red slime and Brown sand help

[Reef addict 01]

hey guys my buddy has a nano 10 gallon reef he keeps having problems with what looks like brown sand and red slime. it's been up and running for about 8 months now, he has always had a problem with red slime and brown sand from the beginning. water flow in the tank is as follows 1 koralia nano 240 middle water column. Filtration is a fluval C2 5 stage filter which does contain phosphate media. he does 3 weekly water changes at approximately a gallon and a half every time. salinity of the tank is 1.2 4 to 1.2 6. ammonia is 0 nitrite is 0 nitrate is 10 and pH is 8.3. I will also include some pictures in the tank he has a hammer coral and two Kenya trees along with onyx clown and a cardinal fish. any help to fix this problem would be appreciated whether it is chemicals, added fish or inverts to eat it, or perhaps even more water flow?

 

[jtucker022187]

What kind of water does he use? What kind if lighting? How often dies he feed? And does he rinse the food?

 

[mike007]

Try vacumning it out when doing a water change. Need to increase flow across the bottom of tank. Excess nutrients in the water usually cause nusiance algae. (overfeeding) Also how old are the bulbs? Also you want to try to turn lights off for 3 days and see if it goes away.

 

[Reef addict 01]

he's using a solar flare led so the bulbs are good, he doesn't feed very much at all maybe twice a week? he thaws the food out but we dont rinse it. and he is using RO water. we have done the blackout thing twice already goes away but always seems to come back

 

[TrialandError]

I'm having the same problems in my sump. I have a section for corals and microalgae and it is the only spot that looks like your pics. Maybe try uping water change amount. Or like someone said up flow. Not sure.

Going to tag along and see what is recomended to you by others.

 

[GeoHawk]

I have a queen conch and nassarius snails that stir the sand. They keep my sand surface pretty clean, but it won't eat the red slime.

 

[mike007]

Go to the top of page where it says search and type in cyano bacteria and read some of the posts there. You will find lots of good info.

 

[Reef addict 01]

Go to the top of page where it says search and type in cyano bacteria and read some of the posts there. You will find lots of good info.

okay we will do that thank you and thank you very much everyone else I appreciate it

 

[jtucker022187]

I have this red slime remover. Worked well but you need to find the source of excess nutrients.

 

[TrialandError]

Check your RO for phosphates. I just tested where I store mine and it was between 1-2 I was shocked.

 

[myownlife]

Lights out period. I was having an issue with red slime and dusting on my glass. After 2 days it was gone haven't had to clean my glass in a week. Now this is only a solution if you know all other factors are good. During lights out increase flow to your sand to keep it from reattaching

 

[Bradsreeeftank]

LISTEN EVERYONE BATTLING CYANO! Cyano ( red slime) feeds off of excess nutrients. i reccomend getting a protien skimmer that will starve the red slime because it will have nothing too feed on. you can also do red slime remover, then keep doing water changes, then feed less! That will kill it! Trust me i did it and knock on wood never saw another appearance!