Red slime algae help

Halfduzndad

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Sep 6, 2012
9
0
0
Virginia
Hi All,
Does anyone know how to treat and prevent Red Slime algae? It spread through my new reef and killed everything. Fortunately it was new and only had 3 corals and 2 anemones. My live rock and substrate are blanketed with stuff. I increased the length and intensity of the light and it had no effect. I turned off the lights and it exploded. Should I pull out the LR and substrate and dry it out or is there another way to kill it.
My tank parameters were:
a SG at 1.023,
temp was 78F,
150 lbs of LR cured for 6 mos. from a FOWLR
Substrate was a mixture of extremely fine crushed coral and live sand. Just enough to cover the bottom.
Lighting was 2 90W compact fluorescents for 12 hours (increased to 14 hrs) and 2 125 W Metal Hallides for 4 hours (increased to 6 hours).
Fitration was a Fluval FX5 (refugium was not complete when I noticed the Red Slime)
Ammonia, nitrate, and nitrite cycled to 0 when it hit. I don't remember the calcium and ph numbers but had coraline algae starting.
 

Jrob

Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Apr 7, 2011
709
1
33
32
Michigan
Hi All,
Does anyone know how to treat and prevent Red Slime algae? It isn't really an algae. Red slime is ACTUALLY Cyanobacteria.
It spread through my new reef and killed everything. if you even start to notice it becoming a problem, you should probably act faster than letting it destroy your reef... Fortunately it was new and only had 3 corals and 2 anemones. My live rock and substrate are blanketed with stuff. it spreads quickly so that's understandable I increased the length and intensity of the light and it had no effect. I turned off the lights and it exploded. Should I pull out the LR and substrate and dry it out or is there another way to kill it. There are several ways to treat it so don't pull out the rock just yet...pulling out the rock would actualy make it worse in the long run...
My tank parameters were:
a SG at 1.023, good
temp was 78F, good
150 lbs of LR cured for 6 mos. from a FOWLR that's good...BUT, how long did you let the new tank cycle before putting corals/fish/nems in?
Substrate was a mixture of extremely fine crushed coral and live sand. Just enough to cover the bottom.good, i'm assuming that you're avoiding the DEEP SAND BED (DSB) approach???
Lighting was 2 90W compact fluorescents for 12 hours (increased to 14 hrs) if by compact flourescent...(CFL) the regular lighting that you would use in light sockets around the house...just with a higher wattage... it doesn't surprise me that you had rapid build up of cyano. You NEED proper lighting in a tank otherwise it will cause mannnnny issues. and 2 125 W Metal Hallides for 4 hours (increased to 6 hours).how high is the tank, and how high off of the surface are the MH lighting?
Fitration was a Fluval FX5 (refugium was not complete when I noticed the Red Slime)do you have a skimmer?
Ammonia, nitrate, and nitrite cycled to 0 when it hit. I don't remember the calcium and ph numbers but had coraline algae starting. you might want to check your test kits, because it's impossible for cyano to appear if nitrate and ammonia is at 0.... unless your phosphates are extremely high.... which would still cause your ammonia and nitrites to be high as well...
see the red tags above
 

ckcdrummer

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Feb 21, 2012
1,062
0
0
CA
Light intensity shouldn't be a problem if your tank is cycled correctly and your prams are good. If its a new set up then algae blooms wouldn't be uncommon, just increase flow and try to scrape as much out as you can will doing a water change. There are also medications you can use, but I have no experience with them.


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vanman

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Apr 23, 2011
197
0
0
Woodinville WA
All of that is true. Clean as much of it out as possible. Make the lighting correct. Get movement in the water and treat it with a 1/2 dose of erythromycin for one day before you add any new inmates. If there are deep scratches in the glass or acrylic scrub the walls after the erythromycin as dissolved in the water, to force it into the scratches. Still put a little food in the water for the live rock and keep as much of the biological as possible. Then think quarantine tank. This is one of those imported bacteria. It either comes in if you live near wetlands or through purchases.
 

Halfduzndad

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Sep 6, 2012
9
0
0
Virginia
Thank you all. I did forget to mention I have a skimmer,and it was producing a lot of skimate. I never thought that my test kit could be out of date, but now that you mention it, it very well could be. So my params may not have been as good as I thought. I did let the tank cycle with blue damsels about 6 mos. before I got bored and tried corals and anemones. I will try and post a pic of the lights this weekend.
 

Jrob

Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Apr 7, 2011
709
1
33
32
Michigan
Light intensity shouldn't be a problem if your tank is cycled correctly and your prams are good. If its a new set up then algae blooms wouldn't be uncommon, just increase flow and try to scrape as much out as you can will doing a water change. There are also medications you can use, but I have no experience with them.


Sent from my iPad using MonsterAquariaNetwork app
light intensity SHOULDN'T affect it... unless it's the wrong type of lighting altogether...
 

Aw3s0m3

Piranha
MFK Member
May 6, 2012
3,188
82
81
Over there
If it's actually red slime then that's not an algae. It's called Cyanobacteria and its due to overfeeding and/or too much waste. The best way to get rid of it is by siphoning as much out as you can. Just turning off the lights won't cut it cuz it can live for a long time without light and the ambient light in the room would be enough to keep it alive. When you siphon, you have to get rid of ALL of it! Just one spot will spread like crazy, which you've already noticed. Increasing the flow will help prevent it, but it won't get rid of it once its already there. There's also a powder you can buy from your lfs. It works extremely well


Edit: accidentally posted before I finished cuz I dropped my phone.

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