Red slime remover?

Get rid of the source and you'll get rid of the slime. Red slime and algaes in general need phosphates and nitrates to grow. Low flow also encourages growth. Use GFO to reduce the phosphates, don't overfeed and do regular water changes to keep nitrates in check and get another powerhead or two to increase your flow. Now give it a little time and you'll see the algaes go away on their own. A general recommendation is to only use chemicals and additives as a last resort. Try to take care of things naturally first.

--AJ

 

One other thing you can do in addition to what AJ said is to turn your lights off a couple days. That will kill the red slime algae while you elimanate the source of the problem. Don't worry it won't hurt your corals not having light just for a few days.

 

+1

 

+1
But I will add a little ...... Don't do it!! Never add chemicals you can't measure. Red Slime removers are normally anti-biotics that will kill other good bacteria and can potentially crash your tank.
If it does work you are only getting rid of the symptoms and they will return. Do what AJ mentioned and control the source, Nitrates and Phosphates, Flow and Lighting.

 

Great job guys. Great advice.

 

yeah thats way to much light for a tank, 8-10 maybe 12 hrs if you know how to handle it. What type of lights are you running? How old are your bulbs? Is that 6025 the only pump in the tank? What do you run your temps at? There's a lot of variables to winning the battle. Shutting your lights off may suppress the slime but if your tank temp is 80 and your bulbs are old it won't matter how many days you leave the lights off as soon as they come back on they will fuel the fire and your issues will come right back. GFO is a type of mechanical filtration that helps reduce phosphates in the water. Realistically it's jumping the gun quite a bit, I think your issue is probably far easier to fix than it seems. My personal opinion, keep that slime remover in the trash where it belongs, it sounds like a good idea but all in all everything in the hobby is based on patience, if you fix it fast it will bite you in the ***.

 

Drop your tank temp to around 76, i'm not familiar with that bulb but i do know the k rating should be no lower than 10k. having only one pump may be another reason for the growth, if you have to many dead spots it gives the algae a place to grow. Now don't get me wrong I'm not suggesting you run out and buy a new set of lights and new pumps, rather go one probable at a time. Start with lowering your lighting schedule and adjusting your temp down...give that a few days, if it has no impact you may want to research the k on those bulbs. After that if the algae is still there you may want to take a look into more flow or different flow if your pump is to powerful for the tank. If non of that works I would look into your water source and possibly getting a gfo reactor. Chances are it will be an easy fix

 

Posted By glaspie69 on 03/27/2010 10:56 AM
Drop your tank temp to around 76, i'm not familiar with that bulb but i do know the k rating should be no lower than 10k. having only one pump may be another reason for the growth, if you have to many dead spots it gives the algae a place to grow. Now don't get me wrong I'm not suggesting you run out and buy a new set of lights and new pumps, rather go one probable at a time. Start with lowering your lighting schedule and adjusting your temp down...give that a few days, if it has no impact you may want to research the k on those bulbs. After that if the algae is still there you may want to take a look into more flow or different flow if your pump is to powerful for the tank. If non of that works I would look into your water source and possibly getting a gfo reactor. Chances are it will be an easy fix
Not to start an argument but it's not uncommon for people to use 6500k bulbs for growth, I did it for many years with nothing but good results. Why do you say it's bad to go under 10K?
Flow is also a consideration but one 6025 should be enough as long as the aquarium is not stuffed with rock.
Temp at 79* is a little high but not anything out of the ordinary, Many reefers keep their temp at 80* and have done so for years without issues, 76* to 80* is normal range.
Saltwaterloo, Do you run a skimmer?
I've found that the a good skimmer will not only remove waste but also oxygenate the water.
What is your PH level?
Low PH can also be a factor.
Are you using RODI water?
Tap water/Well water should not be trusted.
How often are you doing water changes and at what percenatge?
How long has your aquarium been running?
It's not uncommon for new systems can go through different stages of algae growth until it has aged awhile. For the first few months there are many many chemical/bacterial changes going on all at once that will settle down with time.
I do agree with the others on backing off your lighting to 8-10 hours after you get it under control and a couple days with no light or less light will help in the short term.

 

John no argument here, I gave the advice based on what I already know about the tank.

I know the tank is under 2 months old, this makes the tank vulnerable to algae blooms, thus keeping the ratings up on the bulbs would help to prevent any extra algae from growing. Using a 6500 grow bulb is this case would be like throwing gas on a fire.

Flow is a touchy one, the pump may be enough to handle the tank but if it's placement isn't right it may be doing no good.

Temp range in a normal tank is 76-80, if your trying to get rid of a red slime algae or a few other problem-some algae s it's easier to fight the battle if the temp is lower.

This is just advice

 

There's a lot of extra goodies for algae in tap water. Since most of your water in there is remaining tap water, you'll have to do a lot more water changes before you'll dilute it enough. Change out about 5 gallons every few days or so. Smaller more frequent water changes will help keep the tank more stable than a larger water changes less often.

When you mix the salt and water together, aerate the water while waiting for the salt to dissolve for a day. It'll help bring up the pH and oxygenate the water.

BTW 6 gallons is not 40% of 37 gallons. It's just under 20%.

 

air stones will work great.

I have a few of those 5 gallon jugs from wal-mart. I drilled a small hole into the cap of one of them to barely fit an air line into and use a bigger air pump to mix the water. I also use a mag float to keep the airstone down towards the bottom.