slime

[brandon]

Hey al thanks for reading this. I have a 75 g reef tank but im constantly battling red slime. It ust to be red but now its black. I tested my water and did a bunch of water changes and its helped slow it down. Im wondering if its on of my light fixtures. I have a odysea 4 bulb t5 h/o light and i got it a few months ago. Do you think that could be my source of my red slime problem?:cry1: :verymad:

 

[AQTCJAK]

cyano bacteria is caused by exess nutriant build up mainly in low flow areas. Boyd enerprises Chemi-Clean kills the bacteria then you would need to fix your flow issues

 

[brandon]

thank you but ive used the chemi clean red slime eraser twice and it still comes back a day or 2 later. Ive been doing constant water changes usually 2 a week to get rid of it. Think it could be my light?

 

[BEELZEBOB]

it could be old bulbs, but...

most likely its do to insufficient flow and excess nutrients, like Jack said.

if you dont address those issues, chemi-clean is worthless. it only kills the current algae, but in no way addresses or solves the issues causing the cyano

 

[JWarren]

We get it down here in Florida at the onset of summer. I don't use a chiller so I get patches now and then and just syphon it off with an air hose. No biggy. I figure I'll let it eat what it came to eat and it will be done soon enough. I havent got any this year so far. Maybe it's too soon yet or my new RO/DI unit is doing a better job than I think it is. This is the first summer with it, so it will be interesting to see what happens.

 

[Origami2547]

Tell us more about your system. Size, sump, skimmer, livestock, water parameters, light cycle, lighting setup, how old the bulbs are, feeding habits, how much live rock and sand, how long has the system been set up, and what kind of flow do you have. Pictures, too, would help.

Cyano can take nourishment from many sources. It's a primitive bacteria that is normally out-competed in balanced systems. Balance usually takes time to develop so a lot of immature tanks go through an outbreak. It often shows up in low flow areas. It can take nourishment from light because it's a photosynthetic organism (so a reduced light cycle can often cause it to fade), and can grow favorably in conditions high in dissolved organic compounds (aka DOCs) in the water column, nitrates, and phosphates.

Hey, Brandon, your FTS (full tank shot) in your gallery shows no cyano. Was it taken early in your setup or in between outbreaks?

 

[brandon]

The pic i took was recent maybe a few days ago. Im running a 75g tank with overflow box 20g sump with a p160 odysea protein skimmer with a catalina 1800 return pump. In the tank i have a 350gph odysea ph and a 250gph odysea. Im mainly having the trouble with the cyano on my sand and few rocks. it ust to be red but lately its just been all black. Im constantly scrubbing my live rock and syphoning my sand. My light fixtures are a 2 bulb t5
ho with a 10000k day bulb and a true actinic bulb. the other is a 4 bulb 2 1200k day bulb with 420nm actinics. Both fixtures are about 3 months old. For the first 2 months my tank was fine then the last 2 its been over run with the cyano. I only have 2 maroon clowns, 6 hermit crabs, a couple of turbos, emerald crab, 1 tiger sand konch, a nassarius snail, and 2 cleaner shrimps. Im running the day lights and actinics about 12 hours a day then my 4 led night lights all night. Its frustrating since my corals dont want to grow much because of the red slime on my rocks constanly. i feed my fish every morning and its a small amount. what ever the fish dont eat the cleaner shrimp do. Im thinking its my lights. I did a water test last night my ammonia, nitrites are at 0. My Nitrates are at 5ppm and phosphates are at 0. In the sump im running my in line into a sump sock with a bag of carbon in it. I know i need a hydor number 4 but money is a little short right now since i got laid off a few months ago and i have a daughter on the way. i am currently leaving the lights off till the cyano is gone. The red slime just grows slow on my rocks and really fast on my sand.:nopity:
here is a pic of my cyano

 

[Kerchakone]

Where are you getting your water from? I made the mistake of getting water from a machine at my apartment once... red slime like you ain't NEVER seen. Used chemiclean and stopped using that water, and no more cyano.

Also, when I tested for phosphates I got zero too.

 

[brandon]

I am now getting my water from a water place called water works. It's ro water not using tap anymore. Started using the ro about 3 weeks ago and still hasnt really helped the red slime. Ive used chemi clean twice and it does ok for about a day then it starts growing back on my sand.I also have a ball of chatoe macro algae to help my nitrates. Just so frustrating my buddy had a red slime problem and used the chemi clean once and hes been cyano free for over a week now.

 

[Triggerjay]

it will take time. Keep using the RO, and in time, it will go away on its own. Frequent water changes, and light feeding..

Jason

 

[Origami2547]

I don't think it's your lights - at least, not from a spectrum-shift (aging) point of view. They're just not that old yet. I suspect it's more a consequence of the immaturity of your biological filtration. That is, you're going through "new tank syndrome" where your biological filter is still maturing and the cyano is just closing the nutrient gap.

In the near term, it looks like you're going to cut the lights off for a few days. Be sure to do a good water change at the end, before you begin easing the lights back on (a few hours a day - not all at once). You may have to repeat this treatment approach two or three times over the next month or two.

Also, you may want to consider a media reactor for your carbon (and possibly a GFO (granular ferric oxide) phosphate remover). The passive bag-o-carbon in the sump is only moderately effective compared to the flow-thru method in a reactor. This will help to remove DOCs in the water column.

Keep up the use of the RO/DI (Reverse Osmosis / Deionized) water for your water changes. Personally, I change out about 7-10% of my water each week, which would be about 5-7.5 gallons per week for you. All of my top-off is RO/DI, too, which probably adds about 5-7 gallons per week on your system, I suspect. You could be consuming, then, as much as 10-15 gallons of RO/DI water each week. Ultimately, you may find it more economical (as well as convenient) to get your own RO/DI setup. You can get a good one for under $200. Sources are many but, include The Filter Guys or Air Water Ice.

If you keep manually removing the cyano film, then make sure you take what you can out of the tank through water changes or siphoning. There's no sense in leaving the nutrients that are captured in the slime floating about. Also, don't disturb your sandbed too deeply (more than, say, 1/2") if you do vacuum it. The deeper, anoxic part of your sandbed should remain undisturbed so it can develop to do its job.

Good luck with your situation.

 

[lcstorc]

Also be sure you are rinsing all repared food in ro/di water. Most foods use phosphates as a preservative

 

[brandon]

I sold my t5 fixtures and went and got a 2x175w metal halide retro fit kit with 15000k bulbls. i built a canopy ans hooked everything up and my ballast is bad. Just my luck so the red slime has not grown since ive sold my lights, so im thinking it was my odysea fixture. I will get pics up tonight of the canopy and lights. the canopy is not done yet still needs trim paint and handle but is ok so far. And i still need to install fans

 

[a10chavez]

Brandon it sounds like you just suck at keeping up with saltwater. Maybe you should get outta the game. Just kidding fool. And by the way keep your filthy hands outta my tank while im gone!