ultralife red slime

[yvesb]

Hi

2 days ago i did a red slime treatment. My skimmer is also close during the treatment. On the box it is written to do a second treatment. Should i do it? If yes, should i do a 20% water change before the second treatment? Before i did the first treatment, i syphoned the red slime that i could see. Thanks

Yves B

[hyperfocal]

Cyanobacteria (red slime) is a symptom of excessive nutrients in your water. Red slime removers are antibiotics that temporarily treat the symptom (the cyano) and not the root cause (excessive nutrients). Unless you treat the real problem, you'll continue to have problems with bacterial and algal outbreaks.

To answer the question, I wouldn't do another treatment. I wouldn't have done the first one, but lacking any kind of time travel device we can't do much about that ;)

I suggest reducing nutrients by wetter skimming and reduced feedings. Increased flow can help reduce cyano formation and growth too. Until things settle down, vacuum out any cyano that forms. After that, patience.

[aquaman67]

At about the one year mark all three SW tanks I have set up had an out break of cyano. I dosed Ultralife Red Slime Remover per the instructions which included the second dose without doing a water change between treatments. I did the water change after both treatments.

The cyano never came back. The tank I took down a few weeks ago was set in 2002. I didn't change anything before or after the dosing.

I think that if cyano keeps coming back, then you have a nutrient problem. If it's a new tank, hit it and forget it.