Ughh Hair Algae And Red Slime Everywhere

[tropicalwaters]

So, I been cycling my 24G nano, and I've been testing for ammonia, nitrite, etc.. but with FW tests. According to the tests

ammonia 0
nitrite - under 0.05
ran out of tests of nitatre

I wanted to make sure i was close to the end of the cycle so i ordered a set of SW online, but its on backorder ( approx. 1 more week). Now my question:

My tank is covered ( everyhere!!!!) in algae and red slime, I want to get some predators ( crabs, snails cleanup crew). But is it too soon? I am not fully sure that the tank is cycled, but with eveyday goiig by it gets worse.
- i fillled my tank with distilled water
- have not done any water changes yet ( will do soon)
- ive left my ligths off- but tank gets indirect sunligth ( lots of windows)

what hardy kind of scavanger that i can get that will eat this algae? thanks for any help!

 

[Demm]

well i would use RO water, not just disdilled. as i understand it there are 2 main causes for red slime, and that is overfeeding (to much nutrients left over), or high phosphate/nitrate levels.

red slime doesnt need sunlight to grow, so turning off the light wouldnt do much at all. they grow off the left over decomposing materials in the tank, like left over food and stuff.

astrea snails are known to eat some red slime, but i doubt they'd be able to knock out a whole tank like that.

i had a problem with red slime as well, and i was totally defeated by it, so i went extreme and used chemical treatment on it. there's stuff called "red slime control" from blue vet. it worked absolutely fantastic. doesnt hurt corals or nothing, and it got rid of my problem in about 2 days, in fact over night half of it was already gone. that was about 4 or 5 months ago, and i've never had a problem since. however if it doesn come back you run the risk of creating an immune string of red slime and in that case your screwed lol

as for your tank being cycled, if your nitrites are still registering higher then 0ppm then your not cycled yet. nitrites should never be above 0ppm. it seems liek your only in stage 2 of your cycling. i'm not sure if FW test work accurately on SW...but what i said was assuming that is works good.

 

[Musho3210]

get rid of direct sunlight, (if the slime is cyanobacteria, it is photosynthetic) and distilled is fine. What salt mix do you use?

 

[tropicalwaters]

the tank is not in direct sunligth... I know the tank is probably nor cycled yet, but i know some inverts may survive, especially if its not that bad, i just dont want to have to treat the tank chemically. There's no livestock in the tank, so i feed anything. I used instant ocean salt.

 

[Colin_T]

The red algae quite often occurs in new marine tanks. In a few months it tends to die off but during that time it is unpleasant and covers everything. Try siphoning it out every day. Increase oxygen and water movement, particularly around the bottom of the tank and among the rocks. Lights with a lot of red colour in them can encourage it as can old light globes.

Don't bother testing for nitrates when you are cycling a tank. The nitrate test kits pick up nitrite as well.

re: distilled vs R/O water.
Distilled is the most pure form of water and contains nothing but pure water. R/O is pretty clean too. Most places that sell distilled water are actually selling R/O water. Either of them are fine for making up seawater.

 

[Musho3210]

and dont bother getting something that eats it... cause either you wont find any, or if one miraculously does, it will be very little and wont fix the problem.

 

[littleme1969]

If you have nitrite you have ammonia, so dont add anything alive until thats at 0 for 5 days continuos or you are condeming it to death. If there is nothing in the tank then the alage is not such and issue. Once everything has settled then blue leg hermits (though some people hate them) and astrea snails are great for hair alage of all kinds. The red slime is a different issue. I would go for manual removal with a turkey baster to keep on top of it. Do it daily, it only takes about 10mins to do a small - medium sized tank. In my experience the red slime tends to last a few weeks then dies down as the tank settles. I would say about 95% of reefers have had it in their tank at some time so dont panic. Marine is all about slow and steady, and knowing when to intervine and when to leave alone! This comes with both experience and knowledge gained by reading others posts and journals. It will all come right just give it time and keep a close eye on water stats.

 

[steelhealr]

Nothing should go in the tank until all parameters are at zero and nitrate is 10 and under if possible. This is why new tanks should NOT have corals early on. Cyano is nasty...I had it...and I did the unthinkable...I treated with antibiotics with excellent results. I don't recommend this to newcomers. The mainstay now is water changes. Siphoning can help, but, for the most part, is useless. Cyano is one of the most rapidly reproducing bacteria on the planet with doubling times under 8 hours. Changing the lighting interval has minimal or no effect.

Still, when your parameters are zero, your clean up crew can go in. WAIT UNTIL YOU GET A RELIABLE SALTWATER TEST KIT before you make any decisions with your tank. Astreas can eat it....mine did..but not well enough to keep up with it's reproductive rate.

SH

 

[tropicalwaters]

thanks, i haven't touched it yet. I will wait to get the test kit- tough out of curiosity i used my FW tests again and the stats where
ammonia 0, nitrite 0, nitrate 10. PH 8.3- the SW tests are coming in the mail, meanwhile i will stare at my spectacular green and red algae nano, LOL. Thanks

 

[nanocubeking]

I have found that a phosphate remover then turning off the lights for a few days works pretty well with removing hair algae.

 

[steelhealr]

A refugium with chaeto is also great....competes with hair. SH

 

[nanocubeking]

Yea... In that case I need to get one going for my 24!

 

[steelhealr]

I have seen some people with 24G tanks..notch out part of their hoods and put AquaClear filters in as refugiums as a DIY. SH

 

[tropicalwaters]

i actually have the back compartment of the aquapod stuffed with chaeto- maybe its my imagination but the algae uprising began when i put in the chaeto. Of course that is impossible, but its getting worse, all my live rock is covered in this stuff. I was reading that the fighing conch eats it? Ill try that phospate remover, thanks.