[boba40]

i cannot get rid of this pesky algae.i am doing ten percent water changes weekly,my water tests are all good including phosphates.i used the red slime remover and it cleared for a couple of days.but as you can see it's back.we cut back on fish feeding and i relocated my koralia powe heads to get more flow across the sand bed.

[DEWAYNE]

have youtried cutting back the time your lights are on, and if you have a FOWLR, you could leave them off for a day or two. The LFS may have a phosphate filter, this will help. I would put alot of charcoal in my sump (if u have one)....... I have put this in a cheap pair of panty hose, tied it up rinse it and let it rip. I know there are a few things that can cause the red slime, even you tap water, and certain types of food. I know some of the guys on here will have some great advice for you, I just get by with my own....LOL

[boba40]

dewayne,i did leave the lights off all day today and it made a big difference.i do not use tap water-walmart loves me i am known as the water guy.strictly ro/di water.maybe i will give the charcoal a try.i guess that i can put it in pantyhose and put it in the drip tray of my sump.
thanks for your response.

[ianizaguirre]

do you have any sand sifters ???

[jimw369]

BOBA!

You gotta get your hands wet on this one. You have to physically remove this stuff as best as possible. Try to syphon it out while and then add new water like a water change. You will have to do this several times. Cut way back on any feeding. Id say i feed every 2 or 3 days. Cut back on lights increase flow. Syphon off that top layer of substrate little at a time. Make sure your skimmer is working efficiently.

You need to assess your situation and figure out where the nitrates and probably phosphates are coming from.

This is only going to get worse unless dealt with directly. Let us know how it goes.

[boba40]

i cut back on feeding,cut back mon lighting-this has made a big difference.i have been siphoning and skimming the sand.i am also doing ten gallon water changes every week[just started this two weeks ago] i am cinsidering doing a twenty gallon water change next week if things do not completely clear.
i do have a sand sifting star and an orange face goby and nassarius snails that do a good job sifting.my skimmer is also working great too.
all of my water test including phosphates and nitrates test great and i have been testing pretty much every night.
i maight dose the tank with the red slime remover again,but so far the couple of changes that i have made are making improvements.i will keep you posted.

[jimw369]

Originally Posted by boba40

i cut back on feeding,cut back mon lighting-this has made a big difference.i have been siphoning and skimming the sand.i am also doing ten gallon water changes every week[just started this two weeks ago] i am cinsidering doing a twenty gallon water change next week if things do not completely clear.
i do have a sand sifting star and an orange face goby and nassarius snails that do a good job sifting.my skimmer is also working great too.
all of my water test including phosphates and nitrates test great and i have been testing pretty much every night.
i maight dose the tank with the red slime remover again,but so far the couple of changes that i have made are making improvements.i will keep you posted.

Sand sifters arent going to help the situation. Al they do is push the crap down into your sand to decompose and come back another day. You need to keep removing it physically by siphoning it off at the end of the day when it has grown to its maximum. Do it over and over and over all the time employing the things you are already doing. Its a battle. Dont forget its also a battle you can lose. Let us know how it goes! Good luck!

[dinor2]

Bob, that's great those things you tried are working, isn't it fun to solve things?! I think so! Sounds like you're listening to your tank, and although Jim's right about the sand sifters just pushing junk around, they do help keep some algaes from reforming on your sand! I didn't have a red algae but the brown diatoms kept showing on my sand, and that's with my 6 nassarius snails! So, got a blue dot sleeper goby, man that sand is crystal clear! Well, actually it's white with some black! But it's very clean now. I do remember having to syphon out that cyano though when I did have it, that really does help it go away too, along with what you're already doing.

Great work, keep us updated, another picture?

[boba40]

dinor,here is a picture of the sand bed after reducing the time that the lights are on.things are improving slowly.

[dinor2]

Does look better! Two things I believe would also help, clean the koralias and aim them towards the top of the tank as that will put more oxygen in the water and help the nitrogen cycle along. And you'll still get good flow with three of those at the bottom level in your tank, that's just what I'd do.

[teriyakithunder]

have you thought about getting one of those filters with a UV light in it? I had a really bad red slime problem a few years ago and when i got the filter all the slime went away. Now it barely grows on the glass and i just wipe it off every few weeks. Now i'm going to start using RO/DI water too so it should completely go away.

[boba40]

the uv filter is next on on my list of things to buy.first i want to get an ro/di unit so that i stop the funny looks i get when i am at walmart pushing a cart of water around.

[spanko]

Here are my thoughts on Cyano.

Red Slime (Cyano Bacteria)
Cyano grows on top of nutrient rich areas of low flow. There are a number of things that need to be correct or possibly corrected to combat this without the use of chemical additives. The biggest thing is to get rid of the extra nutrients.
1. Evaluate your feeding. If you are feeding more than can be eaten in about 1-2 minutes it is too much and the remainder of it is falling to the rock and sand and becoming nutrient.
2. Evaluate your flow. If you have areas in the tank where there is little to no flow this can be corrected by adding power heads or repositioning the ones you already have. You don’t need to create sand storms just have water moving over the area to keep detritus suspended in the water column for removal by your filter – skimmer.
3. Evaluate your water changes. The solution to pollution is dilution! You want to continually remove unneeded nutrients as well as replace those things that are used by the system. 10% weekly is a good change schedule. Some do 20% every other week and some vary the schedule from there, but a good start is 10% per week.
4. Evaluate your lighting schedule. About 10 hours of daylight is all that is needed.
5. If you have a cyano outbreak do the above 4 items andh:
a. At water change time siphon off the cyano first. It will come up easily almost like a blanker.
b. After siphoning stir the affected areas a little to suspend any detritus for the water change and filtering - skimming removal.
c. Use a turkey baster now and at every water change in the future to again suspend the detritus for removal by the water change and your filtering – skimming.

Keeping nutrient levels low to non-existent will help to avoid cyano outbreaks and any algae outbreaks as well as keep your tank and you happy happy.

Hope that helps.

[Br14n55reef]

whats the Alk at in this tank I dont see any coraline algae, Are you useing any buffers like supperbuffer dkh this will harden your water and help coraline grow
G/L Brian

[boba40]

i just did a KH test and got a reading of 130.this is a little high,should i be worried about it?

[boba40]

brian, the pictures do not show the purple coraline very well butit is there and spreading nicely.

[Mr_X]

spanko is on the money. it's not algae, it's cyanobacteria. a UV sterilizer will not have an effect on this.

[spanko]

Hey X! Is that you from SWF?