Red slime?

nczipp

New member
I have some sort of algae beginning to cover the sand bed of my tank. I believe it is red slime but I want some other opinions. Here's a pic
a94f06ff6d8dd95d1cbb4dd86f8c3525.jpg

What do y'all think?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I forgot to mention that I have sucked it up as best I can with a turkey baster. I have to do this several times a week. It is stuck together like it is "carpeting" the sand.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Its likely cyanobacteria



Just to be clear, Cyanobacteria is the same as red slime, right?

Valentini89, I think I have some somewhere around here for a previous issue, I will have to check. I've heard it's not good for the tank though? I'm not too sure about that though...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
yes cyanobacteria is red slime..
Also used to be referred to as blue-green algae even though its many times not blue nor green nor is it an algae..

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyanobacteria

Its very common in tanks (especially new ones) and can come and go or can be quite annoying and not want go away..
Siphoning it out is usually the first plan of attack..
3 day lights out (won't harm anything in the tank) can also work well when used with siphoning,etc.. too..
There is also the chemical methods (chemiclean and red slime remover).. I've used the red slime remover with good results for the first couple times a tank has this issue then from my experience it becomes less effective and may not even work at all after a few cycles of it.. Right now I've got a bit in my tank and the chemical route is doing nothing against it.. Its basically built up an immunity to it it seems..
Some have also reported serious problems when going the chemical route from loss of a few corals to total death of a whole tank so its probably best to try lights out/siphon first and just see how it goes..
 
For the lights out, do I just leave the light off for three days? Or do I need to block all incoming light from the tank?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
For the lights out, do I just leave the light off for three days? Or do I need to block all incoming light from the tank?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Do you have a lot of natural light hitting the tank? If not, just turn off the light.
 
Then cover it with a sheet..

Leave just a very small amount of light coming through so any fish have a minute amount of light to navigate by..

But what I see is very minimal issue there and really nothing to be too concerned about.. IT may just pass on its own..
 
I did a water change and sucked up a good amount of sand a few days ago. So far it's looking better but there's still some on the rocks.
I'm not sure about a blackout, my mom seems fully against it and is convinced that it will distress our yasha goby.
I don't think it's necessary at this point but I will keep it in mind.
In y'all's opinion, should I get some snails? I don't have any currently and I know they can help with it. If so, what type is best for these sorts of things?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
It might also come from overfeeding algae diets. My tank only has 1-2 hr lights per day and still got some of the red algae. The guy in the aquarium store seems to think that the problem may be food related.
 
Back
Top