# Red Slime on Rocks



## christine (Jun 13, 2009)

i'm using red slime to get rid of the cyano, do i take out chemi pure when using this stuff?


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## ameekplec. (May 1, 2008)

Yes. But your cyano will just come back after a few weeks. And your biofilter will suffer.

A better souldtion to combatting cyano is figuring out the root causes and addressing them.

More likely than not one or more of these will solve your cyano issues: increase flow, decrease feedings (availabale nutrients), decrease photoperiod, skim wetter (increase nutrient export).

I'd go for the above mentioned before using red slime remover. The antibiotic will kill a lot more than just your cyano.


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## christine (Jun 13, 2009)

I agree, but, i have tried everything...this time the stuff is not slimey. When i touch it, it feels like a hairy carpet.


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## ameekplec. (May 1, 2008)

Then red slime remover won't do anything for you.

It's probably a macroalgae. Have you tried various herbivores (snails, crabs, fish) to take care of it? An emerald crab might munch on it, alternatively a lawnmover blenny might be a great choice to take care of it. 

Also, lowering available nutrients and lowering your photoperiod will help to control macros. Do you run any phosphate removing media?


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## christine (Jun 13, 2009)

i have lots of snails in my tank,& one clown fish, i did have a blue crab but it died after a yr. i hate crabs...he was munching on my corals. My tank is too small to put another fish in (8 gallon bio-cube). i've had this before, it was the slimey one, this time it's different. i have chemi-pure & cheato in my fuge, also fiter floss on top


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## christine (Jun 13, 2009)

i did some reserch & it looks like it might be red coraline, not cyano. Now i'm not positive but has anyone delt with this before. Like i said its not slimey, & you can't brush this off.


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## 50seven (Feb 14, 2010)

Can you post up some photos of the culprit?


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## christine (Jun 13, 2009)

Lights are out right now so can't take a pic. but i do think it is cyano now. I tried scraping some off with my nail & it came off so....it is cyano for sure. My slime remover is 2 yrs. old, hope it still works, time will tell.


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## Chris S (Dec 19, 2007)

Doesn't sound like cyano or coralline - I think Ameekplec is more on track with it being a macro - especially if your snails won't touch it.


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## marblerye (Jul 25, 2010)

if it's cyano then it'd be easy to remove; directing water flow to the cyano should be strong enough to blow it away but if it's built in and tough to remove via brushing, but can come off by scratching it then it most likely isn't cyano. Cyano typically just carpets the surface of sand and live rock with a burgandy colored slime that often times bubbles with air bubbles and peels off like a mat. You should really determine what you've got before you dose your tank with red slime. 

From your description i'd guess that it's red cotton algae (aka red turf algae) and lots of reefers have had good success with mexican turbo snails mowing it all down in a matter weeks.

hope that helps and good luck.


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## christine (Jun 13, 2009)

http://www.photoshop.com/users/christinetom/assets/0a569c4a0ad24222800f01adffa3df3a

Here's the pic. of what i'm not sure is chttp://www.photoshop.com/users/christinetom/assets/adfe8d17f0974e8cbec80ffb9e0686fayano or some type of alge.


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## Chris S (Dec 19, 2007)

I think marblerye hit the nail on the head!


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## 50seven (Feb 14, 2010)

christine said:


> Here's the pic. of what i'm not sure is cyano or some type of alge.


That's definately Coraline Algae. You want that stuff. It's hard and encrusting and it will eventually cover a large portion of your LR. Signs of a healthy system.

Cyano is slimy and easy to brush off with a soft toothbrush and suck up with your siphon when you do your water changes.


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## christine (Jun 13, 2009)

What is macro? So if it is i guess i should be doing a big wtr change? Sorry i didn't see the bottom where u typed in, coraline alge, really....interesting.


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## Chris S (Dec 19, 2007)

50seven said:


> That's definately Coraline Algae. You want that stuff. It's hard and encrusting and it will eventually cover a large portion of your LR. Signs of a healthy system.
> 
> Cyano is slimy and easy to brush off with a soft toothbrush and suck up with your siphon when you do your water changes.


The bright pink stuff is coraline, the darker is red turf, which I think is what she is complaining about.


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## christine (Jun 13, 2009)

Yes, it's the darker red stuff that i think is cyano. It looks like velvet.


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## christine (Jun 13, 2009)

Does this look like red turf algea? Anyone have this before?


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## marblerye (Jul 25, 2010)

if it looks and feels like velvet, it's most likely red turf algae. 

i've had this stuff on and off, and it comes and goes but one thing to keep an eye on is nitrates/phosphate levels which some say controls the spread of this type of algae. mexican turbo snails have been effective for a lot of people, as well as an army of blue hermit crabs. I'd definitely go with the snail route as crabs can be bothersome to a lot of other things later on (ie coral, snails, each other, etc).

i've got a lawnmower blenny that takes chomps at this algae very rarely as he prefers film algae on the tank glass. i think a lawnmower blenny to take care of this algae isn't a good idea, as lawnmowers in my experience can have different diet preferences. some are really effective at ripping hair algae off the rocks cleanly, some don't like algae at all and prefer flakes/pellet foods. i've seen other lawnmowers eat only meaty foods like dead fish so it's tricky and you never know what it prefers until it's in your tank.


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## christine (Jun 13, 2009)

I haven't tested for nitrates in a quite a while (old tester's) i'll pick a test kit up tomorrow. I have a turbo snail in my tank & he won't touch it. So what is this a wait & see game?


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## marblerye (Jul 25, 2010)

forgot to mention; sometimes i get this type of algae growing on my koralia powerheads and often times it gets cleaned off before i get a chance to dip it in vinegar during maintainence. It gets mowed down literally like grass until the bare plastic of the powerhead shows like brand new. the culprit that helps clean the algae off? Tectus snails (Tectus fenestratus) or also known as turban snails. It was on sale at SUM a while back and I regret only buying 3 because these guys are a really great addition to any CUC. Never had any issues with these snails knocking down corals or bulldozing rocks. You do have to keep calcium levels adequate because they build their shells with it, and you can always see the new growth because its white and the rest of its aged shell is covered in coralline.

one of my 3 tectus snails even spawned once but nothing really survived.


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## christine (Jun 13, 2009)

i'll make note of that kind of snail...never heard of them before. i got pretty worried with other ppl. having major problems with this stuff. I took out the rock & plugs that were covered with it, attached the zoe's to some rocks then i tossed the rock in the garbage. There was a little bit on another rock so i scraped it off with a razor. Because i have a small tank, i could start over if this spreads really bad. Anway thanks for all the help & advice, hopefully i can keep track of this & keep scapping if i have to. i now know what this stuff looks like in the early stages. PITA.
Thanks
Christine.


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