Help!!! Red slime alge

[Constrictor6090]

If you have ammonia, add a form of bio media like Cermedia. This will allow more aerobic nitrifying bacteria to grow and reduce the NH3 levels. Also ChemiClean works great, BUT Cyano is a bacteria not an algae, as stated by others above. I would not recommend this at the moment as ChemiClean can also harm the population of nitrifying bacteria which you need more of at the moment. Increased flow and lowering the amount of organic matter in your tank will help.

 

[dboone]

Thanks every one for the recommendations, I did the water change and haven't had anymore red algae i also added an additional blower and my Nitrate levels have dropped to 5ppm.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Thanks every one for the recommendations, I did the water change and haven't had anymore red algae i also added an additional blower and my Nitrate levels have dropped to 5ppm.

Great to hear!
Thanks for the update.

 

[Billdogg]

I've found that strong flow and balanced nutrients are the best weapons against cyano. A fuge with Chaeto also helps quite a bit. By way of example, on my 125, I'm running two MP40's at 80% Reef Crest/Nutrient Export and two Tunze 6095's. Total flow is about 8000 GPH. A good rule of thumb for flow rates is the number of times you turn over the water in the tank. I'm basically turning 70X per hour.

For an SPS tank, you want as much flow as the tank can handle. For LPS I'd want it at about 30-50x per hour. For softies, you can run about 10-15x per hour.

What he said. I also agree that you have a whole lot of stock in your tank, especially at the 5 month mark. IMHO, at 5 months your are just barely cycled, and nowhere near established. Cyanobacteria is a normal part of any new tank. SLOW DOWN! Increase in-tank flow (a lot). Get and use a good PO4 test kit. I prefer Salifert for the ease of use and repeatability. I was using 4 x 3000gph powerheads in my 120DT and still didn't really have enough flow to prevent dead spots so I switched to 2 x Gyre 250's and all is much happier now.

 

[Gweeds1980]

My rule of thumb with flow... keep adding more until your sand is flying around the tank and your corals won't open... then dial it back a touch.

 

[Gweeds1980]

I run 2 x 20000 lph and 3 x 6000 lph wave makers and another 4000 lph from my return, that's on a 1200l system... so around 50x system volume per hour.

That will help with cyano. If you're still having problems after all that, spot treat with h202 and black out for 3 days.