Red Slime Algae Outbreak... Help Please!

[lukkylady]

I have a 240 litre tank, FOWLR, up and running for about 5/6 months

things were going great until we came back from holidays on 21st May and found this red slime algae outbreak in tank

its very hard and frustrating to get rid of

I've read lots and lots on forums, books and internet, asked lfs as well

excess nitrates, phosphates etc seems to be the general cause

i have a phosphate remover in my tank, and and my params are ph 8.2, amm0, nitrite 0, nitrate 5, tested 0 for phosphates as well

i have a good water flow, and dont overfeed (i think), the fish are fed twice a day on frozen mysis/brineshrimp/bloodworm mix, and eat the food straightaway when i put it in

i do a weekly 25-30% water change with sand vacc to remove the algae, but its back as soon as i remove it

so whats causing it if my nitrates and phosphates arent high?

the lfs gave me a product called 'algone' to put in my filter to take away any excess nutrients, but so far i havent seen any change?

any advice? i really dont want to go down the chemical route for red slime remover, as Im not 100% sure they wont harm my fish and inverts

any advice or suggestions would be most welcome, before i start tearing my hair out

 

[Musho3210]

dont do anything, i didnt do anything, and it went away on its own. My goby helped out as it mixed the top layer of my sand a bit.

Its been around 4 weeks and most of its gone, some is still lingering by, so it will take a while. Stay way from chemicals.

 

[lukkylady]

hi thanks for quick reply, i think i will persevere, its just depressing looking at red slime!

i bought a scooter blenny today and a mithrax crab, i know they dont eat red algae, just hoping them on the sand will help a bit

i will continue the water changes, and manually removing it. i have ordered a turkey baster to help remove it without taking out large volumes of water every time

would me feeding frozen food have anything to do with it either? the water from the frozen? have read it contains nitrates and phosphates?

if so, whats a good way to feed defrosted foods?

 

[Musho3210]

Flake and pellet food contains phosphates, frozen food contains a lot of liquid that can rot, either way you are going to get waste from either.

 

[Sea Turtle]

I am starting to get this red slime also. My PH and nitrates are basically zero but I still have it. My tank aslo is new, about 3 to 3 months. I am planning on just leaving it and keeping my light cycle to a minimun.

 

[rednwhite barmy]

i had a bit of a slim/algie problem on my coral sand and spoke to my ifs and they recommended buying a sand shifting chalk goby, so i thought what the hell! . . . . . the little diamond sorted it in 48hours! never had a problem since.

 

[Musho3210]

sand sifting gobies starve a lot in captivity, if you can provide the necessary amount of sand for them to feed off on micro life, im sure they can do fine though.

 

[rednwhite barmy]

sand sifting gobies starve a lot in captivity, if you can provide the necessary amount of sand for them to feed off on micro life, im sure they can do fine though.

aye he's a hungry little fella, he eats the tangs nori, frozen shrimp, if i chucked in a doner kebab he'd dust that too!!

 

[Musho3210]

thats good to hear (im not 100% sure, but is it a sand sifting, cleaner, or shrimp goby?)

 

[Sea Turtle]

sand sifting gobies starve a lot in captivity, if you can provide the necessary amount of sand for them to feed off on micro life, im sure they can do fine though.

aye he's a hungry little fella, he eats the tangs nori, frozen shrimp, if i chucked in a doner kebab he'd dust that too!!

Is there some reason I can not view these hyperlinks. I just get a window that opens with a smile face. What do I have to do to view it?

 

[rednwhite barmy]

thats good to hear (im not 100% sure, but is it a sand sifting, cleaner, or shrimp goby?)

aye wor kid know as shrimp gobys as they have a bond with pistol tiger shrimps (i havnt got 1)