red slime

this stuff is brown and red.... mostly dark though...

any thoughts?? cause it's driving me NUTS








next thing to do is remove the bioballs and insert crush LR.


also that slide in filter has to be replaced.



can the skimmer be run in the back where the Bioballs go? I have one.... but it doesn't seem to work right.... I think. lol
 
I agree with Niko I don't see any red slime or cynobacteria in your tank.. I see diatoms which will disappear eventually..

However since there really isn't a close up I cannot be for certain.. I see you have an aquaclear 10 which is 80 gph what is the second powerhead?
 
it'll disappear eventually???? the stuff is taking over the tank!!

all of my little red feather dusters have vanished.... even the larger dusters that came with the LR with the mushrooms are starting to vanish!

not to mention that my mushrooms are not doing so well now... they're being choked out!






as for the other powerhead.... not sure... it came with the cube when we bought it brand new. I think its a 137?? thats what I could partially read through the water in the back.
 
Here is a closeup of what Cyano should look like if that is what you think you have.. This is kind of on the small scale but you should get an idea. Is the stuff stringy? Or is it more like dust?

cyanobacteria.jpg
 
its not red like that... the closest thing that I can come up with that shows what it looks like is;

PIC_0028-3.jpg


its not red so much as brownish rust colored.

its kind of dusty and forms a film on EVERYTHING.

it settles on the glass... on the LR... even on the snails if they don't move fast enough to get away from it!

how do I get rid of it?
 
Seriously.. It is diatoms.. Its not red slime. It is something that happens with every new tank and they all have to go through it. You can start adding Clean Up Crew that will attack that problem. Things like Cerith Snails, Nassarius snails etc. There is a sticky at the top of the forum that covers clean up crews and what they are good for..

You can try cutting your photo period a little, you can try increasing your flow.. With the one power head I saw, and if you have a 14 gallon tank like I'm figuring you do then you only have 5x turnover.. For a FOWLR tank you should have somewhere in the neighborhood of 10x to 15x the number of gallons in your tank in gph water flow through your powerheads etc.

Do a little reading on diatoms algae it will help you understand the process.

hth..

Mark
 
You should try to get your skimmer working as well, what kind of skimmer do you have? Maybe we can help you get it working properly. If its a venturi lots of the ones on the market come with drastically underpowered pumps (i say this cause you mentioned it was not getting bubbles far enough up) let us know what it is and maybe someone will have some good advice
 
Edit: sorry, just realized it was diatoms not red slime.
 
ok... so its diatoms then...


how the heck do I get rid of them???

My tank has been running for MONTHS.... I've had fish in it for at least a month PLUS!


would you suggest MORE cleanup crew??

I've got 4 hermits.... 1 snail --- they just won't stay alive OR upright long enough!


what else??

I'm going to put some small LR in the back of the tank where the bioballs are and I"m going to put the skimmer in there as well.





as for the skimmer... it is made my oceanic specific to the 14 and 29gallon biocube.
 
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