Sea Hare for purple slime film?

[Lithy]

I have been having a problem with this purple slimy film on my LR which I believe is cyanobacteria.

Here is a photo of a patch of it from a while back.
http://picasaweb.google.com/ale.rugge/Aquarium/photo#5170334650212151106

Now the stuff is everywhere. I vacuum it up periodically but it returns. I will be installing more PHs to increase current. The guy at the LFS today recommended a sea hare as a way to get rid of it. He says the hare will eat it. Is this true? From what I read they only eat hair algae (of which I have none).

Please let me know if a sea hare could help. Also anything else I should be aware of with sea hares? I have a pretty peaceful tank.

Thanks

 

[Guygettnby]

i use a chemical call chemiclean slime remover. it takes about 24-48 hours but it kills it all off. i have a problem with the stuff beacuse my nitrates were out of control and i had to dose my tank a couple times but it went away. i paid $15 at my LFS for it.

good luck with it. that stuff is a pain to get rid of for good. BTW what kind of lighting do you have?

 

[Guygettnby]

oh and BTW i myself asked around and looked every where for something that would eat that stuff and my search ended with nothing. so if i was you i wouldnt waste my money on a sea hare. as far as i know nothing eats the stuff.

 

[Lithy]

Thanks for your advice. My tank lighting is 250W x2 MH + 4 actinic tubes...pretty bright.

The LFS guy also recommended that product. I am just reluctant to use medication in my tank unless I have to. Is chemiclean fully reef safe? Was the purple stuff or the medication affecting your nitrate?

 

[chrisstie]

I have a natural solution for ridding the tank of the slime if indeed that is what it is, however the cause of the slime is probably due to something else.

Sea Hares, that I am aware of wont eat cyano. Some snails might like the nerite and a few others, but if its covering everything try this:

Turn your tanks lights off for a full 48 hours. Shouldn't harm anything. Make sure if its near a light source like a window that the blinds are closed. In this time the slime will turn into stringy stuff and just die off. A water change for when the lights come back on is ideal.


Red slime is technically a bacteria that colonizes in a way that when en masse people refer to it as an algae. Usually it is fueled by high phosphates and nitrates and can also get out of control in low flow areas or when changing out into new bulbs over your tank.

Nutrients in the end, though, are what will fuel it - your light sustains it... Maybe do some tests and check out your phosphate levels- are you using RO DI are you changing water regularly, are you overfeeding (one of the most common causes imo), help us know what your tank is like a little more in respect to those areas and hopefully we can stop it from coming back as well.

When I was newer in the hobby I used chemiclean and it worked as advertised but a month later the same stuff would come right back. My tank then was a 12g Aquapod. I was doing 20 percent water changes. On such a small tank I upped it to 50% and the problem went away. Just too much gunk in the tank!

Oh also dont forget on a bigger tank you can use a turkey baster right before a water change to kick up detritus that has settled into your rockwork and could also be degrading into nutrients to fuel the stuff.

Good luck getting rid of the stuff let us know how it works out!

 

[greenbean36191]

There are about 30 species of sea hares with all sorts of different diets. Most of the species normally offered in the hobby don't eat cyano. Lately, a lot of Bursatella have been showing up, and they will eat it.

A sea hare is just a bandaid though and doesn't fix the water quality issues that are causing the cyano. I agree with Chrisstie's advice.

 

[jason214]

i used the chemiclean red slime remover in my 29g reef at 1/3 dosage and the red slime cleared quick and has just started showing up again about 2 months later. Make sure u do the water change though because i'm not sure what would happen if you didn't. My corals didn't react at all to it I plan on doing another 1/3 dosage if it starts to get bad.

 

[Lithy]

Thanks to all for the great advice. I will take an approach that addresses all the different components and report back on the results in a month or so.