Red Slime / Soft Coral Problems

JimH317 · 02-07-2008, 12:37 PM

I am relatively new to the saltwater aquarium game and have recently ran into a pretty nasty problem. Things were going well for a while with various fish and some star polyp soft coral spreading nicely. However, I was using make up water that wasn't RO quality (big mistake I now know). Then, a few months ago, I developed red slime and used a prescribed red slime remover by the local fish store. It killed the red slime, but also retarded the growth of my soft coral to a point where they eventyally died. I thought that the death of my soft coral was due to the red slime remover, so I wated a while, did a few water changes, tested the water several times, and got more star polyp soft coral and a colony soft coral as well. Now, a few weeks ago after adding the corals, they are not doing well (the polyps are now closed and shrinking) and the red slime is back worse than ever. I think I have a phosphate issue but tested for phosphates and there are none. I have a phosphate remover that I got yesterday and have not started yet. Can anyone help

Jim

las4444 · 02-07-2008, 01:00 PM

It is not uncommon to treat for red slime more than once. Being a bacteria, one cell is all it takes to regain it's grip in the aquarium. I would recommend you treat, do the water change(20%) wait a week and retreat and water change again. You really need to use RO/DI water.

If you have a skimmer this will create other problems. It took two weeks to skim out the red slime product and clear all the micro bubbles out. The flip side is it will skim out the product and dead organics.

When you kill large amounts of red slime or any other living item, you need to check you water parameter often. It may be possible you had a little mini spike that caused harm to you corals. This is the reason you MUST do the water change after 48 hours. If you had large amounts of slime a 40% change would be a better bet.

Red slime remover is a harsh product and must be used carefully.

With that, I have red slime in my tank. Of all the surface area only 2% has it. I don't mind it and in some ways it pretty. I use RO/DI water, perform water changes each month, watch how much I feed, and stir the sand often.
I never really go any farther than that. My case can solidify the RO/DI water it sooooo vital it should not be ignored.

I know my advise contradicts that fact I allow red slime in my tank, but I have chosen not to use the remover again if I can avoid it.

JimH317 · 02-07-2008, 01:55 PM

Thanks for the response. In your experience, will the presence of red slime in and of itself harm the soft coral? I ask because the colony polyp was doing fine until the red slime reappeared.

las4444 · 02-08-2008, 06:22 AM

I do not have soft corals. However, red slime and it's treatment will use up oxygen. You may want to check your dissolved oxygen levels. When you treat for red slime you will want air pumps running. Under normal circumstances, a protein skimmer will provide ample oxygen levels.