Slime aglae??

[jabo]

Hey guys i have a fairly new mixed reef, it is about 4 months old.

Can someone tell me if this is slime algae? I started noticing it the last few weeks. It is bright maroon to purple in color. There are spots of yellow and an aqua green. If this indeed slime algae, what do you recommend to treat/eradicate ?

It started in the sand but has been creeping up a few rocks. I vacummed (during water change)and hand picked as much as possible out. I would prefer not to use chemicals.

Thanks in advance for the replies, I really enjoy researching the site!!!

 

[MrRyanT]

Can't tell for sure from the pic, but I believe its cyanobacteria. Very common in a new tank. Just continue siphoning out as much as you can during water changes and try to keep nutrients(nitrate, phosphate)as low as possible.

 

[Mako Shark II]

Red Slime

 

[commonstranger]

Jabo its cyno no doubt about it. Im just going to tell you theres a reason they make chemicals and youll be fine using them. Just follow the directions. Suck as much out as you can and then (what I use to do) is stir it up with your hand in the water column and get a net and go back and forth in the water to get as much as you can out. Id get some Red Slime Remover (it comes in a very small jar) and just follow the directions. You also need to have more flow towards the bottom of your tank and it will help in preventing it from coming back. It normally shows up where your flow is not very strong. Not so much flow it blows your sand around just a gentle breeze towards the sandbed should help. Hope this helps.

 

[Goibot]

I had it for a few months and after the suggestions of the fine folk here I;
1. Increased my flow rate by adding a wave maker system
2. Vacumed as much as possible
3. Got some good slime control from Memfish

It has finally been gone for at least 2 months now

 

[ihavtats29]

chemicals are a quick remidy not a complete solution, its fine to treat it with red slime conmtrol but it will come back if you dont correct the reason they are there , nitrates , phosphates and overfeeding

 

[Mako Shark II]

chemicals are a quick remidy not a complete solution

....they wear off, Jim??

 

[ihavtats29]

they do only work for a short time

 

[Mako Shark II]

....nevermind.

 

[jabo]

I have increased the flow and it seems to be helping a lot. I will only use chemicals if i have to. Thanks for all your help!!

 

[Mako Shark II]

jabo,
I was making light of ihavetats29 comment, but if you do have a prodigious amount of Red-Slime algae, the remover (chemical) IS a Good fix, initially.

It’ll kill-off the red slime and have a minimal impact on the rest of your tank, but your Skimmer will blow skimmate like there’s no tomorrow, so you’ll need to keep that cleaned out and working properly. Then, you’ll have a few heavy Water Changes, but it does work.

I still have a slight problem with red-slime occasionally, but that’s because I like Fat Fish and feed fairly heavily, producing the unwanted byproduct: slime.

Physically remove as much as possible,using a slotted kitchen servign spoon (for your sand), then vacuum the sand to remove the balance. For the LR, delicately pick-off as much as possible by hand, then chemically treat the tank, as prescribed by the manufacturer.

 

[ihavtats29]

like peanut said eeeeerrrrrrrrrnnnnnnnnnn!!

 

[Mako Shark II]

Who?

 

[ihavtats29]

lol