Evil red slime

L

Lucas Kane

AC Members
Oct 10, 2005
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Hey guys I just got my moms 20 gallon cycled and a red slime algae has taken over. Its pretty bad I tried using Chemi clean but it has not done anything.

what do you think I should try next?
There is nothing in the tank yet just live rock and sand so if its something harsh it should be ok.

here is a pic of what im dealing with. its like that all over the tank :(

IM000792.jpg
 
Red slime algae is caused by 1 of 3 things.

1. High nutrients (usually from over feeding, or the use of tap water)
2. To much lighting. Try cutting back on your lighting. Reccommended to have about 8-9 hours of lighting per day.
3. Not enough of a current in the tank. Add some more powerheads and get the water moving more in the aquarium. If not all excess nutrients will just settle to the bottom and feed the Red slime AKA Cyanobacteria.
 
Thanks USCavalry19d. I will try a combination of all those things. High nutrients should not be a problem because im not putting any food in.

but i will try leaving the light off for a few days or weeks. Don’t have the cash for another power head just now so I will move the one I have lower and angle it towards the rock.

Thanks again I will post if this still does not work.
 
I wouldn’t recommend shutting the lights off completely. You can go to wal-mart or something like wal-mart and buy a timer for like 5 or 6 bucks. Just put your lighting on a timer and have the lights be on for about 8-9 hours a day. Also it will take a while for the Red slime to fully dissipate, usually about 1-2 months sometimes longer. If you shut the lighting off all together the Cyanobacteria Will just end up blooming again when the lights kick back on. Also I would have to deter you from trying all three of the causes at once because if you do that then you will not know what was causing the spikes originally.
 
I added another powerhead, and it solved my problems.
 
WeeNe858 said:
most algae seem to thrive with phostphates involved.. try testing for that .. water circulationa dn lighting are also culprites.. (like above)
Click to expand...

Phosphate is a compound of Phosphorus, one of the top 14 out of 70 trace elements found in natural sea water that are considered to be essential for saltwater aquarium and reef tank systems. However, it is also a primary "nutrient" source for many forms of algae, particularly green hair species, so when high concentrations are allowed to accumulate in an aquarium, it then opens the door for aggressive algae blooms to occur.
 
Ok thank you I will buy the timer today.

I don’t have RO/DI unit so I just get my Saltwater and deionized freshwater from the LFS. they pretty much just through it in for free cuz I bought my tank there and buy other stuff with the water most the time. I don’t know if they are using tap water I can ask.
 
USCavalry19d said:
Red slime algae is caused by 1 of 3 things.

1. High nutrients (usually from over feeding, or the use of tap water)
2. To much lighting. Try cutting back on your lighting. Reccommended to have about 8-9 hours of lighting per day.
3. Not enough of a current in the tank. Add some more powerheads and get the water moving more in the aquarium. If not all excess nutrients will just settle to the bottom and feed the Red slime AKA Cyanobacteria.
Click to expand...



Exactly....


An RO unit and extra water circulation helped get rid of mine.


The only chemical I tried that worked like a charm, is

"Red Slime Control" by "Blue Life"..

our 185 gallon was full of Cyano, so I tried this stuff, within a couple of days, all the cyano was completely gone...

One thing to remember, if you decide to use the stuff, turn off your protien skimmer during the treatment. . .
 
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