Slime problem. Not going away. Grrrrrrr

GrimReefer82 · 04/12/2009, 01:01 PM

OK red slime popped up in my 90 reef after i removed some of the sand bed. I removed it many times and performed multiple and massive water changes with RO/DI water and reef crystals salt and increased water flow and instead of going away it just changed color to a dirty brown slime. Finally i decided to add chemiclean as a last resort and its sort of a clear/yellow color now but it's still there. I have a 10 gallon sump and a 20 gallon fuge where i grow chaeto and caluerpa. Nitrates 0, Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0, Phosphate 0, SG 1.026, pH 8.3, temp 80, calcium 380 @ 8 dkh.

The nitrates and phosphates I did have disappeared after I added the chaeto. Now that the slime wont go away a new problem arose at the same time. Red Bubble algae is all over 1 rock. I now realize that my sand bed was so old that i released alot of organic material and excess nutrients into the water column and also noticed that the sand i removed smelled like sulfur. In 15 years I have never had this severe of an issue and now I'm kimda stuck.

Any help is greatly appreciated!!

GrimReefer82 · 04/12/2009, 08:17 PM

any ideas?

sikpupy · 04/12/2009, 09:15 PM

Its easter today bro, give it a little time.

Carbon
skimming
GFO reactor

and of course water changes come to mind.

GrimReefer82 · 04/12/2009, 09:42 PM

yea i know it's easter i just didn't think about it.

I've been running my skimmer wet and using carbon also. Just kinda out of ideas....almost thinking about using poly-ox to try and remove some dissolved organics from the water. Heck maybe I will sugar or vodka dose

mat167 · 04/12/2009, 11:50 PM

Stay heavy on the water changes and change the carbon frequently. Carbon dosing will possibly increase the cyano. How much time has elapsed since the beginning of this? I'd say try to interfere as little as possible for a while. Give it a month and see what happens.

VacavilleFC3S · 04/13/2009, 04:39 AM

sounds like you need more flow to me

faze07hd · 04/13/2009, 06:58 AM

screw the more flow, That didnt work in my case. It only grows in high flow areas. I would say to lower your nitrates and phosphates to 0!!! whatever you can do to get them there should kill it.

mat167 · 04/13/2009, 04:22 PM

^agreed, more flow usually doesn't solve anything, although it might help keep detritus from settling. If you don't have that problem to begin with I doubt it'll help.

GrimReefer82 · 04/13/2009, 09:44 PM

It only grows in high flow areas like directly in front of a powerhead. Funny thing is there is a small amount of detritus in a few spots on the sand bed and there is no slime there. I agree that increasing flow is absolutely not even a partial remedy to the problem.

It is slowly getting better so I guess I'm gonna wait it out, as of today it is exclusively in the fuge. I have only been battling this problem for a month and I have had nearly perfect water the whole time. I'm thinking that maybe I should buy an 02 meter so I can tell if there is alot of dissolved organics. I just performed a 20% water change and replaced the 3 day old carbon...LOL

Oh and my nitrates and phosphates are 0!!!

mat167 · 04/13/2009, 10:21 PM

Good to hear that you're getting a handle on things. N and P levels indicated by test kits are not always reliable when there is an abundance of nuisance algae, because the algae may be using up whatever nutrients are present before they can be tested for. If it is only in the fuge, I'd say your problem is very close to being resolved.

Flipper62 · 04/13/2009, 10:27 PM

Here are 2 great articals on dealing with CyanoBacteria

http://www.reefcentral.com/wp/?p=288

http://netclub.athiel.com/cyano/cyanos2.htm

jenglish · 04/13/2009, 11:58 PM

I have always been a fan of the 3 day blackout followed by a big waterchange. Blackout causes the cyano to die back and release it's nutrients into the water, WC gets it out. After that you can wittle the nutrient down continually but I like the head start of a blackout. Corals and nems tolerate a 3 day blackout well. my .02

SMOOTHIE · 04/14/2009, 12:36 AM

I have delt with this and my buddy is currently dealing with this. Hate to suggest it, but go chemical. Red Slime Remover actually works exactly like what it states

joshh81 · 04/14/2009, 12:10 PM

I am fighting the same dang thing. I won the cyano war that had been fought back and forth for about 3 weeks. Now all thats left is this thin brown slime that ONLY grows in high flow areas. I scrub it off daily and have been doing 20 % water changes every week to try and get rid of it. PO4 = 0 and nitrates hardly register if at all on the test kits.

GrimReefer82... if you find a solution to this please let me know. I dont know what else to do.

GrimReefer82 · 04/14/2009, 08:41 PM

the boyds chemiclean red slime remover did the trick along with water changes! slime is completely gone!

now im gonna hold on and hope it doesn't relapse or something.

joshh81 · 04/15/2009, 10:23 AM

I have the same thing. I tried taking a picture of it. Its on the snails shell. It only grows in high flow areas on rocks and snail shells nothing I do gets rid of it. NOTHING!! I dont understand what is feeding it. The PO4 is 0 and Nitrates are basicly 0 from 2 different test sets. Protein skimmer is skimmer super wet now and lights are only 3 months old.

This crap still grows. It looks green in the picture but its the camera. Its a brown film that if you look closely in person you can see it looks kind of like gel hair algae but its not.

GrimReefer82 · 04/15/2009, 04:55 PM

use red slime remover! josh it's the only thing that has worked for me and appears to be your only shot. that slime is a bacteria not an algae so it will be difficult to remove without an antibiotic. think about it this way....almost any bacteria can live purely on oxygen and light in a warm moist environment ; so what makes this any different? just be careful to follow the instructions exactly so it doesn't affect your bilogical filter and you will be fine. The only change to the instructions I would suggest is to manually remove as much of it as possible with a net before treatment.

04/12/2009, 01:01 PM	#1
GrimReefer82 Roll Tide!!! Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Tuscaloosa, AL Posts: 341	Slime problem. Not going away. Grrrrrrr OK red slime popped up in my 90 reef after i removed some of the sand bed. I removed it many times and performed multiple and massive water changes with RO/DI water and reef crystals salt and increased water flow and instead of going away it just changed color to a dirty brown slime. Finally i decided to add chemiclean as a last resort and its sort of a clear/yellow color now but it's still there. I have a 10 gallon sump and a 20 gallon fuge where i grow chaeto and caluerpa. Nitrates 0, Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0, Phosphate 0, SG 1.026, pH 8.3, temp 80, calcium 380 @ 8 dkh. The nitrates and phosphates I did have disappeared after I added the chaeto. Now that the slime wont go away a new problem arose at the same time. Red Bubble algae is all over 1 rock. I now realize that my sand bed was so old that i released alot of organic material and excess nutrients into the water column and also noticed that the sand i removed smelled like sulfur. In 15 years I have never had this severe of an issue and now I'm kimda stuck. Any help is greatly appreciated!!

04/12/2009, 08:17 PM	#2
GrimReefer82 Roll Tide!!! Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Tuscaloosa, AL Posts: 341	any ideas? __________________ ~Chris~ Current Tank Info: 40 breeder mixed reef

04/13/2009, 06:58 AM	#7
faze07hd Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Utica, Ny Posts: 914	screw the more flow, That didnt work in my case. It only grows in high flow areas. I would say to lower your nitrates and phosphates to 0!!! whatever you can do to get them there should kill it. __________________ Harry Current Tank Info: 90 gallon reef tank

04/13/2009, 10:27 PM	#11
Flipper62 Premium Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Naperville, Il. Business Owner, President & CEO Posts: 3,045	Here are 2 great articals on dealing with CyanoBacteria http://www.reefcentral.com/wp/?p=288 http://netclub.athiel.com/cyano/cyanos2.htm __________________ If todays automobile had followed the same development as the computer, A Rolls Royce would cost $100.00. It would get a million miles per gallon, but it would explode once a year killing everyone inside." Current Tanks... 90 gal Reef... My awesome Office BioCube....( 180 was on hold ..no time ) ... The 180 gal has been sold...Yay..yay..yay. Hobby Experience: 19 years Reef...22 years FW

04/13/2009, 11:58 PM	#12
jenglish Marquis de Carabas Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Evansville, IN Posts: 2,523	I have always been a fan of the 3 day blackout followed by a big waterchange. Blackout causes the cyano to die back and release it's nutrients into the water, WC gets it out. After that you can wittle the nutrient down continually but I like the head start of a blackout. Corals and nems tolerate a 3 day blackout well. my .02 __________________ Jeremy Brown liquor never hurt anybody “Je n'ai pas besoin de cette hypothèse" Pierre-Simon Laplace I should want to cook him a simple meal, but I shouldn't want to cut into him, to tear the flesh, to wear the flesh, to be born unto new worlds where his flesh becomes my key. Current Tank Info: broken and dry

04/12/2009, 09:15 PM	#3
sikpupy Moved On Join Date: Jul 2008 Posts: 1,431	Its easter today bro, give it a little time. Carbon skimming GFO reactor and of course water changes come to mind.

04/12/2009, 09:42 PM	#4
GrimReefer82 Roll Tide!!! Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Tuscaloosa, AL Posts: 341	yea i know it's easter i just didn't think about it. I've been running my skimmer wet and using carbon also. Just kinda out of ideas....almost thinking about using poly-ox to try and remove some dissolved organics from the water. Heck maybe I will sugar or vodka dose

04/12/2009, 11:50 PM	#5
mat167 Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Montreal, South-Shore Posts: 473	Stay heavy on the water changes and change the carbon frequently. Carbon dosing will possibly increase the cyano. How much time has elapsed since the beginning of this? I'd say try to interfere as little as possible for a while. Give it a month and see what happens.

04/13/2009, 04:39 AM	#6
VacavilleFC3S Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Vacaville California Posts: 2,613	sounds like you need more flow to me

04/13/2009, 04:22 PM	#8
mat167 Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Montreal, South-Shore Posts: 473	^agreed, more flow usually doesn't solve anything, although it might help keep detritus from settling. If you don't have that problem to begin with I doubt it'll help.

04/13/2009, 09:44 PM	#9
GrimReefer82 Roll Tide!!! Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Tuscaloosa, AL Posts: 341	It only grows in high flow areas like directly in front of a powerhead. Funny thing is there is a small amount of detritus in a few spots on the sand bed and there is no slime there. I agree that increasing flow is absolutely not even a partial remedy to the problem. It is slowly getting better so I guess I'm gonna wait it out, as of today it is exclusively in the fuge. I have only been battling this problem for a month and I have had nearly perfect water the whole time. I'm thinking that maybe I should buy an 02 meter so I can tell if there is alot of dissolved organics. I just performed a 20% water change and replaced the 3 day old carbon...LOL Oh and my nitrates and phosphates are 0!!!

04/13/2009, 10:21 PM	#10
mat167 Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Montreal, South-Shore Posts: 473	Good to hear that you're getting a handle on things. N and P levels indicated by test kits are not always reliable when there is an abundance of nuisance algae, because the algae may be using up whatever nutrients are present before they can be tested for. If it is only in the fuge, I'd say your problem is very close to being resolved.

04/14/2009, 12:36 AM	#13
SMOOTHIE Premium Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Valdosta GA Posts: 498	I have delt with this and my buddy is currently dealing with this. Hate to suggest it, but go chemical. Red Slime Remover actually works exactly like what it states

04/14/2009, 12:10 PM	#14
joshh81 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 113	I am fighting the same dang thing. I won the cyano war that had been fought back and forth for about 3 weeks. Now all thats left is this thin brown slime that ONLY grows in high flow areas. I scrub it off daily and have been doing 20 % water changes every week to try and get rid of it. PO4 = 0 and nitrates hardly register if at all on the test kits. GrimReefer82... if you find a solution to this please let me know. I dont know what else to do.

04/14/2009, 08:41 PM	#15
GrimReefer82 Roll Tide!!! Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Tuscaloosa, AL Posts: 341	the boyds chemiclean red slime remover did the trick along with water changes! slime is completely gone! now im gonna hold on and hope it doesn't relapse or something.

04/15/2009, 10:23 AM	#16
joshh81 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 113	I have the same thing. I tried taking a picture of it. Its on the snails shell. It only grows in high flow areas on rocks and snail shells nothing I do gets rid of it. NOTHING!! I dont understand what is feeding it. The PO4 is 0 and Nitrates are basicly 0 from 2 different test sets. Protein skimmer is skimmer super wet now and lights are only 3 months old. This crap still grows. It looks green in the picture but its the camera. Its a brown film that if you look closely in person you can see it looks kind of like gel hair algae but its not.

04/15/2009, 04:55 PM	#17
GrimReefer82 Roll Tide!!! Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Tuscaloosa, AL Posts: 341	use red slime remover! josh it's the only thing that has worked for me and appears to be your only shot. that slime is a bacteria not an algae so it will be difficult to remove without an antibiotic. think about it this way....almost any bacteria can live purely on oxygen and light in a warm moist environment ; so what makes this any different? just be careful to follow the instructions exactly so it doesn't affect your bilogical filter and you will be fine. The only change to the instructions I would suggest is to manually remove as much of it as possible with a net before treatment. Last edited by GrimReefer82; 04/15/2009 at 05:34 PM.