I goofed; question for Richard

[Yogre]

I've been battling red slime in my tank for a while now, and it seems to get all over my purple sea fans. Surfing on the LiveAquaria web site, they recommended a one-minute freshwater dip to remove the slime, so I tried it on one of my fans. BAD IDEA! Within 24 hours almost all of the purple "meat" had come off leaving just the tannish-brown "bones".

Did I kill my sea fan, or should I leave it in the tank and see if it'll recover? To add insult to injury green hair algae is now starting to grow on the "bones".

Obviously I make a better pilot than a marine biologist, next time I'll ask here first!

 

[liverock]

Re: I goofed; question for Richard

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15191279#post15191279 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Yogre
I've been battling red slime in my tank for a while now, and it seems to get all over my purple sea fans. Surfing on the LiveAquaria web site, they recommended a one-minute freshwater dip to remove the slime, so I tried it on one of my fans. BAD IDEA! Within 24 hours almost all of the purple "meat" had come off leaving just the tannish-brown "bones".

Did I kill my sea fan, or should I leave it in the tank and see if it'll recover? To add insult to injury green hair algae is now starting to grow on the "bones".

Obviously I make a better pilot than a marine biologist, next time I'll ask here first!

Bummer

Red slime is tough, but can be eliminated with an antibiotic, safely.

As you found out, freshwater dipping anything that is from saltwater, is a bad idea. Another one of those "internet" bad ideas.

If any tissue is left it may regrow, but will take a while.

Send me your addy, and I will send you the cure...

sea ya
Richard TBS

 

[Yogre]

Thanks Richard, PM sent!

 

[liverock]

in the mail...

in the mail...

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15193329#post15193329 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Yogre
Thanks Richard, PM sent!

The cure is on the way!

sea ya
Richard TBS:rollface: :rollface: :rollface:

 

[HowardW]

Yes, bad idea! If there's little to no tissue left it's probably a goner and now it'll just be a hair algae magnet if your tank also has hair algae. In the future you can try gently blowing off the red slime with a turkey baster or small powerhead.

 

[HowardW]

......also, if you plan on using any type of red slime remover you must use caution and be sure to manually remove as much slime as possible beforehand, and run plenty of aeration and turn off your skimmer and plan on doing several large water changes afterwards. Your skimmer will also probably go crazy afterwards and may need emptying often.

 

[Yogre]

Hi Howard...
Yep, I had to terminate my sea fan, it just got covered with hair algae. Didn't look like there was much chance of regrowth. You would think LiveAquaria.com would be a source of good info, but apparently they need to be taken with a (large) grain of salt.

Richard has told me to be sure and email him before I use the cure... I'm sure he'll tell me the same thing... skimmer will go nuts and water changes will be required. Fortunately I have the capability to do as much as 25% water changes per day. Obviously the concern with using any sort of antibiotic is its impact on the biological filter for the tank. I don't know which is which with regard to gram-positive vs. gram-negative but I do know some types of red slime remover can be used with caution. I trust Richard to get me moving in the right direction.

Thanks,
Glen

 

[liverock]

Here is the deal...

Here is the deal...

OK

I decided to put this info up for everybody......as the red cycno is a problem for a lot of folks...

I had a 210 gallon reef tank. Full of fish rock and corals.....and also red cyno.

I tried everything, lights, food cutbacks, siphoning it off every day, but each morning it would be back, big red sheets of it growing on the rock and sand.

I was at my wits end with it, when I got a suggestion from a fellow in the industry.

Anitbiotic, specifically Erythromycin

I dosed the tank with six 50mg tablets and went to bed. I woke up the next morning and was horrified!

The tank was BLOOD red, could not see one inch into it. I figured oh great, all five of my red sea purple tangs are dead, along with the rest of my reef, so at that point I decided to just let it ride.

Next day I could see about three inches in the tank, and saw movement!

Tangs were all alive!...along with everything else I could see. Next day there was a red tint to the water, and on the fourth day, the water was clear, as usual.

I could find nothing wrong as a result from dosing the tank, other than the red was gone, and never returned.

This worked for me, and these are the results, but is no guarantee that it will not harm your tank, was just my personal experience, problem solved!

Richard TBS:rollface: :rollface: :rollface:

 

[docklink]

Hi, all. I had cyano problems about 5-6 months into my tank. After numerous attempts to rid the tank (hosing and sucking off the rocks, etc., water changes, phosphate sponge....) with none really working, I tried Chemi-Clean (Boyd Enterprises). Cleared the tank within 24 hours without any clouding of the water. Only draw back is it sends the skimmer crazy requiring a carbon dose and water change about 48 hours after the dose.
I have had to repeat a treatment about every 18 months or so. Hasn't effected any corals, fish or inverts and worked really well.
YMMV HTH