I seem to have slime and bubble algae problem in my sump. Its taken over a small peice of marcro algae that I have taken out. However it is still on the sand in the tank and have some rather large bubbles appearing in little pockets as well. What do I need to do to fix this. I checked Phosphate levels and they are not even present in my tank. I have not fed this tank in 3 days so I do not think overfeeding in the problem, it has been set up for 3 months. pH 8.0-8.3, salinity 1.024, Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 5-10 calcuim 400 PO4- 0.
Slime/bubble algae problem
- Thread starter mtsuguy
- Start date
DMBillies
Active member
Because few things eat it, bubble algae can become a problem even in tanks that are pretty low nutrient. Emerald crabs are supposed to eat the stuff. I know there have been some mixed results on that, but the ones I had definitely did (although I only had small amounts of bubble algae to start). I'd recommend getting a couple and picking as much of the algae out as you can when you add them. If you get enough of them that the crabs can take care of the rest you'll probably be able to get ahead of the problem. I believe there are a few other critters that eat the stuff, but I found emerald crabs worked and haven't had to research much since. Also, I don't know what your pH and magnesium look like, but if they are at all toward the low end, you might try to raise them a bit to help the process.
Now on to the slime problem. I'm assuming this is red slime (cyanobacteria) and not a type of algae your referring to? If so, this usually indicates nutrient problems and/or food collected in stagnant areas (which may also be driving the bubble problem). Definitely siphon out as much junk as you can out of the sump. If you're using any kind of sponge filter, you problem need to clean it out more often or get rid of it. I don't use mechanical filters in any of my tanks because i know I won't change them out often enough which creates more problems than it saves. Blowing out the rocks with a powerhead before you do a water change can also help get rid of any collected detritus that might be causing you problems. Finally, cyano tends to thrive in tanks which are relatively low flow (food settles creating a nutrient problem as I talked about above and the cyano can easily get a foothold). Not knowing what you're currently pushing through the sump (or in your tank), you want to consider increasing the amount of water circulation a bit all around. Cyano frequently grows in sumps which have a bit less flow. This usually doesn't amount to problems in the tank, but in time the problem could get worse.
Now on to the slime problem. I'm assuming this is red slime (cyanobacteria) and not a type of algae your referring to? If so, this usually indicates nutrient problems and/or food collected in stagnant areas (which may also be driving the bubble problem). Definitely siphon out as much junk as you can out of the sump. If you're using any kind of sponge filter, you problem need to clean it out more often or get rid of it. I don't use mechanical filters in any of my tanks because i know I won't change them out often enough which creates more problems than it saves. Blowing out the rocks with a powerhead before you do a water change can also help get rid of any collected detritus that might be causing you problems. Finally, cyano tends to thrive in tanks which are relatively low flow (food settles creating a nutrient problem as I talked about above and the cyano can easily get a foothold). Not knowing what you're currently pushing through the sump (or in your tank), you want to consider increasing the amount of water circulation a bit all around. Cyano frequently grows in sumps which have a bit less flow. This usually doesn't amount to problems in the tank, but in time the problem could get worse.
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