red slime

[Russ Braaten]

Has anyone had a red slime problem when using salt water from a local store? I had not had any for the two years I have had the tank setup. Then I had a stupid leak and bought 10 gallons of saltwater to fill up my 70 gal from a local store because I didn't have enough water of my own. I have had trouble with this places water a number of years ago but who can really prove that so I figured I would try again.

There is one other possibility too. I also bought Nutrafin Max fish food at the same time. Has anyone had trouble with this food? I would like to know what is causing my problem so I can clear up this crud for good.

Am I just unlucky or is this typical?

Russ

 

[luvabunny]

Don't know what the cause is, but I've got some chemi clean you are welcome to use. It cleared up my red slime problem in 1 application. E-mail me at luvabunny2@cox.net.

 

[dugg]

I started using Chemi-pure elite and it cleared up my red slime and all my other algae issues in about a week. As far as where it came from, there is no telling, but i NEVER buy saltwater from a LFS, or any other water from them either.

 

[dugg]

The chemi-clean and red slime remover both work good, but the chemi-pure elite will fix the issue causing it rather than just kill the red slime.

 

[mskohl]

The red slime is from an increase in nutrients that your bacteria is unable to cycle. I don't believe the water is the problem. If it were only 10g of water that had slightly elevated nutrients or mixed with a salt your tank isn't accustomed to, it would have been able to cycle through it. So, it's likely that your recent change in feeding habits is the source. Assuming you are using the new food on a regular basis, you are adding nutrients on a continued basis. Perhaps this food is a different granular size and your critters aren't consuming as much, or you're feeding them more and they are pooing more.

Also, if you recently had a leak and had to replace 70 gallons of water, you probably lost a lot of the bacteria that enable the nitrogen cycle. Perhaps you are just going through a mini cycle.

 

[Russ Braaten]

Thanks Steph, I hope my memory didn't fail me as usual and your name is Stephanie. hahaha. I caught the leak before I lost too much water. It was only about 15 gallons. I hate adding chemicals in my tank but I will email you April. I need to clear this up. During start up I went really slow and had the typical diatom bloom but no slime outbreak that I normally have had in the beginning and quickly see clear up. I will feed a lot less for a little while. My skimmer has been working overtime too. I am sucking up the slime as it grows. Thanks for all your info ppl.

 

[dugg]

chemi pure elite is not adding chemicals to your tank. It is a mixture of carbons and ferric oxide to remove phosphates and other unwanted nutrients from the system. That is why i started using it instead if chemi clean or red slime remover.

 

[Russ Braaten]

Dugg. I was talking about the chemi clean when I talked about the chemicals. Chemi pure is the way I will start to work on this along with a lot less feeding for a while.

 

[dugg]

Be sure you buy the chemi pure online. It is 1/2 the price there as it will be at your LFS. I like to support my LFS when i can, but not when it's double the price.