[jtravapd]

well, my tank has been up and running for about 11 months.....its 180 gallons, have two mag drive 12's pushing the returns and i have 5 maxi jet 900 powerheads also in the tank...i have a 3 stage water filter system, and metal halide lighting..anyway.....for months i have been trying to battle red slime algea...it would be so bad that i would have to stick my hand in and pull huge sheets of it out at a time when it got thick enough...i wound up feeding my fish one time every other day and shutting lights off and nothing worked...tried, slime algea remover and it worked for a week, then everything came back tons of water changes nothing worked.......about 3 weeks ago, i upgraded my skimmer from a hang on berlin (not sure model number jsut says up to 250gallons) to a evolution 750 with a mag12 feeding it, and took all the bio balls out of the sump and replaced it with cured live rock.....well its 3 weeks and there isn't a trace of red slime algea in the tank...its completely gone...i have even been feeding my fish twice a day and the metal halides are on for 8 hours and nothing...just figured id share my story since i felt like quiting every other week...im not completely sure if it was the skimmer, the bio balls (i think this was key), or if the tank just wasn't established long enough.....maybe it was a combination of all of them, but for those with the problem, maybe try upgrading your skimmer and getting rid of bio balls and maybe it will work for you too..hope it helps you...

[wesley6610]

So if you had to sum it all up, which part had the greatest effect on your slime removal? Sounds like the skimmer to me, but what do you think?

[holiday]

Do you have lights on your live rock in the sump where the bio balls were? I have been thinking of taking my bios out for the same reason but don't want to put a light in the sump for the rock? Any opinions?

[wesley6610]

Yes, taking the bio balls out in stepwise fashion and replacing with more LR is the best thing. Why are you against a light in the sump?

[holiday]

I just updated my skimmer as well and still have troublles with cyano. I shut the lights off and decreased my feedings. I have done water changes as prescribed on other articles. I guess I am afraid of the unknown when it comes to the light in the sump. Fear of the light falling in the water and shorting everything out or frying all the livestock. It's late so maybe I am just talking crazy.

[wesley6610]

How is your water movement in your tank? Do you have dead spots in more areas than others? Time for some investigation of all causes of Cyano. I would check my water source and PO4 levels ASAP. Not to mention that I'm using not too old bulbs and my current is at least 20X my tank volume. Start there and add forum searches if you get lost

[holiday]

I might have too much flow. I have a Mag 7 pump in the sump (with a 34" rise) and in the tank I have a 550 Penguin powerhead, a Seio 620 and a Koralia (sp) 1. I have my own RO system that has brand new filters. I have never used tap water. So, I think I am doing everything I can. What else am I forgetting? I am thinking its the bioballs. My last water tests were 1.024, Ammonia 0, Nitrites 0 Nitrates 5. Temp is 80.

[rlcline76]

What is your substrate?
Get rid of the bioballs.

[jtravapd]

i know people say to slowly take out the bioballs, but i have almost 250lbs of live rock in my tank, and about a 4inch sandbed...so i figured since its been 10 months, the biological processes of the rock and sand should be able to handle the tank without the bioballs, i took them all out and replaced them with cured live rock from the top of the tank and then put in new rock ontop....

[jtravapd]

i think the skimmer had the biggest impact to be honest....the two skimmers don't even compare...if you just changed your skimmer, give it 2 or 3 weeks to catch up, then do a water change...its what worked for me....that and taking out all the bioballs...i dont have a light on my sump either..just the rock, i will be adding a light to a refugium im setting up though shortly..another thing i learned is that while water flow is a big part, its not the only thing, i have water flow out the a$$ and it wasn't stopping it...

[wesley6610]

I say all of your levels, but if you have cyano you are missing the test for PO4. Also, I saw all of your equipment listed, but what are the gph that are actually turning over your tank and are they hitting the majority of your dead spots?

[holiday]

If my calculations are correct I have ~1600 gph of flow. I dont' believe I have any dead spots. I sit and watch the debrit float aroudn when I use the turkey baster and disturb some sand. I had to go into Tampa today so I got all new Salifert tests. Calcium, Ammonia, Nitrate, Nitrite, PH and Phospate. I will do water tests in both of my tanks after I get the kids to bed and will post them later.

Thanks for all the info. Maybe the Hagen water test kits I am currently using are garbage. I will have to see what the Salifert says. I really want to get to the bottom of my cyano issue.

[jimw369]

Originally Posted by holiday

I might have too much flow. I have a Mag 7 pump in the sump (with a 34" rise) and in the tank I have a 550 Penguin powerhead, a Seio 620 and a Koralia (sp) 1. I have my own RO system that has brand new filters. I have never used tap water. So, I think I am doing everything I can. What else am I forgetting? I am thinking its the bioballs. My last water tests were 1.024, Ammonia 0, Nitrites 0 Nitrates 5. Temp is 80.

Any natural light in the room or hitting the tank?
What do you feed fish and coral and how much?
Any flake food?
Check the salt you use for silicates
Dose any plankton?
Lighting cycle and type of bulbs?
You barely have enough flow. Unless you have a small amount of LR and nothing obstruction the flow you might get by with what you have now but flow in the neighborhood of 3000-4000 would be great! Keeps the Detritus suspended in the water better so it has more chances to go thru the overflow and get filtered out.

Running any carbon or phosphate remover?
Substrate? What kind? How deep?
Is the red slime on the rocks, or sand?
Did it start on the LR or sand?

All these ??? will help us lead to some clues as to the cause of the Cyano.

[holiday]

Light- No natural light hitting the tank. Lights are brand new. Power compacts - Aqualight 4 x 65w. On for 9 hours per day. The old lights were 2 - 28w T5's. So I went for more wattage. The cyano started shortly after the new lights.

Food = I just put a xenia in the tank this week so it's my first coral - a small frag. I put 1 dose of phytoplankton. The only flake food I have is Siprulina. I alternate between the flake, brine shrimp, mysis shrimp and frozen chopped clams, squid and shrimp (rinsed with ro). I feed them every other day.

Salt - Tropic Marin salt and it says no phospates mixed with my ro.

I do have a small bag of carbon in the sump - maybe a cup of carbon.

Fine Sand bed - 3" deep with a small bag of little tiny shells mixed in. Most shells 1/2" or smaller.

Cyano started on the sand bed and moved to the rocks and glass. Currently on 1/10 of live rock and 40% of sand.

Tested the water with the new Salifert kits I bought. Salinity is still 1.024 Ammonia 0 Nitrate 25 ppm Nitrite 0 Calcium 300 Phosphate 1.0

I was told 20x the tank size for flow and I have almost 30x.

I was told by someone on here to check my TDS on my RO system to see if it's working properly. It has brand new filters (Rainsoft RO system 3 stage). Whoever told me this I am sorry but I didn't want to sound dumb by saying I have no idea what you are talking about. So I am saying it now. What is TDS and how do I test for it?

I think I answered all of the ??. Now where do I go to fix it.

Thanks for everything.

[jimw369]

A few things.

The Cyano started just after the new lights? Hmmmm...

Keep the carbon changed every couple weeks? ( if you run it all the time)

Where the slime started on the sand, do you have some detritus build up there cause the flow cant keep it in the water column so it gets filtered out?

Phosphates from somewhere. Your new light sounds like it lit the fire. Again Im thinking crap building up in certain spots on the substrate making like fertile garden spot to get this all started.

[holiday]

The tank now has 4x the wattage that it did.

Will keep an eye on the carbon.

No, I didn't notice any debris build up. I have a sand sifting star, a dozen red legged hermits, 6 blue legged hermits and a dozen turbo snails plus 2 emerald crabs and 1 welk.

What is your opinion on the RO testing?

Good night - long day and I am hitting the hay. I will check back in the am.

[rlcline76]

RO testing absolutely! You need to know when your filters have konked out!

TDS3 Meter with Carrying Case

That is what I have.

I'd like to say for sure it is the lights. Could be. Could be the phosphates and nitrates. I use Salifert for these, as well and I am waiting on my Sera kits to doublecheck those tests because they never seem to change. Maybe you are lucky enough to have an LFS that can check your water so that you have something to compare your readings to?

[wesley6610]

Becky if it is his light and it is brand new like he says, would you assume that the bulbs are just bad or from a bad lot?

[holiday]

You can buy brand new lights and have them be bad? That would suck.

Sorry, for not signing my posts but my name is Noel and I am a woman. I have grown up for years seeing my name and then meeting me and being surprised that I am a girl who was born around X-mas and not a dude.

SInce my phospates were 1.0 should I go get some Phoso-Ban or something else to throw in the sump?

Thanks for the input. Noel

PS: I have two tanks and only my larger one has the cyano. I use the same RO, salt and food for both tanks and the larger tank has the better flow. Wouldn't I have it in both tanks? The smaller tank is exposed to some natural light also.

[wesley6610]

Sorry Noel, not necessarily about having it in both tanks, they are independent of each other on every other level except water. The bacteria levels, water parameters and everything are all exclusive to each other. I would take a look into my lights and maybe cutting down on the time for just the daylight portion if you have two switches. Outside of that, make sure you don't have rocks/corals obstructing current in the front part of the tank and see if that helps along with regular maintenance.

[jimw369]

Originally Posted by wesley6610

Becky if it is his light and it is brand new like he says, would you assume that the bulbs are just bad or from a bad lot?

Good bulbs grow algae too. Sometimes its just a change in the light that can start algae growing not necessarily bad bulbs.

[holiday]

Does anyone know if I can get my RO tested at the lfs? This way I can test it now instead of waiting for to get my own RO test thing. My local store charges you $2 per regular water test. Which I think is a joke - if they want you to buy stuff from them to fix your water they should be willing to test it for free.

Noel

[wesley6610]

Noel that is kind of hard to say since we don't necessarily live near you or know what your LFS services are.