well im starting to get cyano growing on my substrate of my reef tank. Im running ro/di water for my changes and topoff. My tds after the filter is reading 0. I have tested my phosfates with a salifert and a red sea test kit. both are reading 0. I dont know what to do please help.
red slime cyano help
- Thread starter cdh9400t
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austin93
Don't Panic!
do you have a sandbed? I had to remove mine to stop the invasion of the slime. If you haven't taken really good care of it, sometimes they can cause problems. Also, there is an issue with water movement. Increase flow, add a phosphate adsorber are both common recommendations. I had a lot of problems with this stuff and now it is much better. Let me know if you have any questions, I will be glad to help you more if you need it.
redfishsc
New member
Several suggestions.
1) Phosphates may read "0" b/c the cyano and other algae may be using them before they build up---- but you might still have a source of phosphate. Reduce or eliminate your feedings if you can (keep fish hungry but healthy), don't feed corals, and focus on keeping incoming nutrients as close to 0 as possible.
2) Keep your refugium lighted (if you have one) 24/7 to aid it in competing for phosphates.
3) Keep water flow HIGH, cyano cannot grow where it can't hang on.
4) Siphon it out daily if you can.
5) 3-5 day light blackout once you've eliminated as much excess nutrient importing as possible.
1) Phosphates may read "0" b/c the cyano and other algae may be using them before they build up---- but you might still have a source of phosphate. Reduce or eliminate your feedings if you can (keep fish hungry but healthy), don't feed corals, and focus on keeping incoming nutrients as close to 0 as possible.
2) Keep your refugium lighted (if you have one) 24/7 to aid it in competing for phosphates.
3) Keep water flow HIGH, cyano cannot grow where it can't hang on.
4) Siphon it out daily if you can.
5) 3-5 day light blackout once you've eliminated as much excess nutrient importing as possible.
Hey sorry to hear about your problem.
Theres a solution you can buy from your LFS to kills cyano bacteria which won't harm any other corals or your fish. We have successfully used it to wipe out cyano that was everywhere, both on substrate and LR.
You pour the solution into your tank with the skimmer disconnected for a couple of hours. After adding the water will turn yellowish. Make sure to manually remove cyano (scraping is good enough with fingers) off of substrate and live rock as much as you can also during this time. Leave it for the night, and in the morning fire your skimmer back on. THe water will still be slightly yellowish, but the cyano will be gone. The water will go back to its normal color within the next couple of days, as the skimmer goes crazy and takes out all the extras produced by the process.
As said before, we used this method and it worked really well.
Good luck.
Theres a solution you can buy from your LFS to kills cyano bacteria which won't harm any other corals or your fish. We have successfully used it to wipe out cyano that was everywhere, both on substrate and LR.
You pour the solution into your tank with the skimmer disconnected for a couple of hours. After adding the water will turn yellowish. Make sure to manually remove cyano (scraping is good enough with fingers) off of substrate and live rock as much as you can also during this time. Leave it for the night, and in the morning fire your skimmer back on. THe water will still be slightly yellowish, but the cyano will be gone. The water will go back to its normal color within the next couple of days, as the skimmer goes crazy and takes out all the extras produced by the process.
As said before, we used this method and it worked really well.
Good luck.
sundancer
New member
I just ended my bout with this stuff. After trying all the usual suggestion i.e. more flow, underfeeding, new bulbs, etc. What worked for me was running carbon and/or increasing my pH and Alk by dosing Kent super buffer. I increased alk to 13 dkh for a week and pH to 8.4-8.6 while running loads of carbon at the same time and the cyano all went away pretty much overnight at the end of the week. But because I was doing try two remedies at the same time I can't say which it was or if it was a combination of both that killed off the cyano. Unfortunately, both my bubble coral did not appreciate the increase pH or Alk and have been closed up and some tissue recession at the bases. Things are back to norm so hope they bounce back.
I would only use a chemical treatment as a last resort. It will eliminate the cyano in the short term, but more than likely it will creep back in given time. High water flow, high alk(12dKh), aggressive skimming, carbon 24/7, restricted feeding and water changes with as much manual cyano removal as possible will get you back on track. Also be sure to have some Cerith snails in your cleanup crew as they will help keep small amounts in check. If you have access to a UV sterilizer it will also help in the removal. Cyano is actually a bacteria and if you remove it's food source and can kill a large % of free floating cyano this will also be an effective tool to eliminate the pest.
well i just added a new metal halide light set up to my tank. I upped the wattage for things that are about to come. I am skimming and pulling lots of green smelly crap out of the water. My fuge is on a reverse light schedual of my daylights, but I do have it on an extra two hours. I have tried extra flow and that is now helping. everything in my tank is doing great other than this.
SirVilhelm
Member
I've been fighting it for a couple months because of my low flow situation. It's when I starting dosing vodka that it finally went away.
I've also noticed that if you let it run its course a lot of the time it will die off on it's own.
I've also noticed that if you let it run its course a lot of the time it will die off on it's own.
padgett152
New member
I had the same issue and added 12 large red leg hermit crabs and a few turbo snails.....c'ya red algae. totally pleased with the light tint left on the rocks, in contrast to the purple and pinks growing next to it. makes it all look nice
xpirtdesign
New member
had same issue but worse. it was all over the glass and substrate. i used blue vet red slime control and it dissapeared within a few days. gotta turn off the skimmer, or at least adjust it very low since it will foam up like crazy. it is a short term fix, and the algae will come back unless you get your water right. the redslime control did not affect anything living.
odyssey1
New member
Not exactually sure without a pic of the slime, however it could be a bacteria problem you might try running a UV steralizer on your system. Another thiny you will want to do is get rid of those nitrates!! Purchase a denitrifier this will help in the long run. They take about 3weeks to really break-in but very low maintance and keep those trates down.
A pic would help!!
A pic would help!!
hawkfishman
New member
anti-red works, more flow will always help, and never go bare bottom it looks stupid!!
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