red slime! please help!

[beeguiles]

Okay so I am having some issues with a red slime breakout. Soo I purchased a Rio nano skimmer bc that's what I could afford for now. It's a little under kill for a 29 gallon. I have the bio modules and sponge in the aquaclear right now. I took the carbon out of both the skimmer and the aquaclear bc i am treating the slime with melafix. The store was out of red slime remover so this was recommended instead since the slime isnt a true algae but a bacteria. The melafix seems to be slowing the slime growth but not getting rid of it completely. It had only been two days though. My question is....I was told to only use carbon in the aquaclear. But on the other hand I was told it will reach max capacity in a week and then to take it out or else it will leach phosphates into the water. So idk what to do. Should I stop using the melafix and turn on the skimmer and put the carbon back and take the sponge and modules out? Is that going to help more than medicating the tank. Before I was using melafix I had to suck up the slime everyday. I don't want to keep doing that. It uses a lot of salt. Idk what to do. This is very irritating. I also put this thread in the equipment sections bc I wasn't sure where to put it.

 

[SeaBee]

Red Slime Algae (Cyanobacteria) - Description, causes and cures for Red Slime Algae (Cyanobacteria)

 

[beeguiles]

Thanks seabee. Looks like I'm going to be spending another few hundred bucks just to get rid of this stupid slime... I need a better skimmer and a powerhead. Sucks that I don't have money for anything right now..

 

[Bifferwine]

I don't think you need to upgrade equipment just yet.

I also think you should stop the meds -- I've never heard of Melafix doing anything for cyanobacteria. The red slime medications do work, but the cyano tends to become resistant to them after repeated uses, so you may be shooting yourself in the foot if you take that route. In any case, I don't think Melafix will get rid of it -- antibiotics are tailored to specific bacteria. Otherwise you could kill all the beneficial bacteria in your tank.

Are you using tap water? If so, that can lead to cyano problems. Start doing your water changes with RODI water to eventually replace all the initial tap water.

Also, do you have enough flow? Lack of powerheads often can lead to cyano breakouts in certain areas.

You have been doing the right thing by removing as much of it by hand as you can, but that is painstaking and time consuming. Cyano is photosynthetic, so do a black out for 3 to 4 days -- cover the tank in a blanket or sheet if it gets ambient light. Only turn the light on for about 30 minutes a day to feed your fish and check on things. During that time, remove as much of it by hand as you can, and continue to do regular water changes. As the cyano dies, it's going to rot in your tank and pollute the water, which starts the problem all over again. So get rid of it as it dies via water changes and removal by hand. See if things look better after the black out.

 

[beeguiles]

Yea I am using tap right now. My lfs gives out RO water for free though. I guess I need to get some buckets to bring to the store. Will the blackout hurt my corals? I have xenia, zoas, hammer, mushrooms. Also i have a maxi mini nem and bubble tip nem. Can they go without light? As for the powerhead. I have none right now. Just the flow from the filter and skimmer. I just looked up this powerhead called koralia evolution. Have you any expirience with this? I found it for a good price. Also what size powerhead should I have?

 

[Northstar24]

I would stop Melafix immediately. I used it to treat a sick fish, and it kept my skimmer from foaming and thats when the red plauge showed up in my tank. I dont know who told you that it would work on cyano, but I think they were just trying to get you to part with some of your hard earned money.

Sarah has you covered. Manually suck / scape / pull out as much as you can, make sure that you're source water is good (just becasue a LFS says its RO water, doesnt mean the filters are up to date, they periodically need to be tested)

I would also make sure you have enough flow in the tank, and that you dont have any dead spots

A blackout for a few days will not hurt your corals, there are times on the reefs where sunlight is scarace (after a storm or a tsunami for example)

 

[little_fish]

Re: filter media for aquaclear HOB?

Please note, i moved this over from your other thread, so some of it is a little redundant. Please dont create multiple threads about the same subject.

For starters, i do believe you are using tap water right? Switch to RO/DI water so you stop feeding the bacteria.

Second, by using the malifix/red slime remover you have created strains of the bacteria that are resistant to those products and you are going to have to beat the now super bacteria a different way.

The best way to beat cyano (which is the red bacteria) is by nutrient export. Turn your skimmer back on. And i have never heard of skimmer that requires carbon. But it wont hurt to have it as long as you are changing it out for fresh every 3 or 4 days.

I would suck out as much as you can by hand, do a 3 day black out, do another large water change, and 3 more days of blackout followed by yet another water change.

Cut down your photoperiod and how much you are feeding.

 

[beeguiles]

Thanks guys. I will try what you guys have said. Sorry bout posting it twice. A blackout isn't going to hurt anemones right? You said iy won't hurt corals but what about nems? Prlly the same...they don't get light all the time in the ocean either. The skimmer has one of those small filter cartridges. Am I safe to leave the sponge and bio pellets in the filter? Or are these going to cause nitrates?

 

[little_fish]

The nem should be fine. And as long as you are regularly cleaning the sponge and bio pellets (to be honest im not 100% sure about how they work to say so) it should be fine to leave them in there.

All those filter media things, like carbon pads, sponge pad ets, are fine for you tank. They cause issues when they arent cleaned often enough, which is like every 3 or 4 days. Most people dont have the time to do that. You see, they stay in the flow of the water, so the larger particles they trap, rot and then the nitrates and other smaller compounds are free to be washed back into the tank.

 

[beeguiles]

I do water changes once a week and when i do my wc I clean out the filter media as well. I hope this OS often enough.

 

[Bifferwine]

I think using better water, adding more flow (the Koralia Evos are great - I use them on my tank) and doing a blackout will help a lot. The nems will be fine without light for a few days.

 

[Toolman]

Thanks seabee. Looks like I'm going to be spending another few hundred bucks just to get rid of this stupid slime... I need a better skimmer and a powerhead. Sucks that I don't have money for anything right now..

I have used a Rio Nano in my 29 gallon since I finnished my first cycle it works pretty good for the price some will say you don't even need a skimmer. Ask SeeBee he was in my office yesterday talking about tanks and fragging...You talked about carbon I thought you needed to turn off the skimmer and remove all carbon before using red slime remover saw you were using a different kind but do the same rules apply? good luck.

 

[beeguiles]

Biff, I sucked as much of the slime out as I could today and put The carbon back in and turned the skimmer on. The carbon should be okay for a few days. It's a new one. I turned the lights off and its a blackout! The fish prlly think they're being punished lol. I will do this for three days and then do a water change like you said and then blackout for another three days and another water change. During all this I am ordering that koralia evo powerhead and the red sea prism deluxe skimmer. That one is rated up to 40 gallons and I don't think the Rio is cutting it. Soo I will update you all on how it looks in three days! Thanks for all the advice. I was really starting to get mad about this stupid slime!

 

[Bifferwine]

The Prism is not a very good skimmer. You may better off with what you have now! I honestly don't think it has anything to do with your skimmer. You can run a small tank wihout one.

 

[beeguiles]

You are right. I just read the reviews and I'm not getting that one lol. Do you think its okay to stay with the Rio? You don't think its too small? It's rated for up to 20 gallons. Is it taking a good amount of proteins out?

 

[Bifferwine]

Are you getting stuff in the collection cup?

 

[Toolman]

It's soooo nice to be noticed.........:frustrat:

 

[beeguiles]

Sorry toolman yes I did take the carbon out and I was using melafix but i stopped using it and I put the carbon back in and turned the skimmer back on bc j am Doug a blackout now. And biff yes I am getting a ton of foam. I had to dump out the cup bc it was full in not even an hour. Is this bad? I think its bc of the melafix. I have to goto work and I don't want it over flowing when I'm gone...

 

[little_fish]

ya, thats because of the melafix. Once that is out of the water, it should calm down.

 

[Toolman]

Sorry toolman yes I did take the carbon out and I was using melafix but i stopped using it and I put the carbon back in and turned the skimmer back on bc j am Doug a blackout now. And biff yes I am getting a ton of foam. I had to dump out the cup bc it was full in not even an hour. Is this bad? I think its bc of the melafix. I have to goto work and I don't want it over flowing when I'm gone...

Turn back the top if the pickup on the skimmer if the foam is climbing up too fast you are just getting wet foam from the needle wheel try to set it so the foam only comes 1/2 way up the venture then you will start seeing all the neat little green speckled stuff and you will never forget the smell of the stuff you will know when you are there when the bottom of the collection cup has all this nice brownish green colored liquid.....It's a ok skimmer but a bear to tweak it. And don't forget to rinse that filter with the carbon in it every week and make sure you reverse flush it when you do with rodi water or replace it you can buy them in a 6 pax online. :Cheers: