Never ending red cyano battle

[Jonesyg]

I am not the scientist but my battle with red slime I found it to never grow in the dark.
In fact in the morning when the lights first came on it always had reduced.
It would grow and sometimes double growth during the day to make up for it though.

I am not a fan of additives so I got rid of it by doing the following.
Eliminating all the white light spectrums.
Went with 100% blue spectrum lighting.
Reduced the lighting schedule by 1 hour a day.

I feed frozen foods, so I take PE Mysis shrimp, brine shrimp, LRS herbivore, Spirolina, Selcon, and Garlic. Mix it into a paste spread that into silicone 1/4 inch cube ice trays and freeze it.
I take 6 cubes melt it in a small cup of tank water and dump it in twice a day.
However to rid myself of Cyano I melted the food and then sifted it through a fine net removing the liquids and just feeding the solids.

I also upped the game in my sump and built an algae scrubber with a Kessel 360.
Literally in two weeks it was gone 100%.

Thanks for the advice I am using 40% white spectrum so I could try removing that to see if there is any change. I have wondered about putting the food through a mesh filter before, another thing I should try then ! Cheers

 

[ReefGeezer]

My tank is 6 months old ... Any advice is welcome its driving me crazy!

Siphon out the slime as often as possible, skim wet, maybe add a good bunch of GAC for a while, do more water changes. The tank is new, I would do just enough to keep it from getting out of hand, but don't over-do it. It shall pass.

 

[Jonesyg]

Siphon out the slime as often as possible, skim wet, maybe add a good bunch of GAC for a while, do more water changes. The tank is new, I would do just enough to keep it from getting out of hand, but don't over-do it. It shall pass.

I adjusted my skimmer a few days ago to skim wet, thanks

 

[K7BMG]

Oh and I also manually removed as much as I could about twice a week.
when I say removed I am not saying blowing it off into the water column.
I syphoned into a filter sock and replaced the syphoned water to the tank.
Literally removing it from the tank.

 

[Zerobytes]

I did as others have said with cleaning the sand, chems, etc. Finally gave up and lowered my PO4 and doubled NO3 to 15 or so. 3 weeks later it was all gone and no sign sense. To me, for my tank, i think it was about stability and ratios. Good luck!

 

[Krully]

I did what you are doing after I started up my latest tank. I drove my phosphates low with gfo. The next thing to happen was dinos. For over a year. They killed almost everything.

A year and some change later, I vacuum some red slime ( a little less each time) monthly but dinos are gone and the tank is great. I guess what I am trying to tell you is being very careful with phosphate remover. In fact, I would not use it. Your red slime will naturally go away very slowly by maintaining your tank.

I ordered some and it's arriving monday and now I don't want to use it lol

 

[dwest]

I ordered some and it's arriving monday and now I don't want to use it lol

People use gfo and are successful with it. It’s very easy to over do it though. If you are going to use it, start with something like 1/4 of the recommended amount.

 

[Krully]

People use gfo and are successful with it. It’s very easy to over do it though. If you are going to use it, start with something like 1/4 of the recommended amount.

Yeah I was going to go with a really low amount to give it a try first anyway, thanks

 

[twilliard]

Cyanobacteria and spirulina look identical to the eye but are treated in two different ways.

 

[rizon25]

its probably a combo of excess lighting, your nitrates, and excess feeding you reduce all 3 for a short time (week or two) and i bet it improves, and maybe up your flow if you can.

I agree with upping the flow. Helped me get rid of Cyano in addition to feeding less and water changes.

 

[Jonesyg]

I agree with upping the flow. Helped me get rid of Cyano in addition to feeding less and water changes.

I have removed all white lighting just blues, maybe i should turn them off totally for a few days. I have increased flow also. It is growing back still very hair like and deep red, maybe it is spirulina? What is the treatment method for that?
My nitrates I have no idea how to reduce them further, I have removed all filter sponges, have a roller mat filter and have increased my skimmers output, I don't feed excessive amounts either, I do 50L weekly water changes and have done two this past week.

 

[deerhunter06]

I have removed all white lighting just blues, maybe i should turn them off totally for a few days. I have increased flow also. It is growing back still very hair like and deep red, maybe it is spirulina? What is the treatment method for that?
My nitrates I have no idea how to reduce them further, I have removed all filter sponges, have a roller mat filter and have increased my skimmers output, I don't feed excessive amounts either, I do 50L weekly water changes and have done two this past week.

just saying a whole cube of frozen plus pellets is excessive. Not saying I don’t doit or that you shouldn’t but your fish don’t need that much.

 

[deerhunter06]

Also, as twillard alrdy stated you just need to grab a bit and put it some hydrogen peroxide and if it changes colors it’s cyano if not it’s spirulina

 

[Jonesyg]

Ill stop feeding the pellets in the morning and just feed one cube, there is 12 fish including 3 tangs the cube lasts about 30 seconds. I have no hydrogen peroxide and here in Sweden the only stuff i found is 3% no idea if that's the stuff to use?

 

[K7BMG]

Ill stop feeding the pellets in the morning and just feed one cube, there is 12 fish including 3 tangs the cube lasts about 30 seconds. I have no hydrogen peroxide and here in Sweden the only stuff i found is 3% no idea if that's the stuff to use?

Yes 3% H2o2 will work, just fine.

 

[deerhunter06]

I’m not saying do it forever just maybe for a short while. I’m a firm believer in keeping my fish fat and healthy.

 

[Jonesyg]

Ive reduced feeding and had the light off for two days, the algae has died down and some parts have turned green. I have ordered some H202, might arrive tomorrow.

 

[K7BMG]

Ive reduced feeding and had the light off for two days, the algae has died down and some parts have turned green. I have ordered some H202, might arrive tomorrow.

Just do your homework on proper dosage, as this is your method of choice.

 

[Jonesyg]

I was going to use the H202 to test the algae to see what it is. Id rather not use something to clear the issue, I want to find the source and fix it so it doesnt return.