figured if I reduced the nitrate and phosphate to the lowest possible level I could eradicate it, but no such luck. There were vary small patches left and now, a month later it’s all over the place. BTW, my tanks are fish only, no live rock, just fish. I have been keeping saltwater tanks for a long time and never had this problem. Thus the maracyn question.

[Steve_B]

BTW, does it matter if it's Maracyn 1 or 2?

[xinumaster]

freshwater and saltwater of maracyn are both the same. make sure that you replace your cabon filter when you dose your tank.

[jxm213]

What is Maracyn?

[hopper]

I had the same issues with the dreaded cyano. Tried everything to no avail. Chemi-clean was a temporary fix. It always came back a couple of weeks later. I was having diatom problems and my LFS gave me a product by Seachem called Prime. It removes chloramines and a few other problems from your water. As I said I was using it to get rid of the diatoms and my LFS said that it would take some time to see progress. So I put my dosage in the tank after water changes once a week and it started working after about two weeks. I was so impressed with the stuff that I kept using it in my weekly maintenance. Eventually my cyano started dying off also. Others have said that Prime didn't cure this problem but if I had to do it over again that is what I would use to start trying to fix the problem. Great stuff. Very inexpensive product to try and if it doesn't work you will not have any side effects at all.

[xinumaster]

hi jxm213,

maracyn is actually a penicillin. I did dose my tank with maracyn "Mardel" brand at half the dose recomended and my tank is cyano free for almost 3 months now.


xinu

[Steve_B]

Actually the active agent in Maracyn is erythomycin. It is an antibiotic that as a side effect will kill off the cyano. It says on the instructions to maintain filtration, which doesn’t make much sense if you’re running carbon. I think the carbon would absorb it and defeat the purpose.

(edit)

After reading more detailed information in the instruction paper in the package I read the following. If your using activated carbon that is more than 6 days old, leave it in the filter while using Maracyn. I guess that shows you the effective duration of activated carbon. This is not the first time I have read such instructions. That's why I change my carbon out every 2-4 weeks.

[Steve_B]

Originally posted by bertoni
Yes, I think sometimes the Chemi-Clean can help give the other organisms in the tank a chance to get going. There's not many guarantees in this hobby.

I have used it on several occasions and it gets rid of most of the red algae. If there is even a trace of it left, it will start to multiply very rapidly.

[xinumaster]

I guest what I meant was it is an antibiotic just like a penicilin.
Steve is right if there is a trace of red algae left after dosing it will remultiply. So make sure that you dose it ask recommended on the package direction. I think that you have to dose it for 4 days at different level of dosage.

[JMLufkins]

UltraLife Red Slime Remover

It took one dose and My red slime was replaced with Green hair algae :D

[jxm213]

Thanks for the info...

Is this ok with coral? I have also heard that a Red Slime Remover also is prodominantly erythomycin. Is that correct?

[hopper]

There is a very long thread on this very subject of erythomycin in here somewhere. Reading that thread made me want to try and I did. For me it did not work. I know that everyone is different and it might work for you. I think that the antibiotic killed off a lot of my hermits. Maybe I overdosed. I don't know. I used the freshwater version of the Maracyn because PetsMart did not have saltwater variation of it. The only difference in fresh and saltwater versions are a Vitamin additive to help keep the fish from stressing. (I think that what it was for.) Freshwater version of the stuff was cheaper. Don't know if you read my earlier post on the use of a product called Prime but if you haven't looked into it, take a few minutes and do so. That is what cured my problem. The thing I like most about Prime is that it will cause no ill effects on any inverts or corals. It is actually good for the water. Your problem is stemming from something in the water that is feeding the cyano. That needs to be knocked out and the cyano problem will go away without having to resort to antibiotics. This is only my opinion and I know everyone's problem is different, but be sure and research your problem before you start throwing stuff into your tank that might cause more problems later.

[Steve_B]

Originally posted by xinumaster
I guest what I meant was it is an antibiotic just like a penicilin.
Steve is right if there is a trace of red algae left after dosing it will remultiply. So make sure that you dose it ask recommended on the package direction. I think that you have to dose it for 4 days at different level of dosage.

I dosed mine for 4 days with Chemi- Clean, and still could not eradicate it.

[bertoni]

The problem with the antibiotics is that there is no way to prevent reinfection of cyanobacteria. Marine bacteria are spread everywhere in the air.

In tanks where the antibiotics work, I would guess that the antibiotic cleaned out the cyano long enough for other alga, etc, to take hold and move the system to a different local stable point.

[jxm213]

This is all great insight...thank you all for the help.

I am definitely going to do some research on prime, I like your logic hopper...thanks

[stelow]

The best thing for red slime is a mature system with lots of life. Then regular water changes with RO water, and a good quality protein skimmer like Euro-reef doesn't hurt.

[Steve_B]

OK, I dosed my 225 with the appropriate amount of Maracyn (14 bucks worth:D, yea I know it's an expensive hobby) last night, and guess what. NO change! I am still running carbon, which they said could be left in, if older than 6 days. If I see no result today,
I'm going to remove the carbon and redose.
I guess I shouldn't complain about the 14 bucks. I had this tank custom made by Tenecor to my specs, 2 Gorman Rupp pumps at $300 a piece and close to $5K for the whole thing in total.
Coral skeletons and coral reproductions included in cost.

[Bebo77]

I had red slime and the only way to remove it it to turn off ALL the filters you have(protein skimmer too) and use red slime remover for 2 to 3 days. I tried everything and that is the only thing that works.. water changes protein skimmer all that does nothing.. Red slime will not stop growing. After you dose keeps your lights off for a day or 2 if you can. Keep an eye out for any patches that may arise and take the rock out and hose it water fom your garden hose using a pressure nozzle. It worked for me and now i am red slime free for 4 months now.