Tired of Cyano, thinking about trying Red Slime Remover

[lespaul339]

So I've been battling Cyano for months. It's only on my sand bed. My tank has super high flow, phosphates and nitrates are testing at 0. My tank parameters are within range. I haven't tested in a couple weeks but even when all my levels were spot on I still had the problem. I use BRS two part. I use Salifert test kits, so I know I'm getting reliable results.I'm going to test my water over my lunch hour today and I will post actual testing results so we know exactly where my levels are at. But I know my water quality is great, I run carbon and GFO. I'm not over feeding. I just don't know what's causing it. I vacuum it completely off my sand bed and within a week it's back. It's not built up nutrients in my sand bed, I vacuum that completely with a gravel vacuum.


I just recently adjusted my lighting to run more of a blue setting than the white. It's a Reef Breeders Photon 48. Right now my lights max out on 70% blue, and 38% white. I thought maybe it was my lighting spectrum that was causing it. It's only been a few days since I adjusted so don't know how that will affect it yet. Not going to rush to try Red Slime Remover but at this point I don't know what else to try. I've done lights out for a few days. It comes back. Should I just be patient and ride this out like I did my GHA phase?

My tank is almost two years old from an upgrade on a 3 year old tank. I belive Cyano to just be another "cycle" our tanks go through. But I'm tired of dealing with the stuff. Has anyone ever heard of any bad experiences or negative side effects from using Red Slime Remover? I'm one of the people that doesn't like to put chemicals in my tank, but at this point I'm almost willing to give the stuff a try.

 

[JammyBirch]

I just got over a Cyano battle in my tank. I went lights out for 5 days including putting up newspaper on the sunlight side of the tank. Game over.

The only watch out with this method is, in my experience, my SPS coral do not like it when the light comes back on, even at a reduced photo period or minimum setting.

Be careful if you have SPS, when you go lights on move them to the bottom if you can to re-acclimate.

Good luck.

 

[alton]

I use chemiclean about once a year, I dilute it very well before adding it to my sump. Two days later I do a large water change, just follow directions.

 

[lespaul339]

Here are my tank parameters:

SG 1.026
Cal 380 ppm
Mag 1260 ppm
Alk 9.9 dkh
ph 7.5
Phosphate 0
Nitrate 0

Tested with Salifert kits and a refractometer.

So my calcium and magnesium are a little low, but after going a couple weeks without dosing or testing that's not out of the norm for my tank to use that up. So with that water quality, and good flow, why am I still battling cyano?

 

[lespaul339]

I just got over a Cyano battle in my tank. I went lights out for 5 days including putting up newspaper on the sunlight side of the tank. Game over.

The only watch out with this method is, in my experience, my SPS coral do not like it when the light comes back on, even at a reduced photo period or minimum setting.

Be careful if you have SPS, when you go lights on move them to the bottom if you can to re-acclimate.

Good luck.

Thanks. I only have LPS and softies at the moment. I might have to try covering the glass when I try lights out. When I have tried lights out, I make sure all the blinds stay closed for the entire time. I have black out curtains.

 

[lespaul339]

I use chemiclean about once a year, I dilute it very well before adding it to my sump. Two days later I do a large water change, just follow directions.

Do you notice any difference in your fish or coral after using? Does it cause any stress to the animals?

 

[Vadafallon]

My 2cents from experience and i am by no means a great reefer. My nitrates are high, i know this now and i am trying to resolve it, but before knowing that i tried to battle the cyano. I tried NoPox and it made it worse. Blacking out the tank will not fix your issue, it just hides it for a few days. Maybe your nitrate kit is bad?

 

[lespaul339]

Maybe your nitrate kit is bad?

It's not expired yet. It's been pretty reliable thus far, but I guess that could be a possibility.

 

[d2mini]

After months of trying everything else to rid my nano of cyano, i finally gave in and used Chemi-Clean and it's been cyano free for the past month so far.

 

[lespaul339]

Any negative side effects?

 

[d2mini]

There wasn't for me. Tank looks better than ever.
I just followed the instructions on the box.

 

[lespaul339]

Good to hear!

 

[MikeyAl]

http://www.drtimsaquatics.com/treat-aquarium-algae/treating-cyanobacteria


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[Bono]

I used red slime remover as a last resort and it worked with zero issues other than skimmer going nuts for a few days.

 

[mav3rick478]

I just did a blackout of 3 days a week ago, seems to have taken care of 85% off my cyano. A few spots left that I will siphon out tonight during my water change. What I did do when I finally turned on my lights was run only blues for a few hours then did my normal schedule afterwards.

All corals seemed fine including my few SPS. Fish were fine, wrasses came out after the second day. As aa matter of fact the blackout even too care of the majority of my bryopsis.

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[Subsea]

http://www.drtimsaquatics.com/treat-aquarium-algae/treating-cyanobacteria


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I am a big believer in healthy diversity in bacteria populations. Upon reading the Dr Tim link, I was unsure of what happened to all the sluge and cyno that was digested by bacteria. Perhaps those bacteria were removed by protein skimmers. Not having used a skimmer in 20 years, I was not convinced.


https://www.tlc-products.com/pdf/HOW TLC BACTERIA WORK.pdf
This link with a differrent company got into the science of bacteria and enzymes. After bacteria digest sluge and cyno, the end product is carbon dioxide and water. I bought a gallon of there product and just started using it.

I have used Chemi Clean in the past with success. However, cyno came back several years later. Supposedly, ChemiClean targets cynobacteria only. I feel that products like ChemiClean and Flatworm Exit build up immunity in the things that we are trying to remove. To

 

[MikeyAl]

I am a big believer in healthy diversity in bacteria populations. Upon reading the Dr Tim link, I was unsure of what happened to all the sluge and cyno that was digested by bacteria. Perhaps those bacteria were removed by protein skimmers. Not having used a skimmer in 20 years, I was not convinced.





https://www.tlc-products.com/pdf/HOW TLC BACTERIA WORK.pdf

This link with a differrent company got into the science of bacteria and enzymes. After bacteria digest sluge and cyno, the end product is carbon dioxide and water. I bought a gallon of there product and just started using it.



I have used Chemi Clean in the past with success. However, cyno came back several years later. Supposedly, ChemiClean targets cynobacteria only. I feel that products like ChemiClean and Flatworm Exit build up immunity in the things that we are trying to remove. To

I skim heavily. The process worked and I have been cyano free for over a year.

Good luck.


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[Finland]

I just went through a treatment with chemicleam. Cleared the cyano up with no affect on the corals. It is a mainly sps tank, with a few lps. No affect on the many crabs, snails, starfish, and pods in the tank either. I have used the Dr. Tim's Refresh and Waste Away treatment on my old tank and it worked well also.

 

[Snarkys]

Products like chemiclean and Red Slime Remover always get a bad rap but they almost always work and I've personally never seen a negative response when the directions are followed.

It's common for people to say they are a bandaid to a real issue and that might be true but if the tank is otherwise healthy, maintained well and has decent flow that might not be the case.

 

[jdewolftx]

I've used Chemiclean in a mixed reef with sps, lps, and zoa's. Works great and I haven't lost anything. Besides making the skimmer go crazy for a day, no problems. And most importantly, it works. Of course you need to take care of the underlying nutrient issues. The treatment buys you the time to fix things.

I recommend it.

-Jeff