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[gquimby1]

29g reef tank. 1 clown. 1 dotty back. 1 damsel. Live rock. Live sand. Three soft corals and one hard. Tank has been up for almost 7 months. Here are my questions:

I've suddenly had an influx of red slime on sand bed and live rock. My button polyps are struggling but the others are doing well. Salinity got a bit high on me and I brought it down slowly and I use a refractometer for accuracy. I have good flow. I use reef crystals by instant ocean. Why do I have the red slime? My sand bed is filthy. I just seem to have a very unhealthy tank right now, at least aesthetically. Fish are doing fine. What should I do?

 

[Diana A]

It is harmless. Blow it off with a turkey baster and the corals are not hurt.
It appears often when stray sunlight hits your tank as seasons progress and that spot of sun creeps toward your tank glass. It loves that kind of 'off' lighting. It can pop up when your lights are getting old or your lighting is wonky for whatever reason. It may be a near permanent resident in a lighted fuge, with no particular problem.
The cure is turning your lights out for 3 days, followed by a day of twilight to let corals and fish wake up as they would after a storm front on the reef. Make sure your skimmer is working properly. It's living on a little too much richness of carbon and a lighting it likes. You may have to repeat the lights-out every 3 weeks or so to see the last of it.

 

[thegrun]

What are you using for lights? How long do you keep them on? How old are the bulbs? What are your water parameters (specifically nitrates and phosphates, but list everything you test for)? How much flow do you have? Tank size?We need a little more information to give you good advice.

 

[gquimby1]

 

[gquimby1]

Lights are T5's bought brand new when starting the tank 7 months ago. It has a blue and white bulb. Lights stay on 10-12 hrs a day. I have two regent power heads mounted on either side and a hang on the back penguin bio wheel 350. Water parameters are unknown other than salt and PH. Salt is 1.025 and PH is 8.3. I buy rodi water from Walmart for 3.78 for 10 gallons. Should I invest in the test kit available on Amazon? The big one?

 

[jraker]

You should lower your lights time on to 8 hours. By the 'big one', I assume you mean the API master test kit. While this can work, API is generally not as good as other kits, because it is inaccurate. A good nitrate test kit is the Nyos nitrate kit, and a good kit to test phosphates is the Red Sea nitrate test kit. If you are looking to go above and beyond, a Hanna digital checker gives super quick and accurate readings. Nitrates and phosphates contribute to algae and cyano the most, so they are important to get accurate readings of.

 

[Sk8r]

Metal Halide lights wear out in 6-8 months, which can, even if they're still burning, bring this stuff out of the closet where it lurks. Dunno about T5's. But turn lights out for 3 days while skimming well, and do it once a month, which can clean it out for a while. It's opportunistic, and if the light get off, sunlight hits the tank sideways, or it's just primed for it, it breaks out. THe lights out treatment will generally knock it out for a few months