Red Slime????

[sunshinegrl]

When describing my tank situation to my LFS, they believe my problem is red slime (dark red, thin, layer on the sand). What would cause it and how can I get ridof it without killing my few corals and fish. Any advice would be appreciated.

[rolodex1]

A couple of ways...you can increase the flow in the tank with another powerhead. You can lower you light times-depends what kind of lights MH or CF. I have MH and I run them about 6 hours. You could buy a product called Red Slime Remover...this stuff works really well and will not hurt the fish or corals. Hope that helps.....

[mpty]

i had tonnes of this crap like covering my tank like a month ago. its totally gone now! it was like so annoying.

do not, i repeat, do not, buy that red slime remover crap. red slime is like some kinda bacteria (sometimes its called red algae but it aint algae). that red slime remover crap is basically an antibiotic and it like totally kills all bacteria indiscriminately, meaning you end up killing all the good bacteria also.

in my opinion, wait it out. just keep on keepin on like you would. to be honest, i think what happened with me was i said screw that RO/DI water crap, i'm gonna use tap water and "cure" it with that "prime" stuff. after that great idea, i started getting that red slime stuff. so... i gave in and started buying that RO/DI water and after a month or so, the red slime disappeared.

i had to like clean it like all the time though. that was like a total pain. it was covering everything! and it like only took a day to like grow all over. i used a turkey baster. turned off all the powerheads, and like turkey basted all that red stuff. i think its also called cyano bacteria. anyways... just my thoughts.

xoxompty

[mpty]

as far i understand it, the red slime stuff ain't necessarily "bad", its a sign that you have like an excess of something else in yer tank. someone also suggested that i put ammonia remover in my like cannister filter. maybe that helped too. i definitely think the tap water was the main source of my problem becuz i think the toronto tap water had like all kinds of other nutrients in it that like "fed" the cyano bacteria so when i stopped using tap water, the cyano starved and died. i dunno tho. a lot of people see that red stuff when they first start their tanks up. i like wouldn't worry about it too much.

(i know that's like totally easy for me to say now that its gone but when i had it, i swear i was like losing sleep! it was like a had a rat in my apartment or something!!!)

xoxompty

[inachu]

I have a lil of it myself.

it is clearing up but slowly.

turn off light for 3 days and at the end of the 3rd day give a 20% water change.

[mpty]

p.s. - oh yeah. one last thing. someone like told me that you can get red slime if you don't replace yer tank's light bulbs. i know. i'm like an annoying blonde blabbermouth. i'll shut up now.

[Teen Aquarist]

I have it come when ever I slack on the water changes. Just do a 20% WC once a week and it should be mostly gone in a month.

[Teen Aquarist]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12571378#post12571378 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by inachu
I have a lil of it myself.

it is clearing up but slowly.

turn off light for 3 days and at the end of the 3rd day give a 20% water change.

If you have corals that may not be the best.

[sunshinegrl]

Wow! Thanks for the input. I ordered the red slime remover, but I would prefer to try something a bit more "natural". It could be the tap water that brought this on, not sure. But I will do a water change also. The LFS guy also recommended I use the skimmer, but not sure if I really need it. He says that will help in the removal of the slime. What do you think?

[jhnsail]

Try some Cerith and Mexican hermit crabs from what i have read they do a pretty good job of cleaning it up.

[SWaquariast]

get chemiclean works like a charm

[buggapimp5.0]

I think the problem here is that you need to do a water test. Analyze the results, and then make a decision as to what you need to do. I would not recomend just going out and trying all these random ideas that people toss your way. The red slime is thriving because it is feeding off some sort of nutrient, find out what this nutrient is (probably high nitrates or phosphate) and then i would analyze your options in order to neutralize this form of algea.

Reducing the time that lights are on will slow the problem down, but will not remove it altogether.

[mikearoni]

It may be Dinoflagellates. My friend had this and dosed with red slime remover and everything went to crap. We searched here (http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-86128.html) and this is what helped us clear that stuff out. It was a lenghthy process, nothing overnight, but it did work.

Try turning off lights for a full 24hrs followed by a reduced lighting period of 5hrs

Add a PO4 Reactor or at the very least RowaPhos to a canister filter

Add a good quality activated carbon to a canister filter

Increase skimming efficiency if you have a skimmer it will definately help

Increase water flow

Cut feeding to at least every other day and feed small amounts

[tspors]

I just bought and used Ultra Life Red Slime Remover. Works fantastic. Just remember to calculate the gallons of water minus the rock displasment. Also advice use 1 treatment more than it calls for. It says 2 use 3 in 6 days. Treat every 48 hours. Turn off skimmer until you do your water change at the end. CLears it up great. Will not harm fish and coral. I have a reef set up.
http://www.fishsupply.com/s7rur-sl250.html

This is a bacteria not a light issue or skimmer.

http://saltaquarium.about.com/cs/aboutjanitors/a/aa043099.htm