Cyanobacteria Aka Red Slime

[jrtxjoker]

:mad: Does any one out there have any good advice on any antibodies that will kill this bacteria i have tried everything natural from water flow to lighting all my parameters are good and this is getting very frustrating and i have been fighting this daily for 6 mos.

[ajx22]

Originally posted by jrtxjoker
:mad: Does any one out there have any good advice on any antibodies that will kill this bacteria i have tried everything natural from water flow to lighting all my parameters are good and this is getting very frustrating and i have been fighting this daily for 6 mos.

The only thing I can say would be to try to increase your salinity to about .027-28 and reduce your lighting for a while...seems to work well.

Also...have you determined where the source of the phosphate (their food) is coming from? Are you using RO/DI water?? Have you tested the water to make sure it's pure? Is there something in your tank that could be adding to the problem? ( I had a submersed pump that started to corrode that was adding God-knows-what to my tank...but until I found the pump, I didn't know what was creating the problem.

Fighting conchs also have been known to help eat it...though you need to address what is feeding the bacteria to solve the problem and not just cover it!!

Good luck!!

[JohnL]

Hi jrtxjoker,
[welcome]

Have you tried growing macroalgae to help use any excess nutrients the cyano has available to it. It all boils down to nutrient control, ime. What nutrient export mechanisms are you employing?

[JohnL]

Originally posted by ajx22
Also...have you determined where the source of the phosphate (their food) is coming from? Are you using RO/DI water?? Have you tested the water to make sure it's pure?

Very good point.

[jrtxjoker]

I am running a kent hi s maxima with DI . the membrane is about 5 months old and the DI is 1.5 months old . I was told from kent that i could not get a accurate reading on ro water that has nothing in it . is that your experiance ? and i also have macro in my sump but i also have room for more i'll try putting more in.

[FMarini]

Hi:
If your heart is set on using antibiotics, you can use Coralife red slimer remover which is essentially erythomycin.
I would use it at the manufacturers recommend dose. The treatment last for 5 days and it kill off the current batch of cyano. It might depress your biofilter alittle so do chem tests to ensure your water paramters don't budge.
I will say that using antibiotics to cure cyyano is only a STOP GAP MEASURE. In that the cyano will return unless you figure out where the nutrient problem is occuring from. So this may buy you some time. Again i would follow the advice from the other posters above, as it will in the long run prevent you from having cyano
frank

[oceanjunkie]

I've had the red slime for about a month and a half now (the tank was set up 2.5 months ago). Its growth has begun to slow down, but it is still growing. I use NSW for water changes and RO water for topoff. I'm going to finally get a phosphate test kit this weekend. I dont have a sump, I just have a CPR backpack. If it does turn out to be a phosphate problem, what kind of options do I have to export it? I will try to rinse frozen foods from now on. Since I dont have a sump, macroalgea is out. Could feather dusters and xenia help the situation (I think I may get both this weekend)?
-JB

[ajx22]

Originally posted by jrtxjoker
I am running a kent hi s maxima with DI . the membrane is about 5 months old and the DI is 1.5 months old . I was told from kent that i could not get a accurate reading on ro water that has nothing in it . is that your experiance ? and i also have macro in my sump but i also have room for more i'll try putting more in.

Add more macro for sure! The more you have competing for the phosphates...the less the bacteria has to eat!

Your filter should still be fine...but SOMETHING is causing phosphates in your tank. You may also want to look into a membrane flush kit (if you don't have one) to prolong the life of your membrane. Also...do you have a pressure gauge on the inlet of the RO/DI? I know that the Kent units don't come with them...so you'll have to add one. If your water pressure isn't up in the 60+psi, then your filter won't process the water properly! You can get a booster pump to fix this.

Find the source and you will fix the problem!

HTH

[ajx22]

Originally posted by oceanjunkie
I've had the red slime for about a month and a half now (the tank was set up 2.5 months ago). Its growth has begun to slow down, but it is still growing. I use NSW for water changes and RO water for topoff. I'm going to finally get a phosphate test kit this weekend. I dont have a sump, I just have a CPR backpack. If it does turn out to be a phosphate problem, what kind of options do I have to export it? I will try to rinse frozen foods from now on. Since I dont have a sump, macroalgea is out. Could feather dusters and xenia help the situation (I think I may get both this weekend)?
-JB

If you can't add macro to compete (you really should have a refugium though), then look into getting an AB Aqualine Phosphatfilter. Works GREAT!!! You can see the units here:
http://www.ab-aqualine.de/eng/produkte/filter/phosphatfilter.htm

Good luck and look into the refugium!

[denkigroove]

I had a red cyano bloom in my 6g refugium that covered up all my calerpa, rock, sand, and sides of my tank. Its better to have it grow in the refugium than the main tank but I have my refugium mounted beside my tank as a gravity fed and it also acts as another display marine rather than just a sump.

I didnt want to use chemicals b/c of the small tank size and I didnt want to risk an accident so I opted for other ways.I cut my frozen food feedings to every other day, I added phosgaurd , added a powerhead to prevent deadspots, I would even try to break up the cyano by stirring the water and funneling out some of it. I did this for 2 weeks but it just seems to reattach and grow back very rapidly. The problem seemed to worsen instead , and I had to throw away about 80% of my calerpa. But most importantly, all the red cyano grew in my refugium only and not my main tank.

I read a post that tap water is a very good cause of cyano outbreaks. From the beginning, I've topped off my tank w/ tap water so I changed to RO water. I did a 30% water change, stirred up the cyano and sucked it out the refugium. I've since used RO water only and in about a week, all of the cyano was gone. I havent seen any trace of cyan since so this method worked very well. Here's pic of my refugium now clean of cyano! Hope this helps.

http://www.reefcentral.com/vbulletin/attachment.php?s=&postid=403200

[jrtxjoker]

I tested my water pressure before i got my new r/o unit and it was low so when i got my new hi s max i also ordered the pressure boster and the gauge with it to dial in pressure to the recommended 65 psi . i am going to get the flush kit also to extend the life of my membrane since it is such a cheap buy . i am also going to buy a second DI so i can run two DI's after the membrane to hopefully eraticate most after it passes thru the membrane. i also have a 50 gallon resivoir of water storage that runs phosphate/silicate magnet in a canister filter 24/7.

[Toutouche]

Use RO water, check your lights, are they getting old, as they change their spectrum, it becomes beneficial to the cyano. Phosguard supposedly has aluminum in it which is not good for leathers. Get circulation going, and make sure you limit your nutrient intake to the tank, or at least at least balance it out with a good nutrient outtake such as macroalgae. Do not stir it, this will just spread it more.Instead, gently suck it up with a turkeybaster, or siphon it off the sand while doing your water change. Also if you are using frozen foods that has gel binders in it`s makeup, these will contribute to problem algae as a nutrient for them. Try to stay with the more natural frozen brands. Unfortunately the popular Formula 1, and 2 both use these binders. Try different brands for awhile, along with the other countermeasures. Also keep a regular waterchange schedule to export nutrient, and keep other stuff from building up.

[stingray]

What frozen foods are ok to feed into reef tanks? I have a red slime outbreak starting and I want to correct it. I use formula 1 and 2, SanFrancisco brand frozen food,etc. What is everyone feeding in their tanks? I have a yellow tang, and dwarf angel, and a damsel.


Thanks

[slimytadpole]

Originally posted by oceanjunkie
I'm going to finally get a phosphate test kit this weekend. I dont have a sump, I just have a CPR backpack. If it does turn out to be a phosphate problem, what kind of options do I have to export it

Keep in mind that if cyno/algeas are absorbing phosphates, your test kit may not detect their presence.

[tasha369]

I have the same cyan problem with my 75g FOWL. The fish have been out of the tank for 3 weeks due to Ich, bu tthe cyan is increasing. My Protein skimmer was a handydown and doesn't work well. I plan to get another(PrizmDelux), but I am wondering if the skimmer not working right could be the cause of the cyan?

[reeftanker04]

I've had cyno for a few months. It started very innocently and then one day encompassed my entire setup. I have tried many different things. I increased both filtration and water movement. I removed every piece of rock and scrubbed it with a fresh toothbrush. I fed my fish less, I reduced the amount of time my lighting was on. My tank was then clean for about a month. Lately, the stuff is coming back. It's like an unstoppable force. This is by far the most difficult problem I have had to deal with keeping this tank.

The best advice I can give is that you need to try many things and see what works for you. People will say reduce the lighting. Well that's great if you don't have any coral that needs a certain amount of lighting per day. Plus when you decide to increase it again, the cyno comes back, possibly even stronger b/c it has been in remission. Getting your phosphate and nitrate levels down is essential. I was doing water changes every 3 days. It was hell, but it helped. Good luck, keep us posted.