When I got back from vacation there was a patch of red slime on my sand. I think that it was probably due to overfeeding. We've been back a week now and I am still fighting with it. I've done a 20% water change, a 10% and taken about a gallon a couple of times as I siphoned the stuff off my sand. But it keeps coming back! I think that I am on the right track but I've never had cyano before. Parameters are NO3 15 (it was 7 before vacation) down from 20, and everything else is normal including PO4 0.03.
Did you use the Red Slime Remover brand? I have some Chemi-Clean that the guy I bought my tank from gave me and I have been thinking about trying it. My regular maintenance is good but my son's friend overfed while I was gone...
I haven't tried the chemi clean. I used the ultralife stuff which is the red slime remover brand. I would suggest buying the ultralife stuff. Few Reasons. I know your tank has been setup for awhile and if the person before you had the slime remover then it might be expired. but mine doesn't have a expiration date on it so i don't know if they expire. And i know its hard to take someones word on it but my friend with the 120 also used the ultralife stuff and with high success and I've heard of one other person here using it too.
I tried to manually remove mine and at every water change and it kept coming back. the only way mine left was the slime remover. But that was my experience and instead of doing more research on removal i took a chance and tried it.
I guess in short i will have to suggest the Red Slime Remover since i have used it with success.
I battled this for a month. I didn't want to add a chemical to the tank. So instead of adding anything I removed something. I got fed up and yank out the substrate. Bye bye red slime. Haven't seen it since. Matter of fact I only have to scrape the glass once a week now.
I dont fully understand the flow concept. I had a large patch on my sand bed and i purchased a maxi-jet 600 and placed it at the bottom of the tank aimed directly at the patch of slime and when i came back the next day it looked like the slime spread in the direction away from the power head. Kinda like the power head helped it. lol
don't use the chemi clean if the pwder looks yellowish - it's a bad batch.. contact boyd and they should send you a new bottle... I've used it a few times.. it develops a resistance after a while. No ill effects except the overflowing of the skimmer when it comes back on. But I don't have SPS really and softies I have are considered 'hardy'. Inverts were fine.. Pods needed replenishment.
__________________ Hobby Experience: 5 yr freshwater, Saltwater since 10/2003 Current Tanks: #1. 75g, 10g refugium, 16g Lifereef sump w/ Lifereef VS2-24 w/ EHEIM 1262, mag 7 return, 6x54w T5, MJ1200 - modded, AC Jr., SP 3000 (Niveaumat)for top off, corals since 2/2006 #2. 20g RR, 10g sump, 250W -10k MH, Mag 5 return. Up since 2/2007 #3. 4g Finnex NANO, 18W PC, HOB filter used as refugium, Minijet 404 for circulation. Up since 6/2007
I have used RedSlime remover serveral times with no problems. The cost is a little high for what you get (small bottle), but it does work. Remember to turn off your skimmer when adding this product so that it has a chance to work.
Also I had this product for some years and it also never seem to go bad. After a year I had to use this product on my new 55 gal tank set up.
The bottle is marked Ultralife Reef Product P.O. Box 431 Derby, CT 06418.
Thanks and . I couldn't get to the LFS to pick up the Red Slime Remover until the weekend. But I kept siphoning it off the sand every day, removing about a gallon of water and it was all gone yesterday. I am doing another 10% water change tonight so hope that will finally get my NO3 back down.
Here's the deal in my tank to make me think either flow or lights is an issue. The display tank has cyano everywhere.... the sump it's connected to has ZERO. Same water so nutrients can't be the only factor.
I did move a powerhead to increase flow in the area where it was. That didn't seem like it helped but maybe it was the reason siphoning worked. I was siphoning with just a tube because the gravel washer type wouldn't pull up the goop. I noticed tonight when I did a water change that there were a couple places where there were clumps of rolled up cyano that were all covered with sand and I siphoned them out.
Here's the deal in my tank to make me think either flow or lights is an issue. The display tank has cyano everywhere.... the sump it's connected to has ZERO. Same water so nutrients can't be the only factor.
not exactly true.
a coral will not grow in my sump or display if i dont provide it nutrients in addition to the light.
the cyanobacteria, also known as blue-green algae, is a photosynthetic bacteria (not algae).
however not all of there energy is derived from photosynthesis, otherwise we would expect it to form everywhere all the time, with no hope of getting rid of it.
they actual feed on various elements from nitrate, nitrite, and even nitrogen in which case the by product is ammonia, nitrite or nitrate.
excess nutrients often play a role in the formation of cyano, as do dead spots in our tanks (dead=no current)
and jsut a side note, cyanobacteria, or blue-green algae are thought to be the oldest and longest living forms of life on earth, so the fact that you have some in your tank should get you too worried, this stuff has survived millions of years of evolution and environmental changes, it can live just about everywhere..
i know.. that doesn't make it look any prettier..
on my sand. I think that it was probably due to overfeeding. We've been back a week now and I am still fighting with it. I've done a 20% water change, a 10% and taken about a gallon a couple of times as I siphoned the stuff off my sand. But it keeps coming back! 
I think that I am on the right track but I've never had 
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. I couldn't get to the 
