[blueocean]

I have a red slime algea problem I cannot figure out what is the cause the tank has been running about 4 years 75 gal live rock and soft corals 1 butterfly yellow tang blennie 3 chromos arrow crab nitates 0 cal 420 ph 8.3 spg 1.025 temp 76 I have had an explosion of small sea stars appox 0.5 cm in size at least a 100 of them.Any help would be appreciated

[Mr_X]

the stars are asterina, and most of them are harmless algae eaters. you have an abundance of nutrients in the tank. this is what caused the asterina population explosion and the cyano.

i would do some large waterchanges with good source water and vacuum out what you can during.
have you added any supplements lately?
remember, anything you put in the tank has to come out.

[blueocean]

Have not added any supplements lately have done a large water change because we just moved.Thanks for your help.Will feed less and do another water change.Normally change 10 gals every 2 weeks

[BLKBRDTA]

What kind of lighting do you have, and how old are the bulbs currently in use? How long have you had this problem for? Have you tested for Phosphorus lately? What kind of flow do you have in the display?

A large water change (50%/+) may have killed off most of your anaerobic bacteria and caused your tank to go into a mini-cycle. The nitrification process could have temporarily halted and the insufficient bacteria breaking down the detritus into NH4 caused an algae bloom from the spike in ammonia. Thats just a possibility though. Have you tested for Phosphorus recently since re-setting up the display? Even a small amount of Phosphorus traceable in a FOWLR/Reef system can cause a massive wave of algae/cyanobacteria to bloom.

I had a red slime problem a few months ago as well. I increased flow, decreased feeding, halted supplements, cut back an hour on lighting and cycled the DT/sump lights overnight. After 2 weeks of this method, the cyanobacteria starved itself off and the sand and rocks were once again completely clean. The natural way.

I would do 1 or 2 more water changes, siphon what you can of the slime out, like Mr_X said. Then cut back on feeding, lighting, pretty much everything stated above.. And don't do another water change for at least a month. The salt mix you use in the newly added water contains essential elements and minerals for fish and reef organisms to absorb, but it also may be giving your cyanobacteria something to feed off of and continue to thrive.

IMO
HTH

[Mr_X]

you can't get an ammonia spike from a water change. 50% or not.

why is this forum so against waterchanges?

[BLKBRDTA]

Originally Posted by Mr_X

you can't get an ammonia spike from a water change. 50% or not.

why is this forum so against waterchanges?

Originally Posted by BLKBRDTA

A large water change (50%/+) may have killed off most of your anaerobic bacteria and caused your tank to go into a mini-cycle. The nitrification process could have temporarily halted and the insufficient bacteria breaking down the detritus into NH4 caused an algae bloom from the spike in ammonia. Thats just a possibility though.

It was an idea, not a fact. Hence the unsure tone of the statement. And of course NH4 won't spike from newly added SW. But "50% or not" is like saying that a 100% water change at the exact same temperature, will not have any negative effect on the living organisms within (i.e. fish, coral, inverts and bacteria.) The organic material that normally would be broken down by the beneficial bacteria, is left to partially decompose. Leading to an algae bloom. Again, idea not fact.

Originally Posted by BLKBRDTA

I would do 1 or 2 more water changes, siphon what you can of the slime out, like Mr_X said. Then cut back on feeding, lighting, pretty much everything stated above.. And don't do another water change for at least a month.
IMO
HTH

Not against water changes, I just did another one today. But before you continue to do water change, after water change and see absolutely no positive gain.. You should try probably try any and all non-harmful techniques or remedies heard of, before doubting someone else's input. IMO.

[Mr_X]

you will not remove your beneficial bacteria with waterchanges. all you will remove is excess nutrients. you'll need to get rid of all the nutrients you have been adding and not removing thus far. it's going to take a while.
the cyano will not be gone over night.
shutting off the lights won't stop it either.
siphon out as much cyano as you can with each waterchange, increase the flow in the areas where you see it originating from, and that's about it, besides chemical means. the chemical available for this issue is erythromycin, an antibiotic.
it's questionable whether this will effect the good bacteria, while killing the cyano. some say it will, some say it won't. i feel that antibiotics have no place in a reef tank.
besides, you are only removing the byproduct of the real problem which is excessive nutrients.
IME.

[BLKBRDTA]

You are partially correct by saying you will not remove bacteria by doing water changes. Yes it is true that nitrosomas have a very short half-life while free floating. But during a so called "bacterial bloom," the colonies of beneficial bacteria thriving on surfaces will send free floating cells off into the water column to populate another area. So yes, at certain times it is possible to siphon out beneficial bacteria. Just not in amounts great enough to affect the systems stability.

I will slightly disagree with you on the lighting does not affect the Cyanobacteria statement. Your correct by saying that shutting off the lights will not stop the growth. But when I had an outbreak of this stuff, I cut off an hour of lighting in the AM. When I would turn on the lights, the slime would be concentrated in one single spot and much smaller than if the lights were on all day already. Within 10 to 20 minutes of lighting in the morning, the slime began to spread outward once again. It was literally as if it were a red tarp rising from the sand bed in the AM and falling back into the sand in the PM. Lighting certainly does affect the growth and spreading of this problematic bacteria.

Here are some pictures of my triumph.





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And to clarify, this is not intended to be an argument sparker. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions, the views and experiences one encounters are completely personalized to their particular setup. We have strayed too far from the original member and their inquiry, which is why this will be my last post on this thread. Its all yours.

[Mr_X]

"Under light stress, shade and high-light, samples showed a reduction of gas exchange and of the fluorescence variables photochemical fluorescence quenching coefficient (qp), potential quantum yield of photosystem II (FvIFm) and effective quantum yield (FIFm) and recovery to different degrees. Short-term desiccation led to suppression of variable fluorescence yield and inhibition of gas exchange, but recovery occurred rapidly within 1 h after rewetting. It is concluded that together with the well-known ability for assimilation of atmospheric dinitrogen, desiccation tolerance of terrestrial cyanobacteria mats is the major reason for their success as pioneers on bare substrata. In addition, the capacity to produce sun and shade forms adapted to a very wide range of light intensities appears to be important."

[unclejed]

Originally Posted by Mr_X

"Under light stress, shade and high-light, samples showed a reduction of gas exchange and of the fluorescence variables photochemical fluorescence quenching coefficient (qp), potential quantum yield of photosystem II (FvIFm) and effective quantum yield (FIFm) and recovery to different degrees. Short-term desiccation led to suppression of variable fluorescence yield and inhibition of gas exchange, but recovery occurred rapidly within 1 h after rewetting. It is concluded that together with the well-known ability for assimilation of atmospheric dinitrogen, desiccation tolerance of terrestrial cyanobacteria mats is the major reason for their success as pioneers on bare substrata. In addition, the capacity to produce sun and shade forms adapted to a very wide range of light intensities appears to be important."

Babble copied from some site, worthless.........

[Dr. Clyde]

I'm replying to this thread without really reading it so if the problem is solved allready, Great. It's been my experience that cyano is fixed by verifying all of three things, exceccive nutrients, replacing old bulbs, & proper flow.

[Mr_X]

Originally Posted by unclejed

Babble copied from some site, worthless.........

a little hard to understand, but far from worthless, but that's why the quotation marks were put before and after the paragraph- to show that it was a quote.
worthless, was your comment in this thread.

[WhatReef]

Common guys just relax here as we all have found different ways to cure our reef problems and if you have found something that works stick with it.
I have recently had a red slime out break the last couple weeks and have been battling it as well and i blame myself for letting water changes go a lil to long and if you arent consistant doing water changes especially if you have a huge tank like mine with approx 13 fish in it and some inverts.
Water changes are very important but also i have a refugium attached to my sump as well as im using a phosban reactor, de-nitrate media and also active carbon and i have found as long as you main tain these 3 things on a over populated tank like mine you never have these problems and i have been slacking lately with this stuff cause work and my house reno have kept me busy, so i always recomend canister filters with media on reef tanks cause it just keeps them very clean as a secondary filtration system but your refugium being the first as well as your sand bed. But i would recommend at the end of each month that you do 2 water changes and or twice the amount of a normal one, which will keep your tank looking nice and yes increased flow is always a good thing. But i feel water changes are the best method along with removing the slime manually definitly works and less feeding. cheers

[unclejed]

Old thread, done at the beginning of Sept. but thanks for chiming in.