What I used to "cure" red slime in my tank

[Waxx]

I posted this elsewhere, but I'll post it here as well. I really hope that this can help some frustrated reefers suffering from red slime.

"Howdy,

I don't recommend this to everyone, but here is what I did to completly erradicate red slime from my system. Before I outline the details, you should know that I added a Vortech pump (as well as removed some fish that were way to big for my tank) immediatly after treatment so this could have had an impact on weather or not the cyano would return or the validity of this treatment method.

Anyway, here are the steps:

1. Go to Petland and get Maracyn (freshwater). made by a company called Mardel, it is used to treat bacterial infection in fresh water fish, comes in a blue box. Basically it's an antibiotic.

2. Get about 500 ml of RO/DI water and crush up and mix 1 tablet for every 10 gallons of tank volume (inclding sump and fuge).

3. Turn off your skimmer and fluadized reactor (remove GAC)

4. Add the treatment to a high flow area of the sump over about a 4 hour period.

5. Do not turn on your skimmer for 36 hours.

6. Turn your skimmer back on and prepare for a battle because it will be overflowing like crazy for a while. Make sure you add some nice fresh carbon at this time as well.

7. Do 5 water changes of 10-15% total system volume over the next 5 days.

I had a really bad case of RS and this was like a miracle cure. This combined with the addition of the Vortech pump and my tank is doing fantastic. There has been no trace of cyano since I treated the tank and I don't suspect I'll ever get it again.

I did not loose any livestock at all (inverts, corals, pods and all). As a matter of fact, it looked to me like the animals couldn't even tell I was treating the tank.

A fellow reefer in my area has also tried this method with sucess. Please use this method at your own risk. I find the off the shelf red slime remover to be very abrassive and the red slime just comes back.

Remember that the best cure for red slime is low phosphates and good husbandry. Chemical treatment should only be used as a LAST resort!

Happy Reefing!
Tyler"

[Johnny Reefer]

How long ago did you apply the treatment?

Thanx much,

[Farrmanchu]

I know it's been a while. I took his advice two weeks ago, did the Maracyn thing, and it's AMAZING how quickly the Cyano went away. I used it and haven't seen Cyano since, my Pods didn't even seem impacted by the treatment. It does make the Skimmer go NUTS, maybe do a couple of the WCs in the the instructions BEFORE turning the Skimmer back on. My Skimmer cup was filling every 15 minutes, and I couldn't raise the cup anymore. This cure works like a charm. Thanks again Bud!

[Quagmire]

Running GAC for a few hrs before turning the skimmer on might help also.

[Waxx]

I'm glad it worked out for you, Rob. Sorry you are selling your Flame Angel BTW.

[GrimReefer]

i've heard of this before, and it's great that it worked for you. but in my opinion you should correct the cause (excess organics) rather than the symptoms.

[Waxx]

i've heard of this before, and it's great that it worked for you. but in my opinion you should correct the cause (excess organics) rather than the symptoms.

I agree, and I think I mention this point above.

The discalimer to all of this (also stated above) is that I removed 3 oversized fish (a 7" naso, a 7" foxface and a 4" copperband), as well as added a ton of flow immediatly following treatment. I can't emphasize enough that the medicine was only one part of a combination of efforts to rid myself of RS and may not work for everyone.

This combined with running a large skimmer, GAC and phosban and all of my levels are in check.

I think that chemical treatment should be a last resort. Like, right before you rip the tank down and start over.

Cheers,
Waxx

[Waxx]

oh, Johnny, it's been about 6 weeks since I treated the tank.

[EmilyB]

I'm trying this treatment starting tonite. I see the FW instructions involve five days of treatment. So is one sufficient then in this case ? I am just trying to get the crap under control, more flow is coming as in your case as well.

[Skimmerking]

Ihad the pleasure of using this on my 170 and man i had to change around 130 gals of the water my skimmer didnt work for liek 2.5 weeks after using it it really messed up the levels in my tank But that is IME and IMO. may be it does work it did take the RS away thou lots of maintance to get it back to normal thou.

[Bruzer]

Well last time cyno went crazy in my tank i used. Chemi pure red slime remover. UNplugged the skimmer for like 48hours, went crazy when i plugged it back in but only for a few hours. But no ill effects on any of my corals or fish slime was totaly gone.. But now about 2 months later im seeing reallly light pink slime growing on my sand again so i think its back i think going to try this method this time hopefully this does the trick. moving all the coral and most of the livestock up to a 90 in 2weeks so hoping that will help. going to the 55 fowlr with just a few pieces of choice live rock

[EmilyB]

When would I see results ? I put it in last night and it looks just as bad as ever today.

[GMGQ]

You can easily substitute "maracyn" in this thread with "chemi-clean."

I heard chemi-clean is safer, as maracyn is an anti-biotic drug.

[Johnny Reefer]

You can easily substitute "maracyn" in this thread with "chemi-clean."

I heard chemi-clean is safer, as maracyn is an anti-biotic drug.
But Chemi Clean isn't an end all once and for all cure, whereas the Maracyn, here in this thread, is touted as such. At least...that's the idea I'm getting.

Cheers,

[GMGQ]

I used Maracyn to treat cyano when my tank was a few months old. I've had cyano again since then. It's definitely not the cure all end all.

The only cure for cyano is to push for 0 nitrates, and have excellent flow in ALL areas of the tank. Low flow + nitrates is a breeding ground for cyano.



But Chemi Clean isn't an end all once and for all cure, whereas the Maracyn, here in this thread, is touted as such. At least...that's the idea I'm getting.

Cheers,

[Johnny Reefer]

I used Maracyn to treat cyano when my tank was a few months old. I've had cyano again since then. .....
Good to know. Thanx. Second thoughts on trying it now.

Cheers,

[GMGQ]

Yeah, I mean by the sounds of it, he talks about dosing something that does kill the cyano. Then you do extensive water changes, so of course the cyano will disappear for a while.

But if you're overfeeding/underskimming, and you have dead zones in the tank, I guarantee you the cyano will come back sooner or later.

Having said that, I know a lot of veteran reefers who just dose chemi-clean every few months, as part of their quarterly maintenance. Like I mentioned, chemi-clean hasn't shown any adverse effects, so people aren't afraid to keep using it. Whereas the jury is still out on maracyn... Just like antibiotics in humans, the bacteria/virii eventually become immune to it.


Good to know. Thanx. Second thoughts on trying it now.

Cheers,

[EmilyB]

I'm not doing it for an end-all, my tank has been without major circulation since I lost the main pump several weeks ago. Hubby was having surgery and is now able to get back at replumbing. We hope to get some flow back in soon.

The cyano is stringy now after 24 hours.

[Waxx]

That's exactly it, you need a plan. You can't just use a treatment and expect the cyano never to return unless you change some aspect of your husbandry. Please note that I stress this in the origional as well as follow up posts.

I made some pretty big changes to my tank in combination to using a treatment and I think it was the SUM of all of these things that played a role in the cyano not returning. Going from 1500 GPH of flow up to 4500 GPH I'm sure has a very large part to do with it.

Currently, my PO4 and nitrates are testing 0. That's not to say that it won't ever come back but I can't see it happening (I'll be sure to let you guys know if it does) unless I do somthing drastic.

Please understand I'm not trying to argue either for or against using meds. Also, I am not trying to say that medecine A is better that medicine B for whatever reason. I'm not trying to "sell" you on anything because why would it matter to me?

All I'm saying here is that this is what I tried and this is what worked for me and I wanted to share my results, not start a debate or have to defend myself for making the choice that I did.

Waxx

[Murminator]

2. Get about 500 ml of RO/DI water and crush up and mix 1 tablet for every 10 gallons of tank volume (inclding sump and fuge).



Do you mix up saltwater or straight water?