[eileen]

I have had my 125 gallon tank since may 2003. Recently I noticed that I am unable to keep the alkalinity and Ph in order. I developed red slime on the rocks. I thought it was a pretty algae. Duh! It got out of control along with green hair. I treated it with chemiclean red slime remover without immediate results and decided to remove it by hand. within 12 hours I lost 2 fish and numerous snails.

Ok the alkalinity ph problem has been fixed with B-ionic 30 cc every 3 days and frequent water changes of 30 gallons every 7-10 days. Unfortunately I can't keep a snail alive for the life of me. I bought a sea hare nudibranch that lasted 6 weeks and did an amazing job of cleaning up the green hair algae. Now he too has died and the green hair is growing again. my water tests clear for nitrite and nitrates we have decreased the lights by half for over 6 weeks without results.

My dilemma is that I need more detrus eaters desperately, but the more that die in the tank the worse the polution problem gets. Should I continue to treat for red slime even though I can't see it, assuming it is still on the rocks killing the snails? Should I simply buy lots more hermit crabs since they don't seem to be affected and continue to live? Should I get another nudibranch instead of snails for as long as he lasts? Can anyone tell me why my alkalinity got so screwed up in the first place?

[jvharding]

Where is your water supply coming from? You should be using RO/DI water. I also use a silicate remover on mine. The water changes should be helping but it sounds like there is problem with the water going in. High Phosphates I believe will cause slime to appear.

[eileen]

The water comes directly from my tap. I add dechlorinator. I haven't had a problem with the water before this. Is there a special test for phosphates? If I don't see any red slime could it still be there killing the snails?

[viperdragon666]

i have red slime in my tank and everything test great and i cant get rid of it but the only reason i can see y your snails are dieing is your salinity is to low other then that no clue

[tyoung]

I would use an ro/di unit for your source water, your local water company can change how they treat your water. Plus, it filters out things like heavy metals that declore won't touch. I think it would be a good investment. It will pay for itself in time. What kind of filtration are you useing? What kind of flow do you have?

[viperdragon666]

i have a sump and a hang on filter over 1500gph and ya i need to get a ro or get my water from the water company still trying to figuer out witch one is cheaper to do in the long run wish i knew

[sarha]

everybody has a protien skimmer right? phosgard by seachem and replace every 3 days for two weeks phophates are not allway testable. phosphates can leach into your sand and rock andj precipitate [spelling] back into your system excess phophates will stop everything in your syatems formbeing able to consume or use calcium[agian spelling] which intrun will cause an overdose in calcium which will throw your ph and alkalinity off along with the ionic balance in your tank waterchanges water changes and more water changes with phophate and nitrate free ro/di water.

[c-c]

Sarha and guys,
Thanks for the info/rationale on red slime. I just got back from 2 weeks vacation in Florida away from my babies. Even though my dear friend took care of my critters, she was novice in saltwater and I arrived back to find my first beautiful infestation of redslime on the bottom of the tank, on live sand and crushed coral. (a 5 inch in diameter area. )

I vacuumed it off, and did 2 water changes thinking it was from overfeeding the fish, which is a temptation with my greedy little tribe of a scopus tang, 2 clarki clowns, a green chromis, a fire dartfish, a spotted mandarin, 3 PJ cardinals, 2 serpent stars, a feather duster, an army of snails, and a dozen hermit crabs.

I readjusted my 3 power heads, thinking there may not be enough current reaching the bottom...
But over the past week it is returning little by little, so will try some of your suggestions. On board with the skimmer. But I use well water, I didn't think the RO/DI water was imprescindible. Thought maybe the spring thaw and rains in PA. could influence the levels of nitrates and phosphates in the water. DUNNO

[rlcline76]

It is hard to get an expert babysitter, be happy nothing died!

[c-c]

Happy...I am. Ecstatic! Thrilled! Kickin' up my heels. She never took care of salt water before, but has a real love for fresh water. I offered $10.00/day. Paid for care of 4 tanks, a bearded dragon, plants, and house sitter. Red slime has been dissipating...since last entry.

[Taras1]

I learned the hard way about well water. I had serious green hair and slime algae. RO/DI is the way to go.

[jvharding]

I found that red slime treatment was the end of my reef! I used some chemical. Please do not ask what it was I forget. I do know that after treating for a few weeks the tank went south I lost thousands of dollars and considered giving up the hobby so my advise is. Do not use any chemicals for this. vacuum it out and do lots of water changes. everything points to phosphates being the cause and silicates. After I upgraded my RO to RO/DI + Silicate remover Never saw red slime again. Your reef is bleeding if it is showing you RED.

[eileen]

Well I want to thank you all for your advice. I thought of protein skimmers, and RO units. I thought of starting over... but with a 125 gallon tank...

In the end I opted for a wine bar instead of a tank and gave all the livestock to the LFS along with my green slimey live rock. (Yes they made out well) and I sold all the supplies to a very energetic passionate man and his wife 15 minutes ago.

I will sit at my wine bar and lift a glass in a toast to all of you who continue to endure the trials and tribulations of salt water aquariums.

Thanks again eileen

[erickc]

That's too bad

[PalmDesert]

Well, what can I say!! You bit the dust!! I am sorry to hear it! Good Luck with your new endeavors.

[Esteban the fish]

another one bites the dust... ^

[kolokefalo]

FYI the problem was most likely phosphates. They inhibit calcium in solution and buffers and are the primary cause of red slime.

[jimw369]

I have had a little red slime prob but adjusted some powerheads, cut back a few hours on the lights and siphoned off what I could easily get too. Few days later it seems pretty well cleared up. Just a little the size of a dime on the sand tonightr and that was turning pretty black. Now Im told phosphates are most likely the culprit and sometimes a test will not show it. I have a little phosban reactor that I plan on running carbon in a few days a month. Should I throw something in the reactor for phosphate removal also?

[Krazy]

I use a phosban reactor with carbon and now a second one with phosphate media in it..

over the past two weeks I've got a red slime outbreak going, none on my sand, in my rock work though, cut my lights for the past two days and did a dose of red slime remover..

any idea what the heck causes this, dosing the ca and alk? Feedings?

my TDS is still zero on my ro/di, double checked it with my handheld TDS meter as well

I change my carbon every 2 weeks, clean my return pump sponge every 2 weeks, only thing I can think of is that frozen sea-food I got from the asain market, thats the only new thing to my system since this stuff started showing up..

Well as you all know, if it isnt one things its another, these tanks dont want us spending any time away from them...

[jimw369]

KrazyK, You run your carbon reactor all the time? I was told this pulls trace elements from our water and only to run maybe a week out of the month. I ran the carbon for a week and it did make a difference with water clarity but then I shut it down for a few weeks. Thought I would start it up tonight but figured Id test the water coming thru the reactor first and its agood thing. Ran 4 gal thru the reactor into a bucket, tested and had VERY high amonia levels. Just thru out the old carbon, cleaned up the canister and put new carbon in. I do a 10 percent water change every week (sometimes a little more) and am starting to dose a few things to keep my water in check as I have some corals and 1 fish. Do you think I can run the carbon full time and keep enough nutients in the water.
Do you worry about phosphates leaching back into your tank from the carbon?

[Krazy]

Jim,

I run the carbon reactor 24/7, the carbon gets changed out every two weeks, I'm very religious in doing so, I change 15 gallons of water weekly or bi-weekly if I'm feeling lazy, I run a 2'nd reactor with phosphate remover media so I dont worry about the carbon leaching the phosphates back. I was using the 5 gallon pails of carbon from ebay but a local reefer was selling his stuff off and I picked up a 5 gallon pail of the kent's reef carbon, I'll be trying that stuff monday

Since you do weekly water changes, I dont think the trace elements that get taken from the carbon will be an issue for you, if so, you can always dose some essientail elements (sp?)


Here's a link on carbon and phosphate leaching from steven pro :
New Page 1

[jimw369]

Thanks! Go to bed!