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View Full Version : Red Slime.. guh


marknash
11-12-2009, 12:08 AM
So.. we have a 46g tank with 2 koralia 3's.. and a protein skimmer.. (not sure the flow rating) we feed our 6 fish a cube of mysis (maybe a bit less soaked in garlic and some multivits) and a bit of flake per day. we've reduced our lighting time.. increased our water changes.. switched to RO water.. increased our flow in the tank and we are still getting this stuff!? im kind of at a loss of why this cyano sp? is in our tank.
I was reading about uv sterilizers.. we dont have one of those.. what are those thigns for...would that help?
i have narrowed it down to...could it have anything to do with the fact we only have about 38lbs of live rock in there, also our clean up crew is small.. and we got our light fixture used.. they guy told us the bulbs were new.. but they could be old i suppose.. could that contribute to our red mess?
Forgive me for the silly questions..we are super new to the hobby.. and am kind of wondering why the heck we are still experiencing this problem!! :redface:

leducreef
11-12-2009, 12:34 AM
what kind of lighting is it ?
have you checked for PO4
how long has the tank been running

marknash
11-12-2009, 12:38 AM
yeah we checked phosphate. it was okay. tank has been running since late july
the lighting.. i think its just fluorescent bulbs 10,000k and actinic lights.. its coralife.. i think its just basic lighting.. not high output or anything fancy. would check but am at work at the moment

leducreef
11-12-2009, 12:40 AM
if you got the light used i would change the bulbs anyway
also you may want to think about adding a refugium to your tank

Binare
11-12-2009, 01:03 AM
You won't really get a po4 if that's the problem causing your slime. As the read hair grows it'll take up po4, you could read zero, and still have po4 leaching into your tank. That said, I'd just leave it alone for a couple weeks, your tanks very new with a growing bioload, I don't find red hair that unexpected in your situation. It won't harm anything (blow it off your coral with a turkey baster... Softly) and see if it goes away on its own.

marknash
11-12-2009, 02:27 AM
we've removed it multiple times.. and it keeps coming back. our phosphate was at zero.. i have it written down at home here
do you think we are feeding the fish too much? we feed a bit of mysis and flake .. everyday.. is that too much?

leducreef
11-12-2009, 02:32 AM
i think its you lights but that is just my opinion
had this problem before when i changed my lighting it whent away
you could also ad a gobie of some type to sift you sand

findingnemo1
11-12-2009, 04:04 AM
we've removed it multiple times.. and it keeps coming back. our phosphate was at zero.. i have it written down at home here
do you think we are feeding the fish too much? we feed a bit of mysis and flake .. everyday.. is that too much?


Your phosphate may read Zero on a test. But as the cyano uses the phosphates to grow it will show up at zero even though you have them. Does that make sense?....lol
Its been a long day:(
I have also found at work that if i up the flow than it doesn't come back as fast. So flow plays an important roll.
In the end it is a nutrient issue....What are your nitrates etc reading?