red slime or coralline algae

[exrader]

i think wat i hve is red slime,,im pretty new,,after i saw some purple stuf growing in my rocks i thought it was coralline algae right away,,but some people thinks its red slime,,it comes off easy and then grows back in a few hours,,it disappears with lights are off,,then grow back in the morning...i do have green coralline algae and purple ones..but they grow kinda slow,,if its red slime,,how do you get rid of it.

[glampka]

Definitely sounds like red slime. Increase water flow in the area & check phosphates to get rid of it..

[sarha]

a low ph promotes slime algea you might want to check that as well

[jimw369]

i think wat i hve is red slime,,im pretty new,,after i saw some purple stuf growing in my rocks i thought it was coralline algae right away,,but some people thinks its red slime,,it comes off easy and then grows back in a few hours,,it disappears with lights are off,,then grow back in the morning...i do have green coralline algae and purple ones..but they grow kinda slow,,if its red slime,,how do you get rid of it.

Exrader!!! Does it look like this???

[exrader]

yupppp..exactly like that,,but its only in an of one of m rock,,but i think its developing in other areas...is it slime then?

[jimw369]

yupppp..exactly like that,,but its only in an of one of m rock,,but i think its developing in other areas...is it slime then?

Yes. Its red slime then and thats bad. If it get out of control you can lose your tank.

Please read Glampkas post above for some ideas to get RS under control.

Also, decrease your light cycle to 7-8 hours a day, cut back on feedings and the amount you feed, increase flow yes per Glampka ( especially direct flow to the RS areas). If it gets worse you will need to try and physically remove it with a syphon or turkey baster. You want to disturb it as little as possible.

If you are dosing any planktons or Zooplex stop for now.

If it gets any worse we need to start talking about some phosphate removal media.

In the meantime test for those nitrates and phosphates. Its the fuel for the fire so to speak.

[sarha]

i don't understant the cut back on lighting, why to prolong the problem? algea is there for a reason, and mainly because of nutrient uptake in the red sime case it's usually phospates, which can't always be detected by tests if there are any readings at all its way to high so if we decrese the lighting aren't we not stoping the algae from doing its job which is nutrient uptake? yes slime can get out of control fast i've been there a few times myself but if we find where we are intrducing the added phospates and fix it the sime will burn it's self off further more a low ph of 7.8 or so is ideal for these types of algae to grow and if one increases it to 8.3 or better it can't survive

in my own experiance i've left the lighting alone, adjusted the ph, found the phosphate problem,(which generally was over feeding, cause it's so much fun to feed the fishes) looked for low flow areas, and let it take its course and knock on wood in six years i haven't lost anything to slime

[jimw369]

i don't understant the cut back on lighting, why to prolong the problem? algea is there for a reason, and mainly because of nutrient uptake in the red sime case it's usually phospates, which can't always be detected by tests if there are any readings at all its way to high so if we decrese the lighting aren't we not stoping the algae from doing its job which is nutrient uptake? yes slime can get out of control fast i've been there a few times myself but if we find where we are intrducing the added phospates and fix it the sime will burn it's self off further more a low ph of 7.8 or so is ideal for these types of algae to grow and if one increases it to 8.3 or better it can't survive

in my own experience i've left the lighting alone, adjusted the ph, found the phosphate problem,(which generally was over feeding, cause it's so much fun to feed the fishes) looked for low flow areas, and let it take its course and knock on wood in six years i haven't lost anything to slime

I agree with you. Sometimes raise Ph, stop over feeding, check food, salt mix, additives, change carbons and other media regularly, use RODI water, drain liquids from frozen foods before feeding and Im sure there are more measures that can be taken to help eliminate excess nutrients and phosphates.

Light is one of the things needed for RS to thrive. Without light it will not live. When RS shows up in my tank the goal is to eradicate it as fast as possible. Not to let it "take its course". That may mean carefully scooping, syphoning, suck it up w/a turkey baster as well as employing any or all methods we describe above.

And yes, as you say, depriving algae of light stops algae from doing its job. From my point of veiw (and there are many others) thats perfect. I can eliminate phosphates with certain medias (which I run continuously) and do some small water changes. This is more preferrable to me than risking Red Slime getting out of control.

The more Im around saltwater the more I realize we all have things that work for us individually. When talking to a new person it is sometimes easier to have them do things listed above than to start telling them to play with their water chemistry.

Thank you so much for your post. It was the most stimulating discourse I had today. Well, yesterday now. You know what I mean.

[exrader]

thanks guys,,really helped...i think ill start buy checking my h20 chem,,then buy some macro algae..and stop feeding the fishes to much..i placed a new thread,,brime shrimp or pods//thanks guys