Blue Vet Rx REDSLIME CONTROL

[ScubaRW4]

Has anyone had any experience with this product? I had an outbreak of red slime algae and wanted to nip it in the bud, so I bought this stuff and put it in as per dosage directions. The box says it doesn't discolor the water...it did.....turned it a bit white or cloudy.
Anyway, my question is......albeit a bit late.......does this RedSlime Control also kill other algaes? I just put in a $35.00 piece of rock with Maiden's Hair algae on it and I have a few other varieties of macroalgae (besides the hated grape caulerpa) that I don't want killed.
Anybody know for sure?
Thanks,
Bob

[lcstorc]

Never heard of that brand so I don't know.
I have used Red Slime Remover and it did work and it did drive my skimmer nuts for over a week. However if you don't address the underlying problem (excess nutrients, slow flow, old bulbs are some) it will just come back again.
I hope that brand is safe. My guess is that it probably is but you really do need to find the real problem and address it.

[ScubaRW4]

Thanks Lynn. It appears that it has only affected the red slime. I suspect the root cause is a combination of slightly overfeeding and old bulbs. I recently replaced one of my light fixtures and the difference in the brightness, etc., of the compact tubes in the new fixture was amazing. I still have an older fixture, with old tubes, on the back half of the tank that doesn't come close to the quality of light that the new tubes give off. I guess I'll have to spend a hundred dollars more and replace those tubes (I am up to around $2,500 spent in the last 3 months on this puppy, but I sure do love it.)
Since posting this question, I read some of the other red slime remover products' information and a couple of them did state that it won't hurt algaes. I also learned that red slime isn't even algae, so my fears have abated. I appreciate your response.
Bob

[AQTCJAK]

I have never heard of it either I use Boyd enterprises Chemi Clean it works wonders

[ScubaRW4]

Originally Posted by AQTCJAK

I have never heard of it either I use Boyd enterprises Chemi Clean it works wonders

I just purchased it from Drs. Foster & Smith. Their ad for it said it was "new", so I guess it is a new product and not just "new" to Foster & Smith's web store like I thought.

[deaclauderdale]

I've used it and it works great. It does not effect algae at all seeing that red slime algae aka cyano bacteria is actually a bacteria and not and algae and this stuff is designed with that in mind.

[ScubaRW4]

Thanks everyone! I received a phone call from Drs. Foster & Smith today in response to my email. They assured me it won't harm plants.......which is great, seeing as I had already put it in my tank when I thought about it. lol
It did work great. The red slime is history, I have cut back on feeding and new bulbs are on the way.

Bob

[AQTCJAK]

Glad it turned out for the better

[ScubaRW4]

Thanks Jack. I had emailed Drs. Foster & Smith about it. They emailed back and said they were contacting the manufacturer to find out. Then, to my delight, I received a phone call from them yesterday to tell me it was okay to use with plants. I was VERY impressed that they took the time to phone me.

Bob

[charlesr1958]

As noted, once the cyanobacteria (red slime) is gone, you really should get your water quality under control as that is what is fueling the cyano growth (phosphates / nitrates).
Also, for future money saving, you can buy Erythromycin as a pill from a pharmacy or vet, dissolve it in the tank and it will do the same thing. (250 - 500 mg pill per 100 gallons). This is the same ingredient that chemi-clean and most all the "slime away" products use, they just don't tell you. If it is a white powder, its Erythromycin, if its a yellowish powder, then its Tetracycline. Either one will wipe out cyanobacteria. ( a single 500mg Erythromycin pill costs me about 25 cents each, which I take when I have a sore throat ).

Chuck

[ScubaRW4]

Thanks for the tip, Chuck. That's good to know. I'll bet there are a lot of products out there that can be easily made at home.

Bob

[caitrina]

hmmmm , since you havent started a chronicle yet what lights do you have? I am asking you for my own personal purpose...

[prow]

NO!!!! this is a broad spectrum antibiotic, it will kill the cyno along with most of your funa and other bacterias. cyno is easy enough to controll by just limiting your nutrient inputs and/or increasing your nutrient outputs, via water changes with RO/DI that has a TDS of 0.0, use of macro's, reducuction in feeding, wet skimming ect..... for a short time fix just turn off the lights for a day.

[ScubaRW4]

Originally Posted by caitrina

hmmmm , since you havent started a chronicle yet what lights do you have? I am asking you for my own personal purpose...

I am using two 48" Corallife power compact fixtures on my 75-gallon tank:

four 65-watt 10000k tubes
four 65-watt actinice tubes
four lunar LEDs

[ScubaRW4]

Originally Posted by prow

NO!!!! this is a broad spectrum antibiotic, it will kill the cyno along with most of your funa and other bacterias. cyno is easy enough to controll by just limiting your nutrient inputs and/or increasing your nutrient outputs, via water changes with RO/DI that has a TDS of 0.0, use of macro's, reducuction in feeding, wet skimming ect..... for a short time fix just turn off the lights for a day.

I'm going by what Drs. Foster & Smith told me when they called me. Nothing else (visible anyway) was affected by it. The red slime is history, tho. I have cut back on how much I feed (feel sorry for the little guys) and have new tubes coming tomorrow for my older PC fixture (the other one is less than a month old and the difference in light intensity is dramatic). I also cleaned out my other canister filter. The guy I bought this system from, about 10 weeks or so ago, told me that both canisters needed cleaned. I cleaned one within a couple weeks of getting the system and wanted to wait before cleaning the second because I didn't want to disrupt the bacteria in both filters at once. Yeah, I know, I should use a refugium instead, but that isn't going to happen any time soon. I added some De-Nitrate to the canister when I cleaned it, as the nitrate has been running around 15-ppm. Hopefully, cleaning that filter and adding the new agent will bring that down. I'll test it in another day or two and see what the nitrate is doing.
Ammonia = 0
Nitrite = 0
Nitrate = 15
Phosphate = 0