I think I have Red Slime but I am confused!?!#$

[The hig]

Hello again,

 

I came home from a long business trip to find this stuff in my tank. I had my light cycle set at 10 hours while I was gone. I was topping off from RO/DI. I was assured that my clown's would be fine for the 10 days I was gone. They were fine but I am over run by this stuff. There is even a small devils tower now of algae. The only change I made prior to leaving was swapping chemi-pure blue for my carbon.

 

Help! I leave for another trip on Friday.

 

What do I do?

 

Fluval 13g Nano

PH 8.2

Ammonia 0

Nitrates < 5

Nitrites 0

[Clown79]

Looks like cyano.

 

Theres nothing you can do over night to get rid of it.

 

You have to determine cause and fix the cause. You can syphon it out for right now but to get rid of cyano, you will need to determine whats causing it.

 

You may not have enough flow in the area, not enough flow in the tank. How often do you do waterchanges? Do you vacuum the sand, do you clean the filter, Change floss regularly. Feeding routine, dosing anything?

[The hig]

Okay, thanks for the reply.

 

I was away for 9 days so I did a water change before I left and am doing one right now. ~25% change. I clean my filter every 2 weeks. Vacuuming the sand is tough it is so fine that it just goes up the syphon. I have removed a lot of the cyano. I will change the floss after this water change.

 

My clowns went for 9+days without feeding. So it's not over feeding. I feed them when I am home every other day only what the can eat in about 1 1/2 minutes. I am not dosing anything.

[ReefWeeds]

Did anything die in your tank while you were gone that could've spiked nutrients? Snails, etc? 9 days is a long time to not feed he tank. Can't you set up an auto feeder of some sort? How old is the tank?

[The hig]

I can't locate all the hermits. They were so small they were hard to spot in the first place. Snails are all accounted for,however. Everyone I talked to said the tank should be fine. Opinions on auto feeders were more trouble than they were worth. Should I reconsider using an auto feeder?

[seabass]

That tower is weird. I assume that it's covering something. I'd go ahead and siphon it away. If you get some sand, just rinse it well and return it.

 

When gone so long, automatic feeders with individual meal sections work pretty well. I can't find a link to the one I use, but here is one that has 14 meal slots (to feed up to two weeks): https://www.amazon.com/Fish-Mate-F14-Aquarium-Feeder/dp/B000YK5W18/ref=sr_1_7?s=pet-supplies&ie=UTF8&qid=1474457979&sr=1-7&keywords=auto+fish+feeder

[nancymatthews]

Yeah, unless you don't have someone to help you out and feed your pets, you should get an auto feeder. Cyano sucks. Hopefully it doesn't get crazy in your tank.

[The hig]

It's already dissipated a lot. Between manual removal and big water change last night. The tower is gone, I will await further developments. I did replace my poly-filter and clean my filter. Fingers crossed. I am thinking of adding a powerhead to ensure water movement all over the tank. Any thoughts on a small powerhead? Too much for a 12g tank? I will add an auto-feeder, Anyone else have any recommendations besides that one mentioned by Seabass. It looks pretty bullet proof so just checking.

 

 

I have noticed that my zoa's aren't looking that hot. Not sure if that is related to the Cyano or something else.

Another quick question. Would a small hermit cause all the Cyano? Just seems like a lot for such a small creature.

[seabass]

Any thoughts on a small powerhead?

Hydor Koralia Nano 240.

 

Another quick question. Would a small hermit cause all the Cyano? Just seems like a lot for such a small creature.

I wouldn't say cause, but it could be a contributing factor. That's the case with most reef tank issues (not just one thing). Your sand bed has probably accumulated a bunch of organics over time. The death of a small critter could have put it over the top. How's your tank's phosphate level?

[The hig]

Ashamed to say I do not know. I will have to get a test kit. I have a hard time with the color charts on some of the kits. I can't tell the differences.

 

I thought running Chemi-Pure blue would help with Phos.

 

Guess without testing how could I know

[seabass]

Simple solution: https://www.amazon.com/Hanna-Instruments-Phosphorus-Saltwater-Aquariums/dp/B003UNK3I8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1474474915&sr=8-1&keywords=hanna+phosphorus (it's low range and has a digital readout).

 

ChemiPure Blue doesn't help with phosphate, ChemiPure Elite does (a little).

[The hig]

Thanks,Seabass. I still have cyano debris all over the bottom of my tank. What should I do about it? Any way to kill it outright or do I have to scoop it out. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[seabass]

After you address the cause(s), you can knock out cyano with ChemiClean; but you need to correct the problem first (light cycle, nutrients, organics, flow, how much you feed...).

[The hig]

Since I did not feed at all for this outbreak I think my feeding is under control. Just upgraded my light to an aquamaxx nemo. Going to add a powerhead to improve flow. Not sure what else to do..

[Clown79]

You have to evaluate where the issue is.

 

It could be lack of maintenance

 

Do you have an hob filter? Is it ever cleaned?

 

If you can't vacuum the sand(what sand do u have) then stirring it and syphoning the detritus during water changes is an option.

 

What water source?

 

Do you not have a powerhead in the tank?

 

You've ruled out over feeding.

 

The issue may be appearing now but the cause could have been brewing with time.

[The hig]

No HOB this is an all in one Fluval. So it has a media foam block. Which I clean every 2 weeks when I do the water change for that week. I did not get to do a water change during my trip so that might be the issue. But frankly, I am at a loss. The cyano has gone back to wherever cyano goes I have scooped it all out and used a net to get the pieces up. I guess I will just keep on keeping on.

 

Thank you all for the support and the advice.

[Clown79]

Missing 1 water change is not the cause. Cyano doesn't develope over night, its usually a few things over time. It creeps up.

 

The foam block is a nutrient factory even when washed regularly. Filter floss that is replaced 1-2x a week should be used.

 

Any carbon in media bags should be rinsed weekly and fully replaced every month.

 

The filter chamber should be cleaned as well monthly.

 

Sand should be maintained by the methods mentioned.

 

A powerhead needs to be in the tank because lack of flow - leads to algae and oxygenation issues

Ro/di or distilled water ahould only be used.

 

Doing 1 waterchange will not irradicate cyano.