RED SLIME

My 55-gallon reef tank is almost five-months old and I have a bad case of
red slime. It wasn't caused by anything I did - it came from a live rock
that I purchased at a well known store in Terre Haute, IN. One of the store
managers was sure that I was doing something wrong. He refused to think the
problem was caused by the rock. Since I'm kind of new at the hobby, he had
me convinced that I caused the problem. I ended up boiling the rock because
I knew there was something wrong with it and the slime came right back. The
rock also smelled bad. I tried everything I was told to do which included
cutting down the time my lights were on, not adding calcium and practically
starving my fish. After several days, my corals started going down hill. I
know my tank and I know when things aren't happy. I talked to the store
manager during this past week and he suggested I bring him a water sample
and the rock. I took him the water and I knew he was thinking my water
quality was probably bad. He tested the water and said everything was
excellent! Then I gave him the rock. He took it out of the bag and
immediately knew there was something wrong with it. He said it smelled like
something had died in it. After all was said and done, he apologized and
told me to pick out a new rock of my choice. He also told me to keep doing
what I've been doing because my water was so good.

I try so hard to keep my tank nice and everything happy, but at this point I
feel like the slime is never going to go away. I have been taking a small
siphon and siphoning the slime off my rocks. I also stir the substrate
since the slime appears on it heavily several times a day. I do 5-gallon
water changes once a week using R/O water. I've never used anything except
R/O water. Like I said everything is so happy, but the slime is unsightly.
I have a pair of clowns, pair of Banggal Cardinalfish and two Watchman
Gobies & a very destructive pistol shrimp. I also have a serpent starfish,
a sally lightfoot crab, a peppermint shrimp, snails and red-legged hermit
crabs and many corals.

A store in Indianapolis tried to talk me into putting some kind of
antibiotic in my tank, but I didn't want to do that. Having said enough, I
need help. I've been reading about something called Ultralife Red Slime
Remover, but again am leery of adding anything.

I look forward to hearing from people that have had the problem and were
successful at getting rid of the stuff.

Thanks,
Diane

water changes and more water changes, just small ones to get the slime
off the rocks and net what you can out of the sand. if your water
quality is good and your lights are not old (1 year approx.) this is all
you can do without adding anything. it takes a while but it does die off
after a while, starts coming back in smaller amounts untill it is all
gone. you also want to make sure you have enough water flow tends to
grow best in low water flow areas. if all else fails the ultralife brand
works awsome and fast with no detrimental effects to coral or other
inverts and fish

...and instead of stirring up the sand to remove the red slime, siphon it off
the top during water changes. This actually removes it instead of just
stirring it around to grow elsewhere.

-Todd

"Chad" wrote in message
...
water changes and more water changes, just small ones to get the slime
off the rocks and net what you can out of the sand. if your water
quality is good and your lights are not old (1 year approx.) this is all
you can do without adding anything. it takes a while but it does die off
after a while, starts coming back in smaller amounts untill it is all
gone. you also want to make sure you have enough water flow tends to
grow best in low water flow areas. if all else fails the ultralife brand
works awsome and fast with no detrimental effects to coral or other
inverts and fish

Do the following:
Continue the water chanage with your RO/DI
Check your bulb
More water circulation where RedSlime resided.
Get better Protein Skimmer that due min. 6x

CapFusion,...


"Chad" wrote in message
...
water changes and more water changes, just small ones to get the slime
off the rocks and net what you can out of the sand. if your water
quality is good and your lights are not old (1 year approx.) this is all
you can do without adding anything. it takes a while but it does die off
after a while, starts coming back in smaller amounts untill it is all
gone. you also want to make sure you have enough water flow tends to
grow best in low water flow areas. if all else fails the ultralife brand
works awsome and fast with no detrimental effects to coral or other
inverts and fish

"Todd Nicholson" wrote in message
ink.net...
..and instead of stirring up the sand to remove the red slime, siphon it
off
the top during water changes. This actually removes it instead of just
stirring it around to grow elsewhere.

The PS should take care of any nutrient that the RedAlgae need to grow.
Other possible reason a
Overfeed
Bad bulb
Die off
Unefficient skimming of PS

Or maybe the RO/DI maybe not efficient that may need changing a new
cartridge.The TDS should read near Zero.

CapFusion,...

I had the Red Slime - pretty large case of it. My LFS guy recommended the
UltraLife Red Slime Remover. From past experience, I have come to trust his
opinion. It zapped the red slime very quickly (like 3 days max) and have
not had any ill effects to anything else - that was about 4 months ago. It
has not reappeared as of yet. I have a gorgonian, a few anenomes, CBS,
cleaner shrimp, bunch of hermit crabs and snails, a couple tangs, and some
other fish.

Just my experience.

Otto

"Mark Pearson" wrote in message
...
My 55-gallon reef tank is almost five-months old and I have a bad case of
red slime. It wasn't caused by anything I did - it came from a live rock
that I purchased at a well known store in Terre Haute, IN. One of the
store
managers was sure that I was doing something wrong. He refused to think
the
problem was caused by the rock. Since I'm kind of new at the hobby, he
had
me convinced that I caused the problem. I ended up boiling the rock
because
I knew there was something wrong with it and the slime came right back.
The
rock also smelled bad. I tried everything I was told to do which included
cutting down the time my lights were on, not adding calcium and
practically
starving my fish. After several days, my corals started going down hill.
I
know my tank and I know when things aren't happy. I talked to the store
manager during this past week and he suggested I bring him a water sample
and the rock. I took him the water and I knew he was thinking my water
quality was probably bad. He tested the water and said everything was
excellent! Then I gave him the rock. He took it out of the bag and
immediately knew there was something wrong with it. He said it smelled
like
something had died in it. After all was said and done, he apologized and
told me to pick out a new rock of my choice. He also told me to keep
doing
what I've been doing because my water was so good.

I try so hard to keep my tank nice and everything happy, but at this point
I
feel like the slime is never going to go away. I have been taking a small
siphon and siphoning the slime off my rocks. I also stir the substrate
since the slime appears on it heavily several times a day. I do 5-gallon
water changes once a week using R/O water. I've never used anything
except
R/O water. Like I said everything is so happy, but the slime is
unsightly.
I have a pair of clowns, pair of Banggal Cardinalfish and two Watchman
Gobies & a very destructive pistol shrimp. I also have a serpent
starfish,
a sally lightfoot crab, a peppermint shrimp, snails and red-legged hermit
crabs and many corals.

A store in Indianapolis tried to talk me into putting some kind of
antibiotic in my tank, but I didn't want to do that. Having said enough,
I
need help. I've been reading about something called Ultralife Red Slime
Remover, but again am leery of adding anything.

I look forward to hearing from people that have had the problem and were
successful at getting rid of the stuff.

Thanks,
Diane