red slime won't go away

[adam1969]

tank is 4 months old. first brown algae then red slime. I used red slime remover and looked like it worked but over night and all day the brown algae is building on sand . I used phosphate remover i don't think that helped carbon is running. water changes weekly to help water condition . when I do water change it seems to help for few day. water condition is good . I'm going crazy what else can I do to get rid of brown algae . Any suggestions are greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[bertoni]

The problem is that the tank has too many nutrients going into the water column for the filtration to export. Growing and harvesting a macroalga is one common approach. Better skimming is another option. What's in the tank in the way of livestock, filtration, live rock, etc?

[fatdaddy]

What are your water parameters at? Namely phosphate and nitrate?

There are two sides to the equation: Input and Output.

For input, first, test your source water and make sure it's free of phosphates. Even my distilled water had 1 ppm which builds up concentration from evaporation and adding more top off. Then you prevent phosphates and nitrates by avoiding organic decay and that's where the value of moderating stocking and feeding as well as removal of wastes via skimming and filtration.

For output, you can either grow macro algae in your tank or fug. Or, you can use a phosphate remover. Assuming your phosphate input isn't too bad, you should be able to remove it with a phosphate reactor. I found Two Fishes Phosban to work the best for me. 200g lasts me about a month. I can definitely see a difference when it runs out. It also removes silicates which will keep your diatoms under control.

Also, adding Kalkwasser will precipitate phosphate and make your skimmer more efficient. I'd recommend it w/ a drip line. For a simple way to try it, you can make a siphon out of airline tubing w/ a knot in it. No more then 2 drips/sec.

[adam1969]

I have 215 lb LR 30 sump with fuge this is berlin sump 36" skimmer . fuge grows good but flow is little low because everything moves around . (is flow should be stronger ?). PH 8.1 NO3 2.5 NO2 0 ammonia 0.25 this is four day after water change. I have five fishes .couple corals snails cleaner shrimps.

[bertoni]

I would get that ammonia reading double-checked. Even that small level can be dangerous.

How much is being harvested out of the refugium, and how often? How much is being fed?

[drummereef]

What water source are you using, tap or RO/DI? Diatoms are feed by silica brought in by the water source. If you use RO/DI water and the TDS isn't 0, you are feeding the algae.

[demonsp]

Are you useing tap water and are you sure its red slime ? Also you added phospate remover but what was phosphate reading ? Red slime loves tap water .

[adam1969]

bertoni fuge is not harvested out yet because their is only 40% of micro algae so when do I harvest. what do you mean by feeding. You mean feeding to the tank? if that is it maybe some goes to the tank but not much . their is flow but everything stays in fuge and it grows pretty good .Is the movement should be stronger?. I'm using ro/di water. It is well water I did not check ro/di water for phos. I thought is ok . by i will do that . What TDS stands for .

[bertoni]

I was interested in how much food is being fed into the main tank per day. TDS stands for Total Dissolved Solids, and is a measurement of how well the RO-DI unit is working.

[adam1969]

feeding once a day about 2 to 3 tsps brine shrimp and alternate with formula one flake food .I also use frozen formula one. I switch this every two. Who do I check TDS.

[bertoni]

That's a lot of food! What fish are in the tank, and what size are they?

There are TDS meters for sale by various vendors. Spectrapure.com sells a couple, and many other sponsors sell them as well.

[adam1969]

yellow tang 2.5" sailfin tang 1.5" blue tang 2.5" two clowns 1.5" (yellow stripe) sand sifter 3" spotted mandarin goby 1.5" harlequin tusk wrasse 3" blue damsel 1.5" marine betta grouper 3" 3 cleaner shrimps and 15 snails. Thanks for all your help.

[elegance coral]

The experts agree on one thing with red slime. That is, they can cause nitrate to rise in the tank. Some don't agree on how this is done though.
For me the first thing is to kill it and get it out of the tank. I don't agree with medicating reefs except for red slime infestations. I use the red slime remover from my LFS then do a large water change in two days. After the red slime is dead and gone I address the issue of what caused the nutrient overload in the first place.

[bertoni]

I don't know that red slime can raise the nitrate level in a tank. That might be possible.

The various red slime removers have been known to crash tanks, so use with caution. The red slime can also return very quickly.

I'd probably cut the feeding in half or even more, personally.

[MTB]

I have battled Red Slime before. All I did was up the flow to trouble spots. It comes and goes still but it is gone the next day. That is a lot of food to be feeding. I feed a cube of mysis every other day. How many GPH are you turning over?

[alexb518]

phosphates, slicates, lack of flow, over feedings, old halide bulbs, etc. all cause this problem. do you filter feed, and if so, what kind do you use, and how often? do you filter feed on days you feed fish food? this can be a leading factor as well. remember, this is not algae...it's a photosynthetic bacteria that feeds in your tank.

[adam1969]

yes I do feed them same time and use kent marina filter food. sounds like i do feed them to much .Flow I have two vortech pumps and turned half way that is about 1500 gal X2 one seio 1100 and rest is from main pump. How much flow should I have.

[elegance coral]

Originally posted by bertoni
I don't know that red slime can raise the nitrate level in a tank. That might be possible.

Sprung and Delbeek touch on the subject in their first volume of the Reef Aquarium pages 33 and 34. I have read many articles on this but it would take me for ever to find them.

The various red slime removers have been known to crash tanks, so use with caution. The red slime can also return very quickly.

This is very true, never happened to me directly, but any time you add an antibiotic to an aquarium you run the risk of damaging the bio. filter. This is why I do a large water change in two days.

I'd probably cut the feeding in half or even more, personally.

This is the best advice in the thread. Nutrient control is the only way to keep this problem in check. Also make sure your protein skimmer is adjusted correctly and large enough for your system.

Just my 2cents. Good luck.

[adam1969]

thanks everyone for all your help.

[adam1969]

one more thing would UV light be any help?

[bertoni]

UV is unlikely to do anything useful.