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