Red slimey algae

[MALLY]

Hi folkes me again, i have had a massive out break of red algae that is covering my lives sand and rock i tested all my water parameters and all is well. no sooner do i manually clear this it returns you can actually watch the sand turn red. Is there any way to solve this.

 

[Lorna]

Sounds like the dreaded cyanobacteria outbreak which affects all of us it seems at one time or another. This is very common in newly established tanks and not sure what livestock you have in your tank but high nitrates/phosphates and other nutrients add to it so I would recommend reducing the amount you are feeding, increase the amount of flow with additional powerheads waterchanges to reduce the amount of nutrients. Even though you may be testing low for these they are being used by the cyano and therefore may not be measurable.

 

[MALLY]

Red Algae

Many thanks to Lorna i will put the plan into action soonest

 

[SALTY WATERS]

Yes that is cyanobacteria (Aka. "RED SLIME ALGEA") as Lorna stated above. One important thing I will add on top of what she has recommended. Cyanobacteria is photosynthetic and you should therefor reduce the amount of time you run your light cycle at this point until you get it under control.

 

[Lorna]

yes I did think of that but hesitated as I wasn't sure what was in the tank......just because when you turn out the lights you can't see the slime it is still there......remove what ever you can by siphoning it out and at the same time you are stepping up your water changes......

 

[Kenster]

cut your lights for two or three days. It'll go away

 

[1979camaro]

And then it will come back...simply shutting down the lights only removes the symptom for a little while, you need to deal with the cause.

 

[azfishgal]

Like said above you need to take care of the cause, BUT if it really gets out of control you can use Chemiclean Red Slime Remover. Just make sure you follow the instructions to a "T". I have used it in my 125 reef tank and it worked like a charm. It did come back after about a month, but not near as bad and at that point I was doing much better with my water changes and reducing feedings. Oh, and turn off your skimmer, it will drive it nuts. I waited 48 hours and two water changes later before turning it back on, and even then it will take a few hours to get back to normal. Again, it won't take away the cause of your Red Slime, but it will get rid of it fast.

 

[mountaindew]

I had the same problem.What I did was suck out as much as you can,brush it off the live rock and turn your lights off for about 4 days and a water change and that fixed my problem