Red slime

[hnokaoi]

What is the best product to use to get rid of red slime? I have a reef tank. Thank you.

[Geoff]

hard work.

there are a lot of quick fix products out there that just make the problem worse. it is better to just crank up the skimmer so that it is pulling more skimmate out. it is also a good idea to pull more detritus out when doing the water changes. you should get all under the LR where it can hide. it is also better to wait till it gets thick and nasty than siphon it all out at once, that way you are pulling out all of its biomass, removing the nutrients it needs to survive.

quick fixes tend to kill the bacteria causing the cyano, but can also kill the bacteria keeping the tank alive. your tank can recycle putting your critters through another ammonia/nitrite/nitrate spike again. also when it dies suddenly like that it releases all of its bound nutrients back into the water column. here it will stay untill the quick fix wears off, at this point it will come back with a vengence.

G~

[REEFSTOCK]

Ya, don't use a product, get through the cycle.

[cobray]

I've been dealing with it myself lately. I am following the above advice and it seems to be working just fine. One thing Geoff didn't mention was to increase the flow in the tank to get the nutrients up in the water column where it can be skimmed out.

[partobe]

water changes with ro water

[Hardhead Cat]

You also might check your phosphate levels - - if you don't have a phosphate test kit then ask your LFS to do it for you. When I had a red slime algae bloom in my tank it was because my phosphates were out of control.

HHC

[Loverotties]

Lower nutrients and add more flow.