red slime...=(

[fox2589]

well red slime has covered my sand bed....and a little bit on my rocks...it appeared after using distilled water from kroger....?i cut down on feeding a lot and dad a water change and it hasnt went away in about 3 weeks..does anyone know anything about this red slime control?let me know thanks-drew

[fox2589]

anybody?

[crvz]

20 minutes too long of a wait?

Red slime control usually wipes out a LOT of bacteria in the tank (which is how it works), so I don't necessarily recommend it except as a last resort. Can you describe the rest of your filtration and are you using RO/DI water now?

[fox2589]

Sorry for the impatience =)(just drives me nuts not knowing the solutions to some of these things lol)(20 gallon tank)RODI always...i used distilled water last week because i couldnt get RO(have been doing 5 gallon water changes once a week)...nitrates are at zero(dont know if thats even a factor but its the only test i have...still) i only feed about once every 3 days...my light cycle is about 7 hours...i run an aqua C remora with maxi jet 1200...im guessing phosphates are the issue...all corals actually look very nice...just have this nasty slime everywhere..thanks -drew

[fox2589]

update/bump-i have decided to do a 3 day blackout and see if that helps anything then im going to siphon out the rest in a water change and see if that solves some problems..if that doesnt work im prob gonna order the red slime remover..i plan on adding some new coral additions soon and i hate having this crap in there...any other suggestions before using the slime remover? thank -drew

[jenglish]

nitrates will read 0 if all the nitrates are bound up in cyano. Physical removal or a blackout followed by a big WC (when nutrients are no longer bound up). How is your flow? Cyano needs relatively calm spot to settle and form up. They also flourish when lights get old or when there is a sudden change in lights, food etc. Cyano are small and thus adapt to change faster.

[fox2589]

for flow i have 2 rio superflow 530 gph pumps...and a koralia nano..plus runoff from 295 gph skimmer pump...i havent ever seen a dead spot...r u saying that the blackout is not the way to handle it?(honestly i planned the blackout anyway because everyone tells me its good for the system but i was thinking it should help...

[aquawolf]

The blackout has helped many people. It may not get rid of it completely though so be aware of that and be prepared with a water change when you turn the lights back on. Since this is a bacteria, it may always be present in your tank even though it does not show itself in force all the time.

I wish you the best with your blackout and hope it does the trick for you.

[fox2589]

thank u mike and im gonna do the light turn on and waterchange tomm so im hoping i see a sandbed lol..-drew

[aquawolf]

Here's hoping you see a sandbed that is a color other than red. :cheers:

[fox2589]

well i just took a look at the tank and did my 5 gallon waterchange...i am pretty amazed by how much was gone!there was only like 3 small peices when i turned the light on..!lets just hope it doesnt come back....



keep in mind the entire sand bed was covered with long strands of red slime...so im thinking my lighting alone could have been the problem??(good news is im gonna be adding some more corals so this may actually start to look decent) -drew

[aquawolf]

Congrats!

That is a huge improvement.