at wit's end, need help! pic heavy

It's amazing how quickly the algae kicks in if your filters/membranes are due for a change - I know, it was my algae bloom that told me so. This stuff can be beaten Salty, don't get too disheartened, I've been there and it will go eventually!!!!
 
I am always surprised at how many different responses you get. But here is my advice. They make a "Red Algae" killer. You put it in your tank and it will kill it. If you have a skimmer it will go crazy when you turn it back on. takes 3-7 days. comes in a little canister red powder you mix and dump in the tank. Good Luck.
 
cures in a bottle are just bandages the problem causing the algae needs to be addressed.
 
well i have to assume the ro water and the salt is ok because im using the same water on the 75g reef and that tank is doing great.
i got some chemi-pure today and a teeny little skimmer for the tank. the bulbs are still on backorder. i am hoping to have time to work on the tank tomorrow. part of me just wants to break it down and put the toadstool into my 75g. the problem is i don't have an ISO for the fish and will not put them in the 75g. since i don't have the ISO i'll just do pretty much what you've suggested jojo as it seems to make sense (as far as cleaning the tank up). oh me oh my the tank looks oh so crappy...
 
There is this one guy in my area. Once in a while, he would sell off everything and starts over. He says he enjoy the excitment of 'rebuilding'. I guess rebuilding is not all bad.
 
IMO a treatment or 2 of chemi-clean would do wonders. jojo is right, it isn't a cure in the bottle, the source still needs addressing, but it will get rid of a lot of the red smile quickly. Whether or not you find and fix the source will determine if it comes back.

A bag of phosguard would really help as well for a short term solution. After the clemi-clean treatment, and major water changes, put a bag of phosguard in there to clean up phosphates and silicates. Then you should be back to your "clean slate". Again though, without addressing the source it will come back. It could be lights, ro unit (this was my cause, but I caught it sooner, silicates were getting into my system), flow, lack of skimmer.. any or all of those could contribute.
 
alright so i did another water change and added chemi-pure to the tank yesterday. it was the chemi-pure that is the filter media stuff so hopefully it will work ok. i didn't cover the tank and the red slime made a come back overnight but not as bad as usual. i am going to blanket the tank tomorrow and see what happens. i got an maxi-jet upgrade kit so there's crazy flow in there now. the problems is that i haven't seen the yellow watchman. im sure he's fine and just hiding because of all the water movement but he hasn't eaten. i just want to make sure he'll be fine not to eat for another 3 days if i blanket the tank since he hasn't eaten in the last 2..? thanks guys!
 
Why would you use Chemi-Pure for cyano? That is just carbon and will do nothing for red slime. What you need is Chemi-Clean, and remove the chemi-pure.

Fish can go up to 3 weeks without eating without any major worries. Obviously that is less than ideal to do, but it is possible.
 
IMO Chemi-Pure will do neither in any measurable amount. It will not remove phospates or silicates in an amount that will make any difference. I am speaking about the Elite.. the regular Chemi-Pure doesn't even do Phos/Silicates, but the elite does, but just slightly.

To really remove phosphates and silicates, you should run a Phosphate reactor and use RowaPhos. I used Phosban for years thinking I was doing good, but I always seemed to have a silicate problem even though Phosban stated it removed them. Turns out, it doesn't.. well, again, not in any real measurable amount. This should be done after you have rid your tank of cyano first though.

So, if it were me, and I did go through this just a few months ago when I upgraded my lighting, I went in this order.

Step 1 - Run Chemi-Clean for 48 hours, turning off skimmer and remove carbon during entire treatment. Do a 50% water change, then repeat for a second dose. Takes 4 days total.

Step 2 - Run a bag of Phosguard for 3-7 days to remove any excess phosphates and silicates quickly. The media fills up fast so it doesn't last long.

Step 3 - Install a Phosphate reactor and use RowaPhos media. Also put Chemi-Pure back in at this time. I use 250g of Rowa media in my 29G tank. Make sure to rise extremely well and put a filter bag at the end of the output hose to catch any media that may escape so it doesn't get into your tank. The trick I learned over the years is put the reactor/pump in a 2 sided kitchen sink, plug one side, fill with water and place reactor/pump in that side, have the output hose going out the other side of the sink, run this for around 10 minutes to clean good. Make sure the flow is set right, you want the media to just be perculating in the reactor, not blowing around.

Just my 2cents on how to solve your problem, and I know it works because I had the same problem in Feb and solved it completely in under 2 weeks without any problems in the tank.
 
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