Red Slime Remover/Killer

[waterman78]

Greetings to all Reefers,

I am experiencing a probably with the red slime syndrome in my display and sump. Which red slime remover product is better for dealing with this issue:

Ultra Life - Red Slime Rmover or Boyd Enterprises - ChemiClean?

Please let me know. Thanks.

Larry

 

[bertoni]

I avoid using those chemicals now. They often give only a temporary effect, and they have been known to cause a lot of damage. If you decide to use one of them, I'd suggest siphoning as much cyanobacteria out of the tank as possible before treating, to limit the amount of decay

I have never used Chemi-Clean, just the UltraLife. From what I can tell from reports, they're pretty similar.

Better nutrient export often helps such problems. Growing and harvesting a macroalga is one approach, and an iron-based phosphate sponge is another idea. This article covers a lot of ground, although it is written in terms of a nitrate problem:

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/august2003/chem.htm

Improving flow also has been known to help.

 

[Sk8r]

I've used Chemiclean. It worked for me, but my tank was young. It killed off my pod population and I had to replenish that. It caused other subtle problems.

I had a second outbreak 5 months on, and treated this one by: 1. cleaning all my pumps and my skimmer to put them at max efficiency 2. running phosban to get any 'bound' phosphate out---yes, cyano's a bacterium, but I figure the cleaner the better: it gets out the 'color' that floats in the water and diminishes your light. So that improves. 3. testing the water often. 4. moving a few rocks to improve flow in the area of the outbreak.

It's nearly all gone now. The reappearance did not become a red tide, just a momentary inconvenience.

And I discovered my rainford goby likes it for snacks. Unfortunately he's so small he doesn't make much dent. I have heard that Mexican turbo snails will eat it. I've kind of wondered about linkia stars.b

 

[coloso]

My tank suffered from red cyanobacteria for a few months and I used Red Away (different name same effect), a few people told me it was great. The problem with all these products is the effect is temporary. The best you can do is find the source of the problem.It also helps if you increase your water changes and keep your dkh up. I seem to be getting the better of it now but it took a while.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I'm not a fan of such treatments, except as a last resort. Reducing nutrients, increasing water flow, and reducing organics are better approaches, IMO.

 

[waterman78]

Thank you all for your responses...I will be more careful about feeding my fish rather than the complete tank. My main concern which I am try to deal with is my tank po4 level. Currently runs around 1.0 I believe, which may be the cause of some of this mess. Always my no3 are around 12ppm - 25ppm. Both readings are high and that could be springing this issue about my tank. I have been told to employ a phos-reactor and keep a watch on feeding and water changes. My question is this, (probably the wrong forum to post the question...I know bad timing) how much
light should be provided to chaetomorpha for nutrient exportation? Thanks again for all of your comments. I will apply the knowledge towards curing this red slime issue. Increase water flow...perform water changes and lower nutrients is the way to go.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

yes, phosphate at 1 ppm will cause problem algae galore, and should be brought down.

With macroalgae, the more light the better, generally. I light one of my refugia with a 175 w mh lamp. The others use fluorescents or incandescent track lights.

 

[reefnetworth]

red legged hermits will eat cyano. i used chemi-pure in a new tank once and it (cyano) came back in about a month. i agree with Randy, nutrients, flow, and organics. thats how mine was cured 9 months ago and it hasnt returned. have a great day

 

[SuperNerd]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8340807#post8340807 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Sk8r
And I discovered my rainford goby likes it for snacks.

Yep...as does the closely related Hectors.

 

[waterman78]

Thank you all for your replies. I used the UltraLife Red Slime remover over a week ago...and no more red slime algae. Last week I purchase the Kent Marine's phos.reactor in which I use ROWAphos in the reactor and my phosphate are at 0 (Salifert PO4 kit). I have also been using Marine Depot's A-Z NO3 along with a bag of Chemi-Pure and my Nitrate are current at around 0 (yellow color from the Tetra testing kit). I am noticing more spores of coralline algae growth on the display glassas well as the live rocks. Again, I thank you all for your suggestions. Have a wonderful weekend.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Hopefully the GFO (Rowaphos) will be able to keep the cyanobacteria from coming back.

Good luck!