red algae/red bubbles

[reeferkeeper420]

Hey everyone! Im in desperate need of help..i have red algae and red bubbles starting to take over my tank, i dont know why..my params r all fine..ive scrubbed both my wavemakers which had a thick layer on top of them, and its growing in my skimmer output basket and on the intake pump(hob skimmer)and now is starting to grow on my sand and have a few spots on my LR! Please help id really like to stop this outbreak before it spreads like wildfire.

 

[Salty Cracker]

Phosphate.

Start running GFO and it will slowly go away on its own, scrubbing won't do anything.

Google "slime algae"  "phosphate" and granular ferric oxide 

oh and welcome!

 

[Boga]

How old is your system? Would you be able to post a picture or two of this algae?

I was able to stop outbreaks of red slime using the Red Slime Remover by Chemiclean. Also followed by water changes and better maintenance, less feeding, reduced light time, increased flow.

 

[reeferkeeper420]

Its about a year and a half old..the tank has been torn down twice and moved locations, i dont know if thatll help at all.i will post pics as soon as ppssible..and as to the gfo how would i do it, my system is berlin style with no sump..just a hob skimmer..its a 46 gallon bowfront  mixed reef, two wave makers 6 t5s, auto top off, 65pds of live rock,  powder blue tang(i know stresfull in that size tank upgrading very soon to 150g or bigger) 2 orange skunk clowns, coral branded  shrimp 3 snail 20hermit crabs.

 

[Salty Cracker]

Grab a 2 piece canister from bulk reef supply, and a small pump (I think the mj 400 or 600 would work), and some of their bulk grannular oxide
http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/filter-media/phosphate-removal-media-gfo.html
http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/brs-gfo-carbon-reactor-dual.html

The other canister is for carbon, just keeps your water crystal clear (amoung other things).

I had an entire tank of slime...I could reduce it for a while with slime remover, but it would -always- come back.  I finally swallowed my pride and listened to the advice of the people on reef central..in fact here is my thread:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2036229



I haven't had hair algae, slime, bubble, cotton candy or any kind of problem since I started aggressive gfo/carbon and biopellet use.  It's a little bit of a startup cost, but almost all the guys having good success are using it (eventually). 

 

[Salty Cracker]

Oh and are you using RO/DI water with a good way to test for 0TDS? 

If not...very good idea to start

 

[reeferkeeper420]

Yes i am using RO/DI water but no i dont have a way of testing it i had a water guy test a cpl months back and he told me 0..maybe i shud get one.and i have a eheim canister rated for 150 gallons but i took it off cuz when i forst bought this tank and was new(bought it pre set up and cycled) i cleaned the canister one day the whole thing(i know bad idea) and nearly crashed my tank, hen after that i left it then started having hair algae everywhere and nitrate problems and stunted coral growth, so i removed the filter and started doing water changes every other day in hopes of removing any nitrates and or phosphates..but afyer the hair algae went away this slime algae started taking over..how often do i need to clean the filter and media and how shud i do so, so i dont crash my little ecosystem

 

[pulpfiction1]

pre cycled?

Sent from my SGH-I747M using Tapatalk HD

 

[reeferkeeper420]

Yeah i bought ot from someone i knew..

 

[Salty Cracker]

Yes i am using RO/DI water but no i dont have a way of testing it i had a water guy test a cpl months back and he told me 0..maybe i shud get one.and i have a eheim canister rated for 150 gallons but i took it off cuz when i forst bought this tank and was new(bought it pre set up and cycled) i cleaned the canister one day the whole thing(i know bad idea) and nearly crashed my tank, hen after that i left it then started having hair algae everywhere and nitrate problems and stunted coral growth, so i removed the filter and started doing water changes every other day in hopes of removing any nitrates and or phosphates..but afyer the hair algae went away this slime algae started taking over..how often do i need to clean the filter and media and how shud i do so, so i dont crash my little ecosystem

an eheim canister is WAY different from a reactor canister.  It doesn't keep a biological (bacteria) colony so you just change the gfo and carbon once a month.  With bio pellets, they DO make a bacteria colony so you never really clean it, just refill once a year or as needed. 

Canister filters can definitely be nitrate factories, IMHO it's old tech, or good for freshwater tanks.

As for not crashing, get your parameters right, do very careful water changes, and leave it alone, stability is the best policy. 

 

[reeferkeeper420]

Oh ok ill definately look into that, thanks so much

 

[Salty Cracker]

Here's a post I made here a while ago...basically spells out everything I did to 'fix' what I had been told by the local fish dudes that really just wanted to keep selling me quick fixes... might be of use

http://www.thefragtank.ca/forum/index.php?topic=3639.msg31319#msg31319