red slime in fuge

[Just Jim]

I don't have any red slime in my display, but lately I've been getting a lot in my fuge. I use 2 40w GE ecolux bulbs. It has nothing to do with the nitrates/phosphates, I can only figure it's the bulbs. Anyone know what kind of bulbs work well in a 4 foot fluorescent setup? My chaeto is growing pretty well, but this red slime stuff (which I've never had before) sucks...

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

Cyanobacteria thrives on nitrates and phosphates. A 'fuge is a great place to have red slime- you know it's scrubbing your system. If it overtakes your Chaeto simply siphon the slime out.

 

[Just Jim]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11091739#post11091739 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Gary Majchrzak
Cyanobacteria thrives on nitrates and phosphates. A 'fuge is a great place to have red slime- you know it's scrubbing your system. If it overtakes your Chaeto simply siphon the slime out.

yes, I've been doing that, but I thought considering the amount of the red slime that the bulbs must be involved...

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

cyanobacteria can utilize pretty much every wavelength a reefkeeper might use. The slime growing in your 'fuge is absorbing nutrients that it might otherwise use to grow under your main display aquarium lights.

 

[Just Jim]

well, the amount of red slime (though not in my display) is quite a concern to me. I have a 50g fuge with a slow water exchange. I also have a seio 820gph powerhead circulating the water. Should I have some kind of surface skimming? The top of the water looks oily.

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

for best results there should be a surface skimming overflow and a protein skimmer somewhere in your system (IMO)

 

[Mr_Jarhead]

you can also throw a queen conch or 2 in the refugium, they are known to munch on the red slime

 

[Just Jim]

I had about two small sandwich baggies when I started the fuge a few months ago. Today I pulled out the chaeto to give the fuge a good cleaning. It was more then a 5 gallon bucket could hold stuffed! I think the chaeto needs a trimming. The powerheads keep clogging with chaeto and the current can't penetrate through. I had no idea there was that much in there...

 

[Wolfmann81]

Definitely cyanobacteria. Try sucking some of it with a turkey baster.

Many people run their fuge on a negative photoperiod. Cyano thrives from phosphates and nitrates and LIGHT. If you shorten your photoperiod (the amount of time your light is on your fuge), it may have good results.

 

[underWoasisjake]

i have the same problem in my HOB fuge..... put some cheato in there but doesnt seem to be growing but the red slime algae is growing quite quickly!!! is that bad?? do i add more cheato???

 

[Plantbrain]

Now if you started with a small amount of Chaeto, now you have this massive ball, do you think this massive ball is going to take up more or less NO3 and PO4 relative to the starting amount?

A lot more................has the loading rate from the main tank changed during this growth period?

Probably not.
Have you calibrated the test kits? you need to know if they are reading true relative to known amount.


So you can do a few things here:
1. Prune and maintain the Chaeto at a moderate level(once every 2-4 weeks etc)
2. More Chaeto is not better
3. Circulation ands flow through a plant/macro algae bed is about 90% less, more biomass= less flow through except the outer edge, the inner portion is limited for nutrients/light/CO2 etc.
4. Pruning resolves the above circulation issue
5. Adding aeration/skimmer action overflow into the refuge will enhance the growth a fair amount, and the sticky micro bubbles will cling to the cyano and life it off and out of the system.
It can still grow mind you, but this will cause issues for it.
6. Add more space for the chaeto, add more loading to the main tank to maintain the increased biomass of the macro.

This is balance between the space and light you have, making sure the biomass is relatively similar, and the main tank's loading rate of N and P into the refuge.

It is not just NO3 and PO4 levels.
Correlation does not = cause nor will it really help you to get the most out of the refuge either.

You can add more KNO3 and perhaps some PO4 and restore good Chaeto growth, however, circulation and space, available light as the biomass increases..........basically self shading an interspecific nutrient competition within the chaeto ball is occurring.

So prune routinely to prevent things from building up, you need to export before the system gets out of balance.

Cyano is a sign that you have not been pruning and taking care of the fuge, not some mystery NO3/PO4 source.

Cyano and Chaeto both use N and P, Cyano does well when the chaeto/Caulerpa etc etc does not.

So focus on the Chaeto, keep it healthy and happy.


Regards,
Tom Barr

 

[underWoasisjake]

so then its not bad for the red slime to be growing faster than the cheato!? i have a small amount of cheato in my fuge... its about palm size. Should i still prune it???