# Red Algae



## CamH (Jan 5, 2014)

Any ideas on ridding my sump of this red algae? Appeared shortly after I resorted to tap water for water top ups when I was having issues with my RODI/water meter. That issue has been resolved and have so far changed out 40 gallons. The stuff grows pretty fast and loves to grow on my filter socks but doesn't stick to it when removing the socks. Makes a bit of a mess.








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## badmedicine (Oct 27, 2012)

looks like cyanobacteria to me. 
Best method I found was using RED SLIME REMOVER (I get mine from Big Al's). From what I remember it oxidizes in the water and your natural bacteria is able to remove it. It does not harm tank contents (corals, fish or bacteria) and it temporarily boosts your bacteria energy in your tank to clean- I use it to "deep clean" my tank occasionally.

Be warned:
Turn off your protein skimmer BEFORE adding it to your tank. It will make your skimmer go into hyper-drive !!! (Major foam and water expelled from your protein skimmer immediately).

Also I remove my carbon/Phosban because I think carbon will absorb RED SLIME REMOVER which is counterproductive.


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## CamH (Jan 5, 2014)

badmedicine said:


> looks like cyanobacteria to me.
> Best method I found was using RED SLIME REMOVER (I get mine from Big Al's). From what I remember it oxidizes in the water and your natural bacteria is able to remove it. It does not harm tank contents (corals, fish or bacteria) and it temporarily boosts your bacteria energy in your tank to clean- I use it to "deep clean" my tank occasionally.
> 
> Be warned:
> ...


.

Thanks for the tip! I'll pick some up today! I use two Hydor 240 nano pumps in my fuge. I was reading that low flow may be a cause? I figured with two of them plus a 26GPH pump going through the UV sterilizer pushing water into the refugium ( and overflowing into the return chamber) that that would be enough?


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## CoralConnoisseur (Mar 5, 2014)

Not sure if flow is your problem, but red slime remover will not "fix" the problem. I have used it once before, and yes, it worked great. But the slime will come back if you do not fix the actual problem. We cut back on feeding, and started running GFO in a reactor. Slime did not come back after that. Good luck.


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## Reef keeper (Nov 22, 2014)

It's generally caused by low flow and nutrients. 

I always have cyano in my fuge. Lot better than in the DT!

As above - red slime remover is a bandaid. How old is your system? Those rocks look pretty clean

By using tap, you have introduced a pile of new nutrients that will need to be removed through water changes, gfo and time


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## Aran (Dec 6, 2012)

Hi All,
i have much worse issue with red Alge, i used ChemiClean Red Slime Remover and i followed the instruction it reduced it a bit but keep coming back and going all over my sand and rock . please help.


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## CamH (Jan 5, 2014)

Aran said:


> Hi All,
> 
> i have much worse issue with red Alge, i used ChemiClean Red Slime Remover and i followed the instruction it reduced it a bit but keep coming back and going all over my sand and rock . please help.


I actually haven't tried it yet. Just ordered yesterday from Amazon. Maybe needs a few more treatments?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## CoralConnoisseur (Mar 5, 2014)

Guys, the red slime remover product works, but is only a bandaid. Test your water... Good chance you have high phosphates. GFO reactor, less feeding, less light. Red slime algae NEEDS something to eat... You can kill it off with the red slime remover as many times as you want, if you do not remover its food source it will be back.


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## Aran (Dec 6, 2012)

Thanks , i test my phosphates and it's 0.01 and oi have GFO running, the only thing i am not sure is the flow , is that possible that my tank water flow is not enough? when i add additional power head the corals mostly closing!?? any other suggestion? thanks again.


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## CoralConnoisseur (Mar 5, 2014)

Testing phosphates can be tricky, because you can only test for what is in the actual water column. If the algaes in the tank are eating it up right away you can test low and still have algae issues. I actually had the same issue, testing well under 1ppm yet still dealing with red slime and/or green hair algae.

Low flow could be an issue, I don't have much experiences with low flow in my actual reef, but have never seen red slime in my sump. Sometimes it has a gross film on the top of the water in my fuge, but never red slime.

When I first installed my auto feeder the red slime came back, I had to dial the feeder almost closed because it was feeding more than the fish were able to consume quickly. Could it be that you are feeding to much?


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## Aran (Dec 6, 2012)

i am using auto feeder , could be that! thanks you!


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