Red Slime Algae
The 1st thing that needs to be done is to identify the particular difficulty as either red algae, diatoms, cynobacteria, etc. once identified you should then go to the helpful articles and read all articles on algae, new setups, ect. once you have complete that you should have an understanding as to why things happen and what contributes to them. if at that time you still have problems come back here and post any remaining questions. Make sure you do not add anything to your system that will kill the biological bed in your system. Most additives will also kill the good with the bad and not correct the cause. You should do a complete test of nitrates, phosphates, silica, ammonia, nitrite, specific gravity, hardness, assess lighting regime and spectrum. provide all your tests here and we will try to help, but, I really thing if you visit the helpful articles you will find your answer there in one or more of the articles. An understanding of what causes these outbreaks is needed in order to enjoy long term success in dealing with these out breaks. keep us posted on your progress and if you resolve your problem let us know what procedure you used. oh, and you should use a 1/4" hose or so and carfully siphon out as much of the slime algae as you can during water changes. hope this helps. Again thanks for the question and do post your process as others will be interested in how you resolve your problem. If need be feel free to pm or e-mail me. Good luck
After thought. Rather than using a liquid I would recommend a red algae filter pad in the filter for short term assistance. Can be purchased at one of the mail order outlets such as Marine Depot, Dr. Foster&Smith, Etc., or your local lfs. Stirring the substrait was not a smart recommendation so Im not sure of the expertise of the lfs you are talking to. If you need more specific recommendation for filter pad pm or e mail me. maybe others will weigh in on this thread also.
